Outgear?

[XTREEMMAK]

I'm working on turning my extra bedroom into a mixing studio (studio B). I was wondering, what purpose or how exactly would one use outgear in a mix and is it necessary? Other than just getting a certain effect from a peice of gear, why exactly do people have outgear in the control room? How do they use it if the mix is in the computer? Or do they do something else before they enter it into the computer like a redump or something?

 

[2lim]

Some people like mixing out of box more than others. I learned on in the box technology so I doubt I will ever understand it. I will not argue poros and cons of it though, as I can understand hwo a piece of analog gear would give a certain distinct sound that digital plug-ins do not. There is no necessity for outboard gear in the same manner as there is no necessity for an analog setup to use a computer. It is a matter of preference, skills, and experience.

Simon

 

[Mindset]

In the studio, whenever we mix things down on to the final master, the tracks are not routed back into the DAW. It's usually routed to the outboard gear, into whatever type of processors you want etc, back to the console, and then out to one of our CD recorders. Some programs will not let you side chain your processors, and for me, outboard gear can be somewhat easier. It does offer you difference in sound, but now a days high end plug in's emulate some of the great processors that you'll see today on the racks. Well it could be easier in some eyes to just go to the tracks, and click the plug in and start working with it.. Which is reasonable. I, myself like the qualities of outboard gear like the SPX90, LA2A, FatMan, Orban Parametric EQ's, etc. Plus I rather patch the signal & know exactly what it goes through first etc. which you probably can do software wise but I'm the hardware person.. Someone else probably can explain things clearer than I can...

 

[iqi616]

A hardware limiter can be used to protect from overs when tracking. An expander can be used to control background noise before digitizing. Preamps can give you better (or at least different) signal quality. Some people have old gear that they like and know well that they still want to use. Classic effects like tape echo can be emulated but it's nice to have the real thing. I like to handle reverb outside the workstation where I can EQ the send and return to taste. All sorts of reasons for having external gear.

 

[XTREEMMAK]

In the studio, whenever we mix things down on to the final master, the tracks are not routed back into the DAW. It's usually routed to the outboard gear, into whatever type of processors you want etc, back to the console, and then out to one of our CD recorders.

So how exactly is that done? I believe you rought the final through a main out to your signal process chain and then back into a free channel on your board? IDK.

 

[zacanger]

I like having actual hardware just because I feel a lot more comfortable when I have real knobs to twiddle.
That said, my collection of plugins is ever-growing.

 

[Mindset]

So how exactly is that done? I believe you rought the final through a main out to your signal process chain and then back into a free channel on your board? IDK.

That depends on what kind of processor I would be using. Usually I would send the wet signal of reverb to it's own channel so that I have more control over it. Maybe pan it a certain way etc. If I were to use compression, I would take insert send to processor to insert return. All this through the patch bay of course. For side chaining I would be basically going through the Aux send to processor & aux return. In which, if I wanted reverb on my Drums, I would turn up the aux's on that particular channel by just turning up the knob, or on any track I so choose.

I attached a couple pictures of Studio G & Studio D just for viewing. Everything on the patch bay is pretty much laid out for me.

 

[frederic]

While my studio is digital in a recording/mixing sense, I have vast analog wiring between that stuff and my collection of synths, drum machines, modules and outboards.

My initial reason for this was due to at the time I made these purchases, that windows and windows software was mediocre at best for audio. Midi? Yes. I've been using cakewalk (and now sonar) since version 2.0. But in those days PC audio was pathetic and recording multiple tracks simultaniously was nearly impossible.

Things have come a long way of course with all the multi-processor computers and vast amounts of memory, and certainly the in-PC mixing software with all the synth, drummachine and outboard "plug ins".

But I have to admit, I am an avid knob twiddler. I do not find the mouse (or trackball in my case) intuitive. I learned to record and mix on fully analog equipment comprised of a vast plethora of vacuum tubes. My first venture into the pro-studio marketplace was with an old, big neve from the 70s, which was transistor based for the most part. That and a pair of 24-track Otaris. Knobs and switches for everthing, and what you couldn't do with a knob or switch you could do with a patch cord - sometimes weird homemade ones.

I realize and accept that you young folks like your computers and find them more intuitive than I do... and you'll have to pry my knobs from my cold dead hands And that's okay, it's preference thing, it's a "use what you know" thing, etc.

My reasons for going digital in the first place was not the sound quality - but rather 2" tape is expensive, getting difficult to find, effected by weather, humidity, and re-use. It also takes up lots of space and a real pain in the ass to splice. *I* had gotten so good at splicing that I could cut out a track off one tape (lengthwise), and glue it onto another tape to combine stuff.

Digital allows you to record again and aain without loss of quality, and replace current takes with old takes. Bounce and merge tracks without loss. And so on. There's a huge convienence factor there which speeds up productivity which of course reduces the studio's impact to customer creativity.