question on tracking chain

[mofat]

I have a few gears and wondering which sequence would work better.
1. Mic
2. Tc Helicon voicelive Rack
3. Vintech x73i
4. Apollo twin
Or
1.mic
2. Vintech x73i
3. Tc helicon voicelive rach
4. Apollo twin

 

[bouldersoundguy]

I would do the second, assuming the VoiceLive has line level inputs. And I would split the output of the Vintech, sending one branch directly to the interface and one to the VoiceLive, to capture pre and post versions of the take.

 

[JimmyS1969]

^^^agreed.

The X73i has both XLR and 1/4" balanced outs. I don't see why they wouldn't both work at the same time though I haven't tried.

 

[mofat]

Thx guy. I'll try that tonight.

 

[Chili]

Here's my revised plan....

1. Mic
2. Apollo twin
Or
1.mic
2. Apollo twin

I don't know the vintech gear, but I do know I'd rather not add a whole lot of processing on the way in.
Anything the voicelive can do, you can do with the Apollo and better. The TC helicon can be a great asset for live use when it's done properly. I've heard people go overboard on it and it sounds sucky. But that's kinda not what you're asking here.

If the Vintech is really that good, then I'd put it in the chain and not use the Voicelive.

 

[JimmyS1969]

Here's my revised plan....



I don't know the vintech gear, but I do know I'd rather not add a whole lot of processing on the way in.
Anything the voicelive can do, you can do with the Apollo and better. The TC helicon can be a great asset for live use when it's done properly. I've heard people go overboard on it and it sounds sucky. But that's kinda not what you're asking here.

If the Vintech is really that good, then I'd put it in the chain and not use the Voicelive.

Agreed.

The Vintech is a $1500 clone of the Neve 1073. I use it almost always when tracking any solo instrument.

I would still make sure to also record a direct from the X73i. Using the others on the way in may give you some cool shit, but you will always have the clean one in case it gets out of hand.

 

[Massive Master]

I'm there. Mic -> preamp -> interface. All the time, every time. Add the crap later when you can hear it in the context of the mix.

 

[mofat]

How would I loop the recorded dry take to the VoiceLive Rack for processing and then back to DAW?

 

[Farview]

It depends on your daw. Some have a facility that allows you to create an analog effects send and return.

If you don't have that, you can always just route the vocal to any output on the interface, plug that into the input on the TC, plug the output of the TC into an input on the interface and record normally.

You may need to push the newly recorded audio back a bit, to line it up with the original vocal, to make up for the latency of going out and back into the computer.

 

[bouldersoundguy]

You may need to push the newly recorded audio back a bit, to line it up with the original vocal, to make up for the latency of going out and back into the computer.

If that were true you'd have to do the same to all recorded tracks.

 

[jkuehlin]

I'm there. Mic -> preamp -> interface. All the time, every time. Add the crap later when you can hear it in the context of the mix.

I second this, even with a Vintech. Patch everything else to your insert loops.

 

[Farview]

If that were true you'd have to do the same to all recorded tracks.

Shit, you're right. I can't remember what was going on when I had to do that. Maybe I was sending the signal that I was recording...

 

[bouldersoundguy]

Shit, you're right. I can't remember what was going on when I had to do that. Maybe I was sending the signal that I was recording...

If the outboard gear is digital it may delay the signal enough to need realignment, especially if it's for some sort of parallel processing setup.

 

[Farview]

It could have been anything. There was a point when Nuendo's group buses weren't time aligned, so you would have to make a mix of anything you wanted to parallel process and import it back into the session.

There have been far too many incremental steps over the last 15 years. I remember having to employ workarounds, I just can't remember why anymore. Getting old sucks.

 

[ashcat_lt]

Latency compensation will take care of the input latency, but it can't do anything about the output latency.

In Reaper there's a plugin called ReaInsert which has a mode that measures and corrects for that latency.

Course with small enough buffers, it probably won't be a big deal as long as you're not running the "reamped" signal in parallel with the original. Not with vox anyway. A couple ms here or there won't be noticeable.

 

[bouldersoundguy]

Latency compensation will take care of the input latency, but it can't do anything about the output latency.

It doesn't matter if the source of the audio is the output from the interface or somebody playing along to the output from the interface, if it's in sync it's in sync.

 

[JimmyS1969]

Either way, if the OP wishes to hear his TC while recording, then I would go with BSG's advice of splitting the signal from the outs of the Vintech (hope that is ok to acronym your username. ) . You can always re-route out later. Since there are two balanced outs from the Vinnie, it should be the most obvious starting point.

 

[ashcat_lt]

It doesn't matter if the source of the audio is the output from the interface or somebody playing along to the output from the interface, if it's in sync it's in sync.

Yeah that makes sense. I think the thing with ReaInsert is about the way it's usually used. It sits in an Insert slot like any other plugin and doesn't require the track to be record enabled, so Reaper doesn't really know that it needs to be compensating unless the plugin itself reports latency.