Ideas/theories on doin' stuff to the signal before tracking

[Ptron]

I'm about to dive into the world of multi-track computer recording and it's got me wondering about the pros and cons of manipulting a signal before it's tracked. As in, before it gets to the D/A converters. I guess a HUGE factor would be the quality/features of your software vs. your outboard gear. One pro that jumps out is compressing a singer that's all over the place, to make better use of the available dynamic range, but what about EQing and such?


Here's one specific thing I'm deliberating (feel free to comment )- My first project will be to dump down hours of stuff from my 8trk cassettes. Most of the drums are on two tracks(stereo) and less than Ideal sounding. I've usually been able to improve how they sit in the mix with my dual 31-band GEQ. Since the software I have doesn't have that much EQ, I have to decide if I want to EQ the drums as I dump down or get it to digital as pure as possible. Then there's sonic maximizers and so on and so on. So what do you folks do?

Ptron

 

[scottboyher]

I think in most cases it is a bad idea to add anything to a signal when you are tracking. It is a bit*h to get rid of it once it is recorded.

Although, some things like vocals may need to be compressed a bit before being recorded to keep it clean and usable.

Since the stuff you are going to be dealing with is already recorded I would just load it on the hard drive and fix it there. There are alot of free EQ plugins out there that can really help.