Mastering Hardware

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Rick01826

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Hi everyone,
I'm seeing a lot of thread on using mastering software but I'm interested in hardware. Something that I can go SPDIF into directly from my Tascam DM-3200 and out to my Master CD Recorder. Any ideas??? :confused:

Thanks,
Rick
 
Alesis Masterlink is cool.

I think their down to $400 sometimes used on craigslist.

but then again its really software in a chip in a CDR....not really the "real" hardware,.

rack mount gear your looking for? no clue...tagged the post though...good question.
 
Not that I'm not a fan of hardware (maybe in a more "analog" sense), but is there any particular reason you'd want to go to a CD recorder for assembly?
 
I'm mixing going TDIF from my 2408 into my DM-3200 and mixing from the board instead of mixing on the computer. From there I am going SPDIF to my Tascam Cd Master deck. I am staying in the digital realm the entire way. I recorded us live and when I mix through the board I just feel more comfortable I guess. And I think I get better quality through the board. I probebly don't but it's stuck in my mind that I do. Yes...I came from the world of analog so mixing on a computer still doesn't apeal to me. It's just the way I am. :D
 
Sure, do what suits you best. Though, mixing outside the computer doesn't mean that you can't master with a computer. Choose a soundcard with a reliable SPDIF and get the mix into your favourite mastering software.
 
You can still mix with your 3200 and record the mixdown into your computer. There's no generational loss, there's no difference in the quality of "mastering" algorithms. The only difference is you're "mastering" on haqrdware that has a video display instead of an LCD display.

That's just it; fully digital hardware is an awfully expensive way of doing the exact same thing that digital "mastering" software will do; the hardware is nothing but a host for software anyway.

Therefore you wind up with something like the Finalizer form t.c. electronics, which is one of the few hardware incarnations of purely digital mastering effects I can think of. With a street price of $2500, the Finalizer is several times more expensive than higher quality software.

Compare the Finalizer to getting yourself a copy of the Roger Nichols Digital Pro Bundle for $699. Add in the Sony Sound Forge Bundle (including CD Architect and Izotope Ozone) for $299, and for less than a thousand bucks you have every piece of high quality software you will ever need for mastering productions with higher quality and more technical detail than the hardware Finalizer and your Tascam recorder put together will ever be capable of.

And you'll still have $1500 left over for some nice analog gear to make your recordings worth converting to digital ;) .

This is why you won't find much in the way of digital "mastering" hardware these days. It's just so much less expensive and so much more flexible to do it as software that runs on any computer platform than it is as software that runs only in a dedicated hardware box.

G.
 
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