Should I Chuck The Analogue & Go Digital?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Nigel Allistair
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Nigel Allistair

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I have a pretty well equipped 8-Track Tape based home studio. The whole routine - 24 x 8 Console, 1/2" 8-Track, DAT, racks of effects, blah, blah,blah. I have been stagnant as far as recording for the past couple of years due to real world family issues but have recently been bitten by the bug. My question is, with all the computer based digital software products which record such astounding audio as well as MIDI why in the world would a guy still run all this analog equipment? Why not get rid of it and buy the latest computer & software and keep it in the beige box? No, I cannot afford Pro Tools, but even at the home studio level something such as Cakewalk 9.0 is an amazing product: Audio, Effects,Mixing....
Why do I even need this this DAT Machine or this 112MKII Cassette Deck, or these MidiVerbs, etc. Seriously, I have extensive computer knowledge and work with them all day long in the graphic design field. I wouldn't stand for old fashioned stuff in that area, why settle for it in recording?
I'm looking for serious ideas as to whether a guy like me should get computer, software, a real good Mic Pre, and burn CDs to my hearts content. Do I really want to continue to drop 50 bucks for 30 minutes of 1/2" tape? If it sounds as if I have already made up my mind, I really haven't. I really do love my equipment, but from a purely logical standpoint, this old stuff doesn't make sense, does it?
Thanks for any and all input.
 
You are almost exactly describing my situation. I also have a 1/2-inch 8-track setup with outboard gear, etc. What I've decided to do is to get the old gear going and use it as I always have and am comfortable with. But I'm also going to get a computer with a suitable sound card and CDR. I'll start out just mixing to the computer and using it for editing, burning CD's, making MP3 files and such. Then I may ease into the multitrack DAW world, if I like it. I don't think it has to be an either/or question. Well, that's my 2 cents, anyway ;-)
 
There is alot to be said for anolog.As a self confessed computer Knowledgable person,You of all people have quite a few frontieres open to you.I'm stuck in 1985, know very little about computers,They are the present and future in recording at least in a stationary situation. I think maybe you are agonizing over this due to the Sergeant Pepper syndrome. Anolog is cool and alot has been and can be done with it. You can get attached to this cool vintage gear Too, I am. I would hate paying 50 bucks for a tape,esp. with a half hour of recording time,Might as well hang myself in the studio due to the pressure of recording, watching that reel move 100 mph. Just kidding. consider selling your recorder and some gear,pursue your digital setup, and get a nice tascam 388. You would have a nice sounding anolog alternative available + a mixer and the 1/4 inch tape it uses is about 15 bucks?
 
Yes!
You have the best of both worlds!

Record your drum tracks on the tape..HOT!
Slam it into the red on every kick and snare beat. Any crunchy guitars, power chords etc do the same. Bass guitar and vocals also if you have enough tracks.

Now transfer these tracks to digital. (Computer or hard disc unit)

Add the sweetening tracks (Keyboard, strings, other fills) on the computer.

You will have the warm sound of analog tape compression, and the clean digital signal processing, as you mixdown.

Dom Franco
 
I think anyone is kidding themselves if they think that 1/2" 8 track has a better sound than a decent sound card and a DAW. Sure..I have a Tascam 38 analog reel to reel too...but it collects dust and is just used to play old stuff for the fun of it once a year. I don't think you can compare a semipro product such as the Fostex or 1/2" Tascams to a pro 1" 8 track as far as sound, warmth, punch and just general fuzziness in your heart. Get a good sound card, some Waves plugings and it'll blow away your midiverbs and alesis priced compressors, etc. Plus the editing capabilities will make you never go back. I don't even bother to punch in much anymore...I just record that section and edit it in. Keep the DAT..you may want to still mix thru your board on some of your favorite outboard effects (and it is tough on a lower priced DAW to make effect changes on the fly, for instance)...and you can then bounce your DAT back to the computer digitally and finish editing ...and not to mention archiving your stuff on CDs....How many reel to reel tapes to you have that are starting to go bad??...I've got a whole closet full of them. Oh yeah...my computer is much faster to record on and to get going than the reel to reel...so that argument is out too!! You might consider Cooledit as a start for multitracking (no MIDI however)....it is pretty inexpensive and packs a wallop for its price.
 
I know your equipment probably isn't quite up to par with Tom Petty, but he would piss on a digital recorder before he recorded on it.
Give me live instruments and a good analog machine any day. I own a digital recorder, but if I had the money, I'd go analog and hire REAL players. This silicon chip crap is getting old. kmar
 
Hey, We all would love to sound as good as Brittany Spears .........Express yourself with what you have,The problem with tech. is you can feel like your on a tread mill, catching up and not concentreating on music....Time waits for none of us.If it's great and recorded decent, It will be heard.At some point. Maybe not in your life but hell,we are not putting sideing! Music
 
With all expensive high priced mics and pres and consoles and effects aside, just think about how many kick ass albums have been recorded on analog, and how great they sounded? I myself am an analog man, and I'm looking into getting a Tascam 688 cassette 8 track now, but I may look at going the reel to reel route. I don't care if it might be "too late" for that...screw technology...if I wanna burn a CD, sure, I'll mix it down onto my computer...but I'm not going to edit it much there. I'm happy with my Tascam 424MKIII (anyone wanna buy? elbart0@home.com) recorder...I just want more tracks now.
 
