just an excited analog newbie

S

skullfisher

New member
I've been recording with pro tools for about six years now and finally made the jump to analog. it's the sound I was going for originally but assumed analog was too difficult to learn, too expensive, and the experts are few and far between these days.

well all my digital stuff is in storage now and I've been doing my first few recordings... and I'm so happy with my decision. I got some flack from peers, who think I'm 'downgrading'... when they hear my next recordings they will change their mind!

the tone is amazing, so big and round and smooth. the instruments 'sit' together better, there's none of the weird imaging of digital. I used to work so hard trying to get around these issues in the digital domain.

it's even cheaper these days to go analog these days. and if you do it right, the sound quality is better (imho).

of course analog brings a whole set of problems that you don't have in the digital world. and you don't have the ease of non-linear editing. whatever. so far I don't miss it. and I tell ya, my 'weekend' recordings sound so rich and smooth... it would take me much longer to get to that same point tracking and mixing in the box.

what's my point?

I'm not saying either is better than the other, I'm not trying to start an analog vs. digital debate. I'm just excited about this area of audio engineering and pleased with my decision to go analog! working with tape is a very satisfying, rewarding experience.

I know it's not for everybody, but if you're curious about it, I say try it and see if its for you. you may be pleasantly surprised, as I was.
 
Velkum

Velkum to Kastle Analogula!

You vill never vant to leave


MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

Seriously, hello from a fellow Tapehead :)
 
Hmmmm...you raise some good points here. Maybe I'll give it a try, too. But what tape format have you "downgraded" to?

And watch out for Mark when he adopts his Transylvanian accent...
 
good for you for choosing analog

Your recordings will sound like songs instead of auto punch in punch out segments. Its more fun to record analog for many reasons. Before the Starship Enterprise went digital, there were many knobs, dials, and meters that seemed to have infinate accuracy. Notice how on your analog machine if you record a single strum from a miked acoustic guitar and let it ring until the sound dies, you will not loose any of the subtle yet extremely important overtones that continue to rise to infinity. Compare that to digital recorders and you see summarizations and averages in today's equipment. Which means something valuable is lost. All the good studios let the signals hit the 2 inch tape before sending to digital. But even then I'll tell you that when it comes to mix down, if they don't let the signals get converted back to analog then they are screwed, because important information is averaged or rounded when computers digitally copy 24 tracks to 2 tracks.
And magnetic tapes do not crash or tell you to go home because of error number %^&*.

15 ips 1/2 inch 8 track Otari with the right snake and mixing board will blow away any digital that we can afford. Are you Bill Gates? Even the top end pro tools/apogee converters are not without issue that warrant a good toss into the old dumpster. I'm glad your digital stuff is in storage now. Do yourself a favor and leave ALL the digital stuff for the guys at the mastering house who use mojo in their tweaked converters to produce glass masters with roll offs that we buyers of mass produced equipment can not comprehend.


Please follow the maintenance instructions in your manual. Do you have a manual? Open up the machine and vacuum out the dust once a month, clean every inch of the outside with a Q-tip and alcohol, clean the heads with head cleaner every 8 hours, use the oil on the capscan thingy, and demagnetize the heads every month or 8 hours of use. Take good care of your machine because the manufacturers are not going to make anymore.
 
maybe that's it: overtones.

I'm using decent mics, pres, and I'm careful about placement. yet those subtle overtones from acoustic instruments still never seemed to transfer over in pro tools. I would go to great (word)lengths to soften the sound going in: tube mics, ribbon mics, tube pre amps and compressors and eqs, analog simulators, and UGH!

even with 1/2" 8 track those overtones are evident.

I don't think about wordclock or different types of dither or constantly upgrading to the latest hardware/software anymore and my recordings sound rich and smooth... :cool:

there is a small bit of hiss on the recordings, but it's barely evident, and I like it. I'm using gp9 tape. when the machine is properly cleaned and calibrated (which I do before every recording session) I don't even notice any added noise. heavy compression will bring it up a bit, but even that seems to disappear if I bring up one or two instruments.

digital smigital, I 'downgraded' from a pro tools 24 bit mix plus system to a 1/2" 8 track otari at 15 ips, and I ain't looking back!

I'm using a midas venice 320 mixing console, which is more than enough for what I use it for, but I'm hoping to one day have a nice 2" 16 track machine.
 
skullfisher said:



I'm not saying either is better than the other, I'm not trying to start an analog vs. digital debate. I'm just excited about this area of audio engineering and pleased with my decision to go analog! working with tape is a very satisfying, rewarding experience.
Click to expand...

Well, I will say it then: ANALOG IS BETTER AND DIGITAL SUCKS! Ok ? :eek: :D ;) (It's good I'm on the Analog Only forum, as I would get shot otherwise). ;)

Anyway, best of luck with your new, and better, gear I might add! :D Make sure to take others' advice here and take good care (as in maintanance) of your equipment. It's like a good car, you know the ones that you could fix yourself and not the ones with microchips and other fluff bulshit ? Well, take care of it and it'll serve you well. Clean the heads OFTEN with 99% alcohol and cotton swabs but make sure not to scratch them.

Good luck!!

Daniel
 
reel buzzer said:
Analog rules and digital sucks. The companies who stopped making analog to make digital also suck.
Click to expand...

I am the first one, but certainly not the last, who will tell you TASCAM absolutely RULED with their Analog gear in the 80's and early 90's but unfortunately they suck tremendous ass now.

Daniel
 
Yeah, it's too bad about the new analog gear market going away.

The last new product I bought from Tascam was the 424mkIII, in 2001. Previous to that, it was the 424mkII, in 1997, then before that, 1983 for the 38/M30, and 1982 for my first Tascam, the 244.

Great 80's analog designs are a large part of what made Tascam a great an innovative company. They brought high quality recording home, and virtually created the "home recording" market, that we all know today, & take for granted.

Now, Tascam's a second rate "me-too" company, and I think the new 2488 digital hd/cd Portastudio proves it. The 2488 is a VS-2480CD ripoff. That's about 3 years too late to be innovative. Sorry Tascam!

As new gear goes, [IMO] "Tascam" means "cheap clone shit that Roland did last year, only better!"

I don't forsee buying any new Tascam multitrack recording products. I've seen the new AV-452, which I think is cool, in the AV-presentation group of gear, and that's as far as I'll go, at this time.

It doesn't mean I won't get more great Tascam gear, though, I surely will, and do so regularly. ". Now the word in recording quality's not Tascam,... it's "Ebay-Tascam".

C'ya.;)
 
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Reel Person wrote:The 2488 is a VS-2480CD ripoff. That's about 3 years too late to be innovative. Sorry Tascam!


Speaking of those Roland thingies, have you ever touched one of those all in one mixer/recorder/editor machines? They are so pathetic. The sliders feel like legos.
 
reel buzzer said:
Reel Person wrote:The 2488 is a VS-2480CD ripoff. That's about 3 years too late to be innovative. Sorry Tascam!


Speaking of those Roland thingies, have you ever touched one of those all in one mixer/recorder/editor machines? They are so pathetic. The sliders feel like legos.
Click to expand...

I remember trying out some of those a while back and even bought one of the damn things but took it back after the first day! :eek:

Daniel
 
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