#968656 - 07/12/00 11:39 AM
Should I Chuck It All & Go Digital?
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nigel333@aol.com
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Registered: 07/11/00
Posts: 4
Loc: ,,UNITED STATES
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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.
[This message has been edited by nigel333@aol.com (edited 07-12-2000).]
[This message has been edited by nigel333@aol.com (edited 07-12-2000).]
[This message has been edited by nigel333@aol.com (edited 07-12-2000).]
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#968657 - 07/13/00 02:28 AM
Re: Should I Chuck It All & Go Digital?
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Chris Stone
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Registered: 05/18/00
Posts: 894
Loc: Los Angeles,CA,UNITED STATES
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Hi Nigel:
Let's see what kind of response we get by Friday, 14 July.
If we don't have any answers by then, I will pass you over to Roger Nichols who is the giant expert in this area.
Thanks for joining us.
Chris
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#968658 - 07/13/00 06:04 PM
Re: Should I Chuck It All & Go Digital?
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Jon Atack
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Registered: 04/22/00
Posts: 920
Loc: Paris, France
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Hi Nigel,
I wouldn't sell your analog gear; it's a great complement to the digital system you'll ending up acquiring.
For example, the analog console is still very useful if you're recording drums (mics pres). It is your best monitoring option while recording anything that goes through the board (otherwise, you'll be monitoring after the A/D and D/A conversions with their inherent latency lag). Finally, your analog board's Aux busses are still the most convenient way to make separate headphone mixes while recording.
DAT is a convenient backup to your hard disk mixes.
Analog tape is a sound effect that you can't get with digital alone, so if you like it for certain things, then by all means use it. If you sell your 8-track, then you'll have no way of getting that analog tape sound anymore without buying another ATR. Plug-ins don't do it.
Your outboard rack gear will sound pretty different from the digital plug-ins. If it's high-end outboard, you'll probably prefer the sound of it over the plug-ins, and at the very least, you'll appreciate their complementarity and you'll use both.
Reverb, in particular, is one area where plug-ins do not yet have an acceptable sound compared to the best outboard gear. And I'll use a high-end valve outboard comp/limiter any day over a plug-in. For echo, I still prefer an SDE3000 or 2290 over a plug-in echo.
For your future DAW, the ProTools Digi 001 might be worth looking at if you don't need SMPTE time code.
Hope this helps.
Jon
Capitol Studios Paris http://www.capitolstudiosparis.com
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#968659 - 07/14/00 10:13 PM
Re: Should I Chuck It All & Go Digital?
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Chris Stone
Gold Member
Registered: 05/18/00
Posts: 894
Loc: Los Angeles,CA,UNITED STATES
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Hi Nigel:
I hope we get more replies like Jon's so plan to leave your question on this forum.
I would suggest you also post it on Roger Nichol's forum just to get a more "digital" answer.
Roger is the best, in my opinion, when it comes to this kind of information.
Good luck!
Chris
[This message has been edited by Chris Stone (edited 07-14-2000).]
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#968660 - 07/15/00 04:04 AM
Re: Should I Chuck It All & Go Digital?
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Uh Clem
MP Hall of Fame Member
Registered: 03/13/00
Posts: 3442
Loc: Atlanta, GA USA
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Comparable analog and digital gear are miles apart in price - it would take big bucks in an analog console to sound as good as the O2Rs, D8Bs, etc digitals out there in the $8-10K range or a pro-tools system in the $15K+ range. So digital can be an economical path to better sound. And I read stories of people getting the work done with Cakewalk, MOTU, Paris, Logic Audio, Samplitude and others, so they could be worth a look.
You might consider taking small steps. Use the gear you own and are used to and augment it with a computer for mixdown and CD burning. Then you'll know if you like working that way and can begin adding multi-tracking to your computer. And as Jon points out, you'll have the benefit of choosing analog or digital depending on the sound you are going for.
I think DATs, however, are pretty much useless except for the portables for field recording. A computer can do so much more for mix down and a blank CDR is less than $1 versus $10 for a DAT. Archive to CDR - sell the DAT to a sucker if you can find one.
------------------
Steve Powell
Bull Moon Digital
Atlanta GA
music is a problem for everyone
you could hear things differently
http://www.mp3.com/stations/bullmoondigital
http://www.thedurians.com
http://www.mp3.com/thedurians
[This message has been edited by stevepow (edited 07-15-2000).]
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#968661 - 07/16/00 12:00 AM
Re: Should I Chuck It All & Go Digital?
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Anonymous
Anonymous
Unregistered
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If you're using MIDI, keep your analog mixer. Keep all your analog stuff.
I'm recording all non midi instruments and vocals digitally. I process them with outboard DSP, rerecording what I've flown out and mixing with the original digitally recorded signal or replacing the original signal. I mix all acoustically recorded signals with MIDI going through an analog board to two track digital, and then do some final EQ and compression mastering.
I've noticed that holding back and not recording the MIDI till the final mix seems to give a more textural and defined sound than recording each MIDI instrument digitally and then trying to mix. Only thing I might do is record a MIDI drum section and then use some of the "mastering" software to get a sound I can't get with my cheap outboard compressors and EQ's.
I updgraded to an Apogee Rosetta, 24/48 analog to digital converter and that has given me a significant improvement over my old AudioMedia III converters. Being able to fly things over SPDIF to some of the newer outboard DSP like Lexicon's MPX500 is also a pleasure.
The editing and punch in convenience of digital is unbelievable.
Joe Egan
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