same or not?

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emomusician

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opinions...

2 home studio enthusiasts.. with 2 different basic setups. Will they have similar sound quality, or will there be a huge noticeable difference? Both guys are using all the same mics, if that makes a difference.

Guy 1: Has a mac G4, with a Digi 001 rackmount interface.. of course running pro tools. Thats pretty much all he uses, except for a joe meek preamp.

Guy 2: Has a PC, with a M-audio Delta 44 w/breakout box... he's running (insert DAW software here). He also has an external preamp for some things as well.

are these 2 setups gonna be similar in sound quality? Is one better than the other? Is it worthwhile to learn pro tools if you have no interest in doing recording for a living? would Audition/sonar/samplitude/cubase or any of the other numerous number of DAW software produce the same results as the pro tool setup?
 
There is basically no difference between the sound of any recording software. Functionality, layout, compatibility, yes, but the sound of digital 24/48 or whatever will be the same.
 
It doesnt matter what softwares they use. sound quality will be the same unless one uses crappy samples than the other. But since the preamps differ, u might expect to see some variation of sound quality.
 
I think any differences you hear in the quality of their stuff will be mainly attributable to their individual levels of skill and the amount of effort they put into their work.
 
So, discarding the variables of technique, acoustical environment, and source material, we are left with the signal chain and the software. That brings it down to the preamps, the converters, and software, leaving out any front end EQ or dynamics, and you stated identical mics will be used.
My personal opinion, and it is just that, is that different software sounds identical only to the extent of recording and playing back a single wave file. But once you start summing, using EQs, compressors, doing fades, etc., the algorthms used by each software are different, and in the case of EQs and such, the type of filters they are emulating are probably different. Software is always a way of describing physical actions in boolean terms, and the different SW modules that make up a recording/mixing program describe analog actions and circuits in different ways.
Then there is the preamps and converters. Opinions vary widely on how much difference they make at this price level, but there will be some difference. In the end, which setup will sound better is subjective, and probably not as large a factor as the variables that were left out. I don't believe that Pro Tools has any lock on good sound, only a strong edge on client recognition and appeal.
 
basically.. the answer i was wanting.. was does the digi 001 sound card sound and someone using the interface w/ pro tools.. sound any better than a person using something like the delta 44. Not regarding skill, or anything else in the signal chain. Just those pieces of hardware straight from the box. People keep telling me.. get pro tools.. get pro tools.. get a digi 001... but if i can get the same quality sound out of a different piece of hardware, that i'm not locked into using a certain piece of software with, i'd much rather do that.

I just keep getting the vibe from digi users that I know, that the interface is some magical box, and that you won't be able to get that quality without it. And that the software is a magical musical creation brilliance that no other software can achieve.
 
No..they have the same sound quality. its just that people buy expensive equipment for increased flexibility of work..so basically people can get work done faster.
 
Robert D said:
My personal opinion, and it is just that, is that different software sounds identical only to the extent of recording and playing back a single wave file. But once you start summing, using EQs, compressors, doing fades, etc., the algorthms used by each software are different, and in the case of EQs and such, the type of filters they are emulating are probably different. Software is always a way of describing physical actions in boolean terms, and the different SW modules that make up a recording/mixing program describe analog actions and circuits in different ways.
Click to expand...

Well, I mostly agree with you, at least in principle.

IMHO, unless a DAW was written by a very bad programmer, summing is unlikely to have any audible effect. Floating point addition isn't exactly rocket science. About the only real place where you might realistically see a difference between one DAW and another (as far as the DAW itself is concerned) is in latency compensation (both plug-in latency and recording latency to avoid progressive track-to-track drift problems).

Also, one should also probably assume that most of the plug-ins you can get for Pro Tools can also be obtained as Audio Units, VST plug-ins, and in every other format on the planet. Once you've written a plug-in, porting to another plug-in architecture is relatively trivial, and thus it usually doesn't make sense for a software vendor to limit themselves to any single platform, including PT.

So if you assume that the plug-ins used are the same, the quality will boil down to differences in the pres, the converters, the mics, the rest of the studio, and the engineer behind it all.
 
Either way, you give a dogs bollox professional engineer audacity and an audigy, and you give a relative amateur a full on top level pro tools HD system etc. The engineer with audacity and an audigy is probably still going to come out sounding better. To me its always been more a matter of expertise than gear.
 
Perfect wording there, legionserial! It's all about how u use your gear. like with what extent of knowledge professionalism.
 
For example, me, my gears are very much in the low end of price. Not necessarily, the low end of quality or performance. I can say that with my $100 Apex mic, i can make it sound like an expensive mic. Also my mixer(UB 1204FX pro) works perfectly with me. I don't have any problems with the preamp. Some say that behringer preamps are noisy and crappy overall, but i say that its good enough for me since my studio is not commercial work. It's really what you can adjust yourself with, so dont look at others and what they use. A 16 year old kid wannabe engineer can use the Tascam US-2400 if they want to, but they wouldnt know how to make music at the first place. But a guy with something a fraction of that Tascam can produce better music. you can never tell. It's all about the intelligence and talent you got to engineer audio.
 
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