mixing analog digitally

[oldtownrobot]

what s the best and/or purest form of mixing down analog reel to reel recordings? do you lose the "warmth" when you tranfer the audio to a program such as pro tools? any suggestions on what to purchase for this process? gratcie...

 

[trtab]

You lose warmth and punch. There is absolutely no way to maintain the original analog sound when you go to digital. It becomes more obvious when you listen to just one track or one instrument, especially true for instrumetns with wide dynamics like acoustic guitar.

My suggestion is to get a good A/D converter and output through digitla into you mixer. If you don't have a mixer with digital in then I guess you'll have to use the one it has.

 

[Outlaws]

Considering that the end result is going to be a CD most likely, then there will be no more of a loss going to ProTools than when it eventually goes to disc. Just have some quality A/D converters.

 

[Blue Bear Sound]

You lose warmth and punch. There is absolutely no way to maintain the original analog sound when you go to digital.

That's very debatable...... especially when using high-end/high-resolution converters.

 

[oldtownrobot]

any suggestions for a/d convertors?

how much does a quality a/d convertor cost???

so really mixing onto a 2-track and then having the recording pressed onto vinyl is the only way to maintain pure analog sound?

 

[Blue Bear Sound]

so really mixing onto a 2-track and then having the recording pressed onto vinyl is the only way to maintain pure analog sound?

To stay completely analog, yes - vinyl or reel... to get to CD, you definitely have to go thru a digital conversion. As I said, not an issue if you use high-grade converters.......

Something like the 2-channel Crane Song HEDD runs $3200, or the PRISM SOUND DREAM at $9400......

 

[trtab]

As someone once said, digital is here to stay, and analog is straying to hear, so get used to it and make the best you can.

You can't force people to play an LP in their cars, even though a CD is just a miniature album.

And no, digital can't reproduce analog no matter what an idiot will thunk you to think.

If you can't hear the diff, get a new pair of ears.

 

[Blue Bear Sound]

And no, digital can't reproduce analog no matter what an idiot will thunk you to think.

If you can't hear the diff, get a new pair of ears.

What a complete load of bullshit......... care to qualify that bit of nonsense, or are you basing your opinion on digital recording using a Radio Shack mic and a Soundblaster card?

 

[oldtownrobot]

expensive sounds

Something like the 2-channel Crane Song HEDD runs $3200, or the PRISM SOUND DREAM at $9400......

that sounds like way more money than i have... any other options??? (that won t make things sound cheap...)

thanks a bunch for the bits!!!

 

[Blue Bear Sound]

that sounds like way more money than i have... any other options??? (that won t make things sound cheap...)

thanks a bunch for the bits!!!

I use a pair of Lucids myself - they're very very good..... about $950 for the AD converter and $800 for the DA.....

Benchmark also has excellent ones at roughly the same price point.....

 

[oldtownrobot]

Da???

is that digital to analog? how is that possible and in what scenario would you do that?

 

[trtab]

All you need my friend in purple, is an acoustic axe.

Take any high dollar rig and see how it compares to analog. I ain't talking about rap crap, or pop, I'm talking serene acoustic music. Digital doesn't even compare, like I said you can't hear the diff get a new pair.

 

[Blue Bear Sound]

is that digital to analog? how is that possible and in what scenario would you do that?

Once a signal is digitized, you need a D/A converter to hear it back... you can't burn it to CD everytime you want to hear it!

 

[Track Rat]

As someone once said, digital is here to stay, and analog is straying to hear, so get used to it and make the best you can.

You can't force people to play an LP in their cars, even though a CD is just a miniature album.

And no, digital can't reproduce analog no matter what an idiot will thunk you to think.

If you can't hear the diff, get a new pair of ears.

That's the biggest pile of crap I've read hear in a long time (and that's saying something).