I used a Tascam TSR-8 in my studio for several years. It was fantastic! S/N ratio better than 102 db, and HEADROOM! man could you slam that tape! I made the switch to digital several years ago, but I miss that tape recorder every once in a while!

Use what you have...save your bucks...and let your ears be the judge!

Enjoy the music Too!~\

Dom

[This message has been edited by Dom Franco (edited 07-17-2000).]
 
I, too, use a TRS-8, which some of my friends find strange because (like you) I work with computers all the time, love programming, etc. But I like computers for almost everything but music, for some reason. I think it's the simplicity of an analog recorder that I enjoy (and I can't imagine why someone could get a DAW running faster than looping a reel and hitting a power button). Computers offer a lot of choices, and for drum-n-bass and electronica people, to whom music and technology make great bedfellows, choices are wonderful. I just want to record rock songs; I don't want to remix them a zillion times.

So that's the thing: If you do want to experiment with editing, and if that's part of the recording bug that bit you, go digital. If you want to record songs, keep what you have. It sounds to me like the bug that's recently got into you might have a little bit of a technology-fetish to it, in which case I'd highly recommend going digital. If you've got the money, go for it! And if you decide to sell your old studio, think of me!

One last thing that always bugs me: An earlier post mentioned the sound quality issue re: 1/2" v. 1" v. binary. Honestly check out the difference between something recorded on each medium, and try to distance yourself from fashion. There is a distinct difference between sound recorded as magnetic particles on analog tape and sound recorded as 1s and 0s in a data file. The argument re: which sounds better always comes down to a subjective ideology. I fully admit I'm in the retro-tape-saturation, "warmer" analog camp (I even buy most of my music on vinyl and burn it to CD if I need to listen to it at work or in my car, but that's mostly for economic reasons). Mark my words, ten years from now, the 16-bit digital sound we so hate will be colored by nostalgia, and someone will sell a plug-in that mimics it. It's all subjective.
 
Would you die-hard analog enthusiasts consider me a sell out if I mix down onto my computer, and do minor 'editing' (more properly 'cleaning up') such as volume, hiss removal, etc...or would I be considered a sell out for using a digital effects processor for reverb (i.e. Lexicon MPX100), or compressors? I have an opportunity to go for a digital 8 track instead of buying this Tascam 688 analog 8 track, and I just really like analog, and I too record rock songs...I'm not into that whole editing bullshit...if you screw up the first time, do another take! Screw copy and paste.
 
it seems that the computer "editing bashers" are viewing editing as a song creation process only. Sure it can be that if you want it to. But editing goes much farther than that, including such things as fades, crossfades, volume adjustments, EQ, mic pop removals, editing the heads and tails, time streaching/pitch correction, noise removal....on and on. And as far as doing another take...sure that is great...but what happens when your musician is long gone from the session and you need to fix just "one small part" on what was otherwise a better than perfect take that you discovered on a playback at a later date?....just my two cents. And...I still say that those who prefer an casette medium for multitracking because it is analog, over the "harshness" of digital only shows to me those people have not heard what can be done with digital...or anything home brew on any medium for that matter. It only shows their lack of education on the evolving process of recording equipment. ya, ya , ya ya!!!!!! thx...;-)
 
Cassette and 1/4 inch tape have their limitations for sure,But for someone like myself it's perfect.I did not have to mortgage my future to get my gear,I understand it,mostly, and still can make great sounding tapes. I figure if I do record in a "Full Blown studio" some day,It makes more sense for the studio owner to be the one paying for and understanding all the equipment and making money from it to pay for it. If my stuff sits for weeks,I'm not losing any money.Boils down to what your comfortable with, But yes,Computers and DA88's and such,That's it
 
El Barto: If anybody thinks using digital is a "sell-out" that person is plain silly. :)
I would definitely go with the digital 8-track instead of the 8-track cassette if both can give you what you want. 8-tracks on cassette isn't that great... Nigel however already has an analog 1/2" 8-track, which is basically pro-equipment. To get better sound with digital he will need pro digital stuff. We are talking $thousands...

Mixmkr: Yeah, good points. That is really some good editing functionality that you really want and need. If you are planning to make a commercial CD, that is. Or if you are making a demo of how good a recording engineer you are. But if you are making a demo out of your songs, then the A&R person will NOT dump your tape in the dustbin because there is a bit of tape hiss or a pop here and there or the song fades too slowly or because the guitar is a bit to loud...
 
you're right regebro.....about the A&R person being able to see ("hear") thru an amatuer mix. However, I strive to make finished product "demos" and feel that it is possible at home without "selling the farm," so to speak. I would think that to be a goal for many musicians now-a-days who might poccess a little recording saavy.
 
Nigel - use what you have - a tascam 8 track with DBX is a great thing - just get back into recording - who cares if it's digital or anoalog - if it sounds good and makes you happy that's all that counts.
 
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