Tape Sim Before OR After Comp In Chain?

B

BigEZ

The Devil Has Blue Eyes
Hi All,

Seriously looking at picking up a Portico 542. When tracking I have a ribbon mic to a ribbon pre then to an opto comp. Would you put the 542 before or after the comp?

Yes, I understand that many would rather commit to this once the track is down but I prefer a tasteful bit of everything while tracking. So, if you were of the same preference, where would you put the 542 in the chain?

Thanks.
 
Or would you forego the comp all together while tracking? I understand the tape sim can act as mild compression on its own. I would only be using it for vocals, acoustic guitar, clean electric guitar, cajon and shakers.
 
I don't think it matters much....try it both ways and see if either way sounds better to you.
Not really sure what the 542 does to the signal (yeah, tape sim, but what's it doing to get that)...so like EQ for instance, during tracking you would put that before a comp...generally...but it's not an absolute rule.


Also...I assume you have a 500 series power unit for it...?
 
Forgot to say thanks for the response Miroslav.

After some digging on Rupert Neve's website, they recommend that the comp goes bedore the tape sim. I suppose that answers my question. Although I do have another question ;) Would a tape sim offer mild compression on its own? I read online that tape sims naturally taper the peaks. Is this true?

Basically I purchased an Anamod Realios to go with my pre but it came nonfunctional. So I'm thinking of returning it and going solely with the 542 if it will compress in a mild way while tracking. Also looking at going with an Inward Connections Brute as a replacement comp if not.

FYI, not impressed at all with the build quality of the Anamod Realios for the price. Even the power light isn't seating properly in the casing and can be easily moved around. Very cheap build IMO.

Thanks
 
Not all tape sims do the same thing, but in general most of them have some level of compression added.

I usually only add tape sims into the master, I don't use it on individual tracks, although if you want to emulate the old days, place the tape sim where the tape actually would go in the order. If you're emulating effects on the way in while tracking, then put the tape after all the effects in the plug-in chain. If you're emulating effects applies to the recorded tape, then put tape down first.
 
It depends on whether you want to simulate processing on input to tape or or processing post the tape!

FWIW, I generally have my tape sim effects (read plugins) inserted in the first slot to simulate the tracks being fed from a tape machine. I pretty much set the same effect amount on each input to start and then adjust the amount per track as I go.

My 2c (ZAR).

Cheers :)
 
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