 

[Blue Bear Sound]

Take any high dollar rig and see how it compares to analog. I ain't talking about rap crap, or pop, I'm talking serene acoustic music. Digital doesn't even compare, like I said you can't hear the diff get a new pair.

You can't possibly believe that repeating yourself would be considered "qualifying your nonsense"....... same bullshit, slightly different wording -- try again, sparky........

 

[trtab]

No need to go down the road of analog versus digital, you can find that argument in the archives of rec.audio.pro

16 bit color does not reproduce the real world colors. 24 bit color of course is soo good that it is hard to tell the difference between real colors and computer color. However, our hearing is many times more sensitive than our eyes. Our smell is many times mroe sensitive than our hearing, etc..

That's why we don't have digital smells yet, it's entirely too complex to evaluate and reproduce. Vision can be reproduced digitally because it is one of the more course senses. Hearing however, is still extremely difficult to digitally reproduce because of the complexities of the sound.

As the complexity of the source increases so does the algorithmn's needed to reproduce it.

On top of this fact is that some humans like myself have better sensitivity to sounds than others, like yourself.

If your saying that you can't hear the difference between an analog straight off the tape versus some digital crap of the same source, then you do need a new pair.

Look we can argue all day long, but my ears are just better then yours I guess.

But I think the reason you digital nuts argue this is to help justify your expenses of buying all that digital gear. Of course it will make you feel better if you think digital is just as good as analog.

Money makes us do crazy things.

 

[lanterns]

get off

get off your high horse with this get a better pair tripe.

 

[Blue Bear Sound]

Look we can argue all day long, but my ears are just better then yours I guess.

I've yet to hear any evidence that your ears are better than mine.... but what is perfectly clear however, is that you have quite superiority complex, but very little experience to back it up with. I'm guessing you fall into the "monkey with a Neve" category - no wait... more like "ART Tube MP"....

You're right about one thing though, it IS pointless to be arguing with a clueless fuckwit, incapable of validating their nonsensical rants. That being the case, I'm done with you............

 

[acorec]

As someone once said, digital is here to stay, and analog is straying to hear, so get used to it and make the best you can.

You can't force people to play an LP in their cars, even though a CD is just a miniature album.

And no, digital can't reproduce analog no matter what an idiot will thunk you to think.

If you can't hear the diff, get a new pair of ears.

This is a popular opinion based on listening and getting used to shitty AD/DA conversion. The problem is that people now are getting fully pro tape decks that went for $10-30,000 in their hey-day for a few bucks these days and comparing the sound to $3-500 digital "workstations" or "standalones" of today. I suggest that anyone who thinks digital lacks "punch" and "warmth" try a RADAR system (one of the best examples). If you can tell the difference between analog and digital at that point, you are a true golden-ear genius. It is all in the converters (and the clock) for digital. The rest is standard digital storage that has been perfected for over 20 years now. "punch" and "warmth" (the color of the pre-amp's sound) come from the pre-amps and compressors used in the recording.

 

[Prof]

One thing that always seemed to be overlooked is the target audience and why are you recording in the first place.

In my day (pre digital) very few people could afford high quality audio equipment and most only had mono and not stereo. When attempting to cut our first 45 we had the option to record in mono or (for an extra fee) stereo needless we recorded mono.

My point is this, have you all lost track of your target audience.

My sons band (Metal/ H/rock) records and masters on analogue. Then he records to PC via 128 bit Soundblaster card, burnt on to CD. This is then sold to the fan base who listen to it on free giveaway CD players, that have the quality of an half empty baked bean tin.

No matter how good the initial recording is, if it is not reproduced on quality equipment you can not expect to replicate the initial quality and if you have listened to it via an half empty baked bean tin boy will it sound good on quality equipment.

I know I am a newbie and there are perfectionists that do require and demand extremely high quality recordings, but in my opinion the latter are in the minority.

Catering for the majority brings in bigger revenue, to invest in better equipment and who knows we might decide to buy anodigital !.

Prof