Pure Analog

[longsoughtfor]

OK, here is a question (there is no right or wrong answer):

Anyone here have a completely pure analog recording path? Don't forget some of the hidden A/D/A paths through some outboard gear.

At the moment, I don't. Both reverbs I use are digital though I'm considering taking a spring reverb from an old guitar amp and trying it out

Kevin.

 

[regebro]

I have a purely analog recording *path* yes. But not all my outboards are analog. But I can not say that anything that goes over a send-return is in the path of the recording.
Yes, I have a speing reverb, but, like all spring reverbs I have heard, it sound crap.

And my synthesizers are all digital, although my drum machine is not.

 

[RICK FITZPATRICK]

Hi Kevin, my aux sends go to a 6' x 40' concrete pipe with a mic and speaker insideD ha! just kiddin!) I heard one time that the studios in LA used to rent time in a popular "echo chamber/ultra live reverb room", by sending feeds over a balanced line interfaced through the telephone wires. Don't know if it is true. But for me, DSP is SOOOOOO easy, and cheap, its ok for what I do. I love analog, and thats the only place I use a/d and d/a 's.
fitz

 

[analogelectric]

I have a few digital delays and digital reverbs in my outboard rack but my signal path is analog; analog console, analog tape machine, and direct connections.

I rarely use my digital outboard gear. If the band wants crazy verb that we can't reproduce with natural acoustics we'll use an outboard piece sparingly. I have a few tape delays that get used quite often over digital delays.

I have the capability of mixing down to a 1/2" 2 track from my 2" 24 track so the whole recording process is analog. It's costly to do it that way but some bands are adamant about a pure analog recording.

--AdamLazlo

 

[blues-hacker]

I've got a pure analog through the front of the signal chain, analog desk to tape, and found a way to capture good room reverb by placing a Ld condensor at the back of the room, and feeding that into the mix - which all works well if I'm doing a live sound recording.

When building something up track by track, it's easier to add it through a digital box when doing the mix.

Right now, what I'm most curious about is at the end - when you want to get the music down onto a CD, or WAV or MP3 files, you have to go digital, but what is the best solution to retain all that analog sound ?

Right now I do a final mix down in stereo to a Fostex Dmt-8, and light pipe direct from there to a standalone CD burner. I could mix direct and send analog to the CD burner, and mix onto a CD-RW. I don't really know what either units bit rates are for the A-D conversion. I just know that - having tracked stuff onto the digital Fostex, onto Tascam 414 cassettes, onto Teac stereo reel to reel,, and now onto Tascam 38-8 1/2" format, there is definitely a sweetness to the analog sound.

How do you keep that at the end?

b-h

 

[gilwe]

Check my recording here ("Loneliness")

(be careful you're not gonna understand a word...


This is done pure analog on a Fostex 8 track 1/4", SM58 for guitars and vocals (Start + Silverface Fender Twin), Bass direct (equipped with '62RI JazzBass and P-Bass PUs), drum directly from a Solton MS50. The mixer is Yamaha 1604, mic pres of the mixer itslef, no effects added.

How do you like it ? Do you think this is a good mastering ?
Curious to hear what you think. It's 100% analog and it is done but not having any digital element except for the PC sound card for the mastering.

I tried to remixed it and to remaster using digital plugins on SoundForge and it sounded crap so I kept this version.

BTW, I found something interesting -
if you take any digital recorded stuff, dump it onto tape and than back from tape to CD, it will sound more analog !!! strange but true. Something that the tape recording "adds" to the nature of the sound.