Software vs Hardare mixing

  • Thread starter Thread starter HangDawg
  • Start date Start date

Software or Hardware mixing

  • Software

    Votes: 156 63.2%

  • Hardware

    Votes: 91 36.8%
  • Total voters
    247
I use a TASCAM 2488 to record and mix...then bring the 2 track stereo master into Wavelab for all the final goodies. It's done by USB there's no D/A A/D conversion.
 
RAMI said:
I use a TASCAM 2488 to record and mix...then bring the 2 track stereo master into Wavelab for all the final goodies. It's done by USB there's no D/A A/D conversion.
Click to expand...

Can you run that by me in some detail? no conversion via USB? :confused:
 
At home, on my own: Software mixing.

At work, with clients and deadlines: Hardware mixing.
 
mixing

If you have the proper setup, hardware mixing is where it is at. They don't make millon dollar SSL consoles for nothing. Even when I mix out through my Mackie 32/8 bus, everything sits in its place in the mix. Whenever i mixed on sonar, everything would seem to kind of get jumbled together. I only have 1 Motu HD192 i/o so I usally can fit 30 tracks down to the 12 outputs I have. It just sounds better for rock music, to me at least.
 
I'm pretty neutral with the topic. I run my delta 1010 both in and out of my mackie 1604 vlz pro. I like editing through software (mainly protools), as its a more graphical approach for editing, you kinda get the concept WYSIWYG.

A digital mixer kinda is what i'd like to look into later, or a control surface.
 
100% ITB, as with every other classical engineer I Know.

There are some fantastic software tools, just gotta know which ones are good and how to use them.
 
THis is a digital age

I think software mixin is cool coz every one can do this its cheap and ...

will be the industry standard in a few years whre ther keyboard :confused: may be replaced by some fader buttons for audio thing.........


Yo for software mixing............. :cool:



software mixing is coool coz i cant afford hardware mixin :)
 
I do all my editing and mixing ITB because of budget, but am not satisfied with the results.

I am very pleased with the ease of editing clips. I can clean up tracks quickly. Edit out a squeak, a cough, or a fret buzz. Repair a dud snare drum hit. Maybe run a limiter or compressor on a track here or there just to get dynamics under control. I love it.

But when it comes to mixdown, I think my skill may be beginning to surpass my equipment. I notice the slight "blur" of my cheap mic pres. I notice the lack of spaciousness between instruments. I notice the harshness of anything that I have over processed. I long to hear the warmth that analog offers.

I think I can probably afford a new small mixer like perhaps the Onyx 1640 but then, what do I use for D/A conversion? Don't I also need at least 16 high quality DACs to send to the mixer after editing? Now we are talking twice the price of the mixer, aren't we?

I do have an REM 24 channel ADAT lightpipe I/O soundcard but only cheapo A/D D/A converters by Behringer and SMPro.

How important is that conversion in all this? Is it critical that they be good quality? Will it defeat the purpose if I used a few Behringer ADA8000's in reverse? ...Or will I still notice problems?

RawDepth
 
If I could afford the hardware to mix with hardware I would. I would want to have one hell of a board that I could never afford though. I would also need way more outboard gear, but the board..... There's the money. I don't think you can beat the dead nuts real time eq of board mixing and being able to sweep the frequencies. Nothing really can compare to twisting that knob on a parametric and instantly hearing the difference between settings. at least not for me at this stage. I think software mixing makes me settle for mixes that could be better. Actually I know it does.

I am happy for how much we can do with software, but eq really suffers in my opinion.

F.S.
 
Well, if it is the hands-on twisting and turning that you really miss, you can always pick up one of those Mackie CAW controllers or something similar. Then you can ride faders and twist pots to your heart's content at a fraction of the price of a real board.

I had one for a while, but found I was using the mouse more and more and the board less and less, so I sold it. But sounds like it might be perfect for your situation.
 
littledog said:
Well, if it is the hands-on twisting and turning that you really miss, you can always pick up one of those Mackie CAW controllers or something similar. Then you can ride faders and twist pots to your heart's content at a fraction of the price of a real board.

I had one for a while, but found I was using the mouse more and more and the board less and less, so I sold it. But sounds like it might be perfect for your situation.
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Well an interface is an interface. I would end up back at the mouse just like you. Most of the interfaces have 1 to 3 knobs and a bunch of buttons. They say they are 24 or 32 tracks and have 8 faders. If I have to sit and press buttons to get the faders or knobs to control what I want then I have gained little if anything. I think, like you the mouse is better for that.

