Questions for the pros & others

smellyfuzz

smellyfuzz

New member
All of us has had to deal with less then great equipment in our time.
And, I do not want to get into any debates about lesser equipment never good enough.

Recently, I bought the Delta 1010lt, I did not have any delusions about its quality, even though the sales man assured me that it was as good as one could get. I bought the delta for a learning experience. I want to learn how to record/mix and edit digitally. If I find that it does open up a new word for me in song writing and recording, then maybe I'll invest in a Lucid system.

I'm lucky in the fact that I own an Otari 8 track, it is a respected item and it lets me compare analogue and digital. Again, I'm not looking to debate.

Keeping in mind that my CPU resources are low and I do not know what I am doing, I have found the delta to have a harness to it.

As stated before, all must have run into inferior equipment, How does one handle it ?

How does someone approach and combat using inferior gear and still get a decent sound ?

How do the professionals deal with sound coloring though out the recording chain ?

I mean, I have been listening to the clinic, many homers are coming up with cool sounding stuff.


Sean
 
Once you get over the hump of really crappy sounding recordings then it becomes a pretty painful process of minute improvements that cost thousands of dollars. Better DAC's give you a smoother representation of the audio, better pre's give you more definition, better mics give you more color and articulation.

Every project I do sounds great in the beginning and shitty in the end, lol. As you start to hear the shortcomings it can be tough to keep going and not just scrap it all to start over with better stuff (if you can get it) or different methods. I would imagine everyone goes through the same growing process on every project. As you get more experienced the gains are smaller and smaller but there is always something you want to improve or wish you could have done better.

I realize that doesn't really answer your question but the trick is to just do it and get it done to the best of your ability and equipment. I think the reason some albums take years to make is because they keep making the same album over and over a little better each time. At some point you have to say it's good enough and move on.
 
I'm not sure how to get OVER it, but maybe looking on the positive side will help you get ON it with.

If you feel your gear isn't the best at least you're not fooling yourself.

Some gear is better than no gear.

Having little to work with may make you strive to get the best possible sound you can by experimenting with mic placement or even utilizing different rooms to get a sonic "Vibe".

Perhaps not having the best stuff will compell you to investigate (Learn) what the "Best" actually is and why it's considered to be so.

Not having much gear or limited funds might help you make more informed choices when adding hard earned gear to your set up.

At least you're not spoiled!


Personally I want to dedicate myself to the recording craft and not just the acquisition of gear I don't really understand (But that's been hard 'cus I'm lost! Ha Ha) :)
 
Are you sure it's the card and not your cpu/computer that's constraining you?

What about the mics you're using? Are they decent? What software are you using to track and mix with? Are you using parametric eq, compression etc etc?
 
I've got the 1010lt and works and sounds fine, don't blame your equipment, that's just an excuse, sounds like you just need to get used to the digital world, just keep at it:) What's that saying about mother and invention...
 
TexRoadkill said:
Once you get over the hump of really crappy sounding recordings then it becomes a pretty painful process of minute improvements that cost thousands of dollars. Better DAC's give you a smoother representation of the audio, better pre's give you more definition, better mics give you more color and articulation.

Every project I do sounds great in the beginning and shitty in the end, lol. As you start to hear the shortcomings it can be tough to keep going and not just scrap it all to start over with better stuff (if you can get it) or different methods. I would imagine everyone goes through the same growing process on every project. As you get more experienced the gains are smaller and smaller but there is always something you want to improve or wish you could have done better.

I realize that doesn't really answer your question but the trick is to just do it and get it done to the best of your ability and equipment. I think the reason some albums take years to make is because they keep making the same album over and over a little better each time. At some point you have to say it's good enough and move on.
Click to expand...

Tex, my sentiments exactly!
I got a mish-mash of low-end to upper-mid level gear and I am SOOO critical of myself and use of my outboards,I'm never satisfied! Constantly yearning for hi-end units yet lacking the $$$$ to feed my addiction, I have finally learned to make the most outta' what I got and trying to save for that NEVE,SSL,Neuman,Ghost or whatever!
Maximize what U you're using while saving for what U want!
 
smellyfuzz said:
As stated before, all must have run into inferior equipment, How does one handle it ?

How does someone approach and combat using inferior gear and still get a decent sound ?
Click to expand...


As someone who's been using less expensive gear for quite some time now and getting (at least what I feel to be) good results with it, all I can say is get to know and understand your gear's limitations , and either learn to work within them or around them.


Take a Wackie board, for instance. Some of us were just having a discussion on how to work around the limitations of summing on a Mackie and how to avoid some of it's sonic warts. Yes, this requires a little bit of research, asking questions, and experimenting. Sometimes you also gotta' understand some of the nuts & bolts of how some of these things work in order to get the most out of them.

That's not to say that you need an electrical engineering degree or anything, but you do need at least some basic knowlege of what certain things are good at, and where they fall short.

Examples:

*When mic'ing quiet sources, don't use mics and/or gear with high noise floors.

*When mic'ing very loud sources, don't use gear that has low SPL handling or low headroom.

*When using gear that is known for having excessive high-frequency distortion, don't use it to track stuff with a lot of high frequency content. Ditto for the low-frequencies.

Find and understand "sweet spots." Every piece of gear has a range in which it will tend to perform optimally. This is particularly true of gain knobs. Budget EQ's, for example, might sound perfectly fine with boosts and/or cuts of 5 dbs or less. If that's the case, then don't exceed it's limits. Some copressors aren't built for heavy compression settings, while others are good only on heavier settings.

Some isn't good on any setting at any time, so just stay clear of that stuff altogether. :D


The major benefit of using a lot of the higher-end stuff is that it tends to be more forgiving. A higher-end piece of equipment will sound better on more things, can be pushed harder (or softer), and can be perfectly useful (and sometimes better) on more things, and under more extreme settings.

Most of it won't necessarily sound universally "better" all the time and/or on all things, so even a well-stocked arsenal of expensive gear won't always guarantee better results -- although it certainly can't hurt.

To sum up and simplify all of what I just said, just remember this: If gear A sounds good on X but bad on Y . . . and gear B sounds good on Y but great on X . . . then use gear A on X and B on Y. :D

If the combined cost of gear A and B comes out to be significantly less than gear C that does both X and Y well, then you made some wise purchases.
 
...couldn't agree more with Tex and Chess ...except that I'm still recovering from high-school algebra flashbacks :)

On a more general/philosophical note, I'd only like to add that creativity and resourcefulness is very important when you have lesser gear (I spent years using ridiculously ghetto gear that would cause most of you to say "are you freakin' kidding me?").

Lesser gear encourages creativity out of necessity. One of my favorite ghetto effects is amping a signal through your home ventilation ducts and recording it at the other end. While these tricks could be tried by anyone with any gear, it was my crappy digital reverb at the time that made me think to try something different.
 
Lol. I hear you all. First thing I thought when I read the first post was:

You're just starting the digital recording thing and you're complaining about a Delta card??? JEEEEZZ

That's like a kid complaining that he got a Corvette for his 16th birthday instead of a Ferrari.
Smellyfuzz, learn to drive first. You'll get a lot of mileage out of that particular card.
 
I agree with just about everything so far said. CPU's are cheap and it sounds like your using a computer thats cheaper than your sound card.
In this business or Artform(music) you have to be resourceful and persistant. Let it drive you.
Its like when I was a kid. I couldnt get the lawnmower to run, and dad said make it fucking work and you cant go play until the lawn was mowed. He didnt give a shit about excuses and I came from a well off family and my shitty dad buys a shitty lawnmower. Im talking the push kind for like 25 bucks and we had about 2 acres. I got the mower running. That fucking mower lasted 10 years!!!
Just make it work. Shitty equipment just makes you work harder. When they say it cant be done, well thats a challenge to me.
Just dont get married to a Bipolar woman.......
Myx
 
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