Digital to Analog and back to Digital again.

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Augustus

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Hello to everyone reading this. First time poster here. I've been recording as a hobby for a while with my digital system which is as follows:

Logic 5.5 (yep the latest PC version) with a Presonus Firebox. I have a variety of mics and so forth and I am doing 15 tracks at the most. My PC is kinda dated but still running strong (Dell dimension 3.4 GHz with 1 Gig of ram).

Lately I've been seeing the limitations of the digital domain. Specifically the lack of that "Analog warmth" that comes naturally from tape compression. I don't own my own analog multitrack recorder, but I can borrow one for a couple days. So with that said, my idea is to record on my PC and then bounce each track to analog and then back to digital again. Has anyone tried this or know of other methods? I hear the tracks might not link up because of a fluxuating tape speeds. But any info on this would help. Maybe a link to an article if you know of one? Thank in advance.

-Augustus
 
This topic comes up from time to time, and there are a number of people who yearn for that elusive 'analog warmth'.

You've added an extra layer of complexity to the 'PC to tape and back' idea, by having to send your tracks, if not separately, at least in pairs, to the tape deck and back, then line them up again, and having to cope with slight variations in tape speed, stretch, whatever.

If you could send the whole set of tracks at once to high-end tape deck, you might reap a benefit. My feeling, though, is that you are likely to give yourself more grief than pleasure going down this path.

Personally, I've never had been concerned about lack of 'analog warmth', and I'm exquisitely relieved that I don't need to deal with tape. There are, however, many who will extol the benefits of tracking to high quality tape in the first place.

I use Logic on PC as well . . . I'm on an even earlier version than you, 5.1! I have to say I have not been inclined to move away from Logic . . . it has served me so well over the years . . . though more recently I've been using Reaper as well.
 
My buddy has a nice quality tascam 8 track that I was thinking of using. So what about sending a stereo signal at one time containing all tracks and then back to logic as stereo? Either that or send each track to analog and back to digital seperately and align them in Logic. I like Logic 5.5 but I hear that its only compatible with up to 1 gig of ram. I don't know if that is true or not. Also is glitches on me and I get pops and drops somewhat often. Its frustrating working in that environment.
 
I've got 2 gig of ram. I use a presonus firepod. Logic seems to have no problems with either. I'm not experience pops, drops or others nasties.

You could do a mixdown onto the Tascam and then back again. That would save the messing around with tape synchronisation.

There's no harm in trying.
 
To layback tracks, I'd be looking for relatively wonderful converters - and tons of headroom.

90% of people I know who are complaining about a lack of "analog warmth" are (A) using 'less than nice' preamps, (B) using 'less than nice' converters, (C) tracking too hot (somewhere short of clipping - which is about 12-15dB too hot - especially with 'less than nice' preamps and/or converters) or a combination of any or all of the three.

IMO/E with the FireBox, you have "A" and "B" nailed. Maybe even "C" but I have no evidence of that. I was less than impressed with the linearity of the converters and even less impressed with the preamps. With *LOTS* of headroom (pretending that line level is as high as you ever want to get - which is true in most cases anyway), it was okay. But not a system I'd want to make an analog loop with - especially with a tape deck.

You want "tape" sound? TRACK to tape. There is no substitute. Track directly to tape and pull directly off the repro heads during tracking if you want - with a decent amount of headroom (which will pretty much happen naturally with a well-calibrated deck). But dumping an "eh" signal to tape through "eh" converters doesn't magically give it "analog warmth" - It makes it noisy, it has the potential of screwing up whatever headroom is there, it generally degrades the signal in a not-so-friendly manner.

That said - As mentioned, there's no harm in messing around with it. But if you really want "analog warmth" use good quality analog gear. Upgrade your preamps, use the right mics, for God's sake, record at proper levels (again, I'm not saying you're not - but so many people I know are in the "track as hot as you can without clipping" camp - You want to *avoid* warmth, trash clarity, lose focus, add noise, add distortion? Then by all means, track hot without clipping. Otherwise, track at levels closer to how the gear was designed - not what it says in the manual and the marketing materials).
 
You could mix to 1/4" half track analog, that might achieve something of what you're looking for, although not the same as tracking to tape to begin with. What analog gear are you using, effects, mixer etc? Is everything digital? Or are you using e.g. an outboard compressor, delay, etc? Also, mixing digital, or using an analog mixer? For the mixdown You could use a deck like a Teac 3300SX-2T, Otari MX5050, Tascam 22-2 etc. But would probably help for that "analog warmth" if you mixed with an analog deck. My $0.02.

There is a thread in the analog forum along these lines, I can't seem to find right now.
 
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