RawDepth
New member
I mixed the same song twice using different methods. I wanted to know if I could hear any difference in the end results. I mixed them as WAV files, but converted them to mp3 for easy upload. I could upload the wavs if anyone needs to hear them.
The first mp3 (below) was mixed entirely in-the-box, (ITB). The second was mixed outside the box using a TL Audio A4 Summing Mixer. Both songs used the same recorded tracks and the EQ, effects, and levels were done before mixing and not changed in either case. Both songs also got the same compression treatment after mixing using a plug-in. Converters were RME.
For those who don't know...analog summing is when you send all individual tracks from your computer DAW out through multiple D/A converters to be combined in a special type of analog mixer. (A summing mixer has a very short signal path. Most have nothing on them but, panning and sometimes level controls.) Then you return the 2-mix (left and right channels,) back through a pair of A/D converters to be re-recorded inside the DAW or another digital recorder. All editing, EQing, effects, and volume control is usually done inside the DAW before going out to the summing box. Some summers include analog effects loops. All the summer really does is combine tracks. The theory or claim is that analog combining is superior to digital combining. You decide.
It may be difficult to hear the differences using mp3 files over the Internet, but I can really hear a noticeably clearer and more focused mix when listening to the WAV files on my monitors. In the analog mix, at about 1:00 minute in, the backup vocals seem to come from very specific spots in the soundfield...more so than the digital mix. The analog mix seems to have more depth while the digital mix sounds slightly more blurred or smeared to me.
In-The-Box:
Analog Summer:
What do you think? Do you notice any difference?
The first mp3 (below) was mixed entirely in-the-box, (ITB). The second was mixed outside the box using a TL Audio A4 Summing Mixer. Both songs used the same recorded tracks and the EQ, effects, and levels were done before mixing and not changed in either case. Both songs also got the same compression treatment after mixing using a plug-in. Converters were RME.
For those who don't know...analog summing is when you send all individual tracks from your computer DAW out through multiple D/A converters to be combined in a special type of analog mixer. (A summing mixer has a very short signal path. Most have nothing on them but, panning and sometimes level controls.) Then you return the 2-mix (left and right channels,) back through a pair of A/D converters to be re-recorded inside the DAW or another digital recorder. All editing, EQing, effects, and volume control is usually done inside the DAW before going out to the summing box. Some summers include analog effects loops. All the summer really does is combine tracks. The theory or claim is that analog combining is superior to digital combining. You decide.
It may be difficult to hear the differences using mp3 files over the Internet, but I can really hear a noticeably clearer and more focused mix when listening to the WAV files on my monitors. In the analog mix, at about 1:00 minute in, the backup vocals seem to come from very specific spots in the soundfield...more so than the digital mix. The analog mix seems to have more depth while the digital mix sounds slightly more blurred or smeared to me.
In-The-Box:
Analog Summer:
What do you think? Do you notice any difference?