I could use a better computer to reduce latency, but I will never be able to throw up a mix intuitevly like on a console. Can you imagine mixing live music with a daw? I can't. Fast freedom is what I would love to have.

Anyway. It's a total pipe dream for me. I will never be able to afford it. I will improve my daw again and again. You have to be making money off it to have the type of setup I would want.

F.S.
 
this is kind of a double edge sword I got nothing against old school analouge knobs and switches but I love my salvaged tascam US2400 daw controller i tend to find though my digital kit (whats left of it) to be more reliable and not as tempramental as analouge kit, plus i really cant be doing with baking tape reels (a whole other story for a later date lol) it's a compromise between human connectivity with technological advancement.
 
Eccentrica said:
this is kind of a double edge sword I got nothing against old school analouge knobs and switches but I love my salvaged tascam US2400 daw controller i tend to find though my digital kit (whats left of it) to be more reliable and not as tempramental as analouge kit, plus i really cant be doing with baking tape reels (a whole other story for a later date lol) it's a compromise between human connectivity with technological advancement.
Click to expand...

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that I want to use tape. I want a hybrid set up, but with a super nice board. You know, dual mid parametrics, all that good stuff. Would love a 4 way paramectic on each channel:D Mmmmmmm.

Better stop I end up in deep debt.

F.S.
 
hindustudiosgod said:
I mix in my brains. Sonically, Acoustically, Electrically and Mechanically. I am THAT brilliant.
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All Hail hindustudiosgod! :rolleyes:

So what keeps up with your brain the best? software.... hardware?


F.S.
 
I think waffles are hindustudiogod's mental competition (or equivalent).
 
I always thought that it'd be too much of a hassle to mix solely with a software interface (mousing) but I have come to revise that stance. I think it's all about your ability to "see" how your mixing. There are some people that just know, within the set limits of a physical unit, where to place a knob, fader or slider to get a particular result. With software being a little more variable, and more insistant on always placing a number somewhere around what your interacting with, it's doesnt give them that intuitive feeling. Perhaps it's with the software interfaces you have to do too much thinking about things that arent important. You can't just close your eyes, listen and let your hands wander the controls to find a sound.
 
hardware if i could, software since it's mostly what i can afford right now.
 
Projbalance said:
Perhaps it's with the software interfaces you have to do too much thinking about things that arent important. You can't just close your eyes, listen and let your hands wander the controls to find a sound.
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I think that's an excellent point, something I've never heard anyone articulate. At AES, a panel of industry legends were talking about the importance of ergonomics in console design, and how your hands just know where to go on a well designed desk. Going to a control surface helped get that back a little bit for me, but it's still not the same thing. It's almost the difference between touching the sound and touching things that manipulate things that manipulates the sound.

I WANT MY AMEK CONSOLE BACK!!!

But then, there's some things gained for some things lost.
 
Robert D said:
I think that's an excellent point, something I've never heard anyone articulate. At AES, a panel of industry legends were talking about the importance of ergonomics in console design, and how your hands just know where to go on a well designed desk. Going to a control surface helped get that back a little bit for me, but it's still not the same thing. It's almost the difference between touching the sound and touching things that manipulate things that manipulates the sound.

I WANT MY AMEK CONSOLE BACK!!!

But then, there's some things gained for some things lost.
Click to expand...

Wow this is an old thread, but the fact that it came back to life is interesting to me in light my new found joy of mixing OTB.:D

My new mixer is a joy to mix on and I had no idea what I was missing until I mixed with hardware. Using my hands is a whole new experience and one I like much better than mixing with a mouse.:cool:
 
I say, equipment doesn't matter. It's the acoustics. Good performance in a room that either sounds good or imparts less characteristic into the audio miced properly using ANY mic but mixed digitally will always sound better than a mediocre performance in an untreated room with proper micing through good mics mixed digitally, and it goes the same way if you mix either event with hardware!

That's why drumagog, beat detective and auto-tune were invented. More cheap hardware, more musicians, less skill over-all. Gotta make up for the lack of ability somehow. Sadly, the level of musicianship most bands has gone down the tubes since recording became so much more about editing than about the music contained therein. I don't mean technical proficiency in the form of speed, I mean emotion and dynamics and tempo! The amount of flat-fingered, stiff-wristed guitarists, cymbal-bashing lazy drummers, vocalists who rely on an underpowered PA to hide their voices and root-note clanketty clank bassists around is gonna have a much bigger effect on your sound than your goddamn mixer/computer.

But in the end, ANALOG! But it ONLY matters if the human element is there in full-force!
 
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