I never inteneded for this to become some big debate Max, but you made some strong statements that I see as unfounded. You made statements about equipment that you have never even used, so I find it hard to accept the overall premise. It is true that many people do mix ITB currently. However, that does not mean that a bunch of outboard gear was not used in the process. It is very common practice for engineers to use all sorts of outboard equipment during the tracking phase as well as the mixing phase. In fact, of the many high dollar engineers and producers I have met, comping and EQ'ing during tracking is much more common than not.
You certainly have your right to your opinion. I even find some valid poiints in it. I just have a hard time when you reference things that you have no experience with. I know that many of the digital plugs have attempted to model some of the OD and harmonic distortion properties of the original analog outboard, but none of them have managed to do that all that effectively. Once again though, I certainly don't see a lack of analog outboard equipment to mean that great work can't be done. When using the plugins as opposed to the actual outboard though you have to think and work differently. They just don't sound the same and don't do some of the things that the outboard does.
As far as analog outboard being gone in 5 years, those same predictions were made 10 years ago. They were made again 5 years ago. The truth of the matter is the digital has found its way into the industry and I do not see it going anywhere, but it has shown no evidence of forcing outboard gear out. In fact, just the opposite has happened. I agree that the large format analog console is losing market share, but it won't disappear. The fact that many people are mixing ITB has more likely increased outboard sales. A project that is done completely ITB at the bigger studios actually increases the demand for analog outboard. Now all of a sudden you have to have more outboard EQ's and comps to get the sound right so that you CAN effectively mix ITB. When you are sitting in front of an SSL 9000 you have 100 channels of quality EQ's and usable comps built right in. When you are sitting in front of a Digidesign ICON, you have to have racks behind you to get the tracking phase down as planned. Look at the market, outboard comps and EQ's and preamps are flourishing more now than ever before. We have more companies, more products, and higher sales in those areas than ever. I do not think I would view a market in such an upswing as a market in danger of failing. At least not in the next 5 years.
Like I said before, my biggest issue in this thread is when you make assumptions about the quality and usability and similarity of products that you have never used. It is misleading and inaccurate. If you choose to go completely ITB, that is OK. I find that to be a decision though, and not a qualitative reference to other things.
