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Post by drbill on Sept 19, 2020 12:36:17 GMT -6
2) Hybrid mixing is fucking awesome. AMEN!!
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ericn
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Balance Engineer
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Post by ericn on Sept 19, 2020 12:42:40 GMT -6
Every monitoring change, it’s always meant relearning what’s going on.
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Post by rowmat on Sept 19, 2020 13:17:15 GMT -6
Our studio ended up in a kind of an early 1970's time warp in terms of the style of artist we both attracted and recorded.
The sonic game changers that helped to solidify the sound we had in our heads were the acquisition of several KM84's, Coles 4038's, Pultec style tube EQ's and the mighty EMT140.
Oh and not polishing everything to 'perfection'.
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Post by EmRR on Sept 19, 2020 13:42:01 GMT -6
...Runner-up= 8 channels of Collins tube preamps EMRR sold me. Unfortunately, they don't get along with the Neumanns hahah Probably needs the Gotham mod put back in!
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Post by tkaitkai on Sept 19, 2020 14:16:41 GMT -6
1. Neumann M149. Being able to just put up a mic and record vocals and have it sound exactly like what I hear in my head is a dream come true. Spending years agonizing over my vocal recordings with all kinds of cheap and expensive mics made me super appreciative of what having the right mic can do.
2. iZotope Ozