Rack mount gear

  • Thread starter Thread starter ericlingus
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ericlingus

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I was wondering what the advantage of having outboard gear rather than using plug ins. Dynamic processor for example, why not just use a plug in instead of spending more money on an external one? Do any of you add compression while tracking or add it later on in the mixing stage? If I would want track with compression I can see why I would need an external compressor. If you guys convince me to get a rack mountable dynamic processor what one would you recommend that isn't too expensive. Preferable one that can fit in a mini presonus rack (one I can add my Firebox to).
 
The only outboard gear i use is a compressor. I work with two vocalists and i find that light compression works great compared to constantly adjusting volume for to prevent clipping. Since i mainly work with two people, i just use a stereo compressor with two mono settings and switch the insert cable. Out side of that i don't see alot of benifit for the average home recording setup if it is all digital. Infact, everytime i consider buying something new, all i think about is how much less control i will have and how it will slow me down. If you are working pretty much in the digital relm already, I don't see much of a point.
 
That's an assumption, that it will slow you down. I find I work faster with hardware than with plugins. For me, it was a matter of sound. I went with an all digital setup for a while and just didn't care for the tone of it. I'm now using a hybrid digital/analog setup and like it a lot better in nearly every respect.
 
I concur, I use outboard gear for compression, limiting, eq, reverb, etc....For me it is faster, better sounding and easier to use than plugs. I keep one compressor set up for vox all the time and one eq as well, wasting little time on takes and I have them in a patch for mastering later
 
The biggest drawback to onboard is the sound quality. Rackmount/external effects/comps/EQ's will almost always sound better, and be easier to work with. Not to mention, the more plugins and such you have running on your DAW, the more resources you'll occupy!
 
Only if it's analog

If the external effect is going to be analog, I could see using it. But I think you are right when it comes to the new effects processors. They are digital anyways. The only other time you might need them is if you have a slow computer. But then for the price of all the external effects, you may as well get a new computer.
 
I have always preferred using outboard gear when mixing down. Back when I had limited PC outputs I would sub mix similar tracks on the PC, but the overall mixing and effects were down outside of it. I just felt I had more precision of what the sound was doing.
 
SonicAlbert said:
That's an assumption, that it will slow you down. I find I work faster with hardware than with plugins. For me, it was a matter of sound. I went with an all digital setup for a while and just didn't care for the tone of it. I'm now using a hybrid digital/analog setup and like it a lot better in nearly every respect.
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One thing is that i don't have a control room or anything so i can't moniter anything with the mic on. I also never record and then run things through out board gear (well, i only have a compressor) because it just seems easier to do inside the box. So do you record and then run that recording through your chain or record with hardware running? Sorry for the delayed response, haven't been around.
 
When recording an acoustic source I'll record it as cleanly as possible, with no fx or compression. Then during the mix I'll use on it whatever it seems to need.

The thing is, I'm set up with enough outboard to do a full mix. If you've only got one hardware compressor then I think you'd probably have a lot more mixing options available by doing the mix in the computer. It takes a lot of gear collecting over a period of years to get enough hardware signal processing together to do a full-on mix.
 
SonicAlbert said:
When recording an acoustic source I'll record it as cleanly as possible, with no fx or compression. Then during the mix I'll use on it whatever it seems to need.

The thing is, I'm set up with enough outboard to do a full mix. If you've only got one hardware compressor then I think you'd probably have a lot more mixing options available by doing the mix in the computer. It takes a lot of gear collecting over a period of years to get enough hardware signal processing together to do a full-on mix.
Click to expand...
Yeah, i guess that was my point in why outboard gear would slow me down. Everytime i think of something i would concider buying, it really wouldn't be of much use unless i had more equipment (and knowledge).
 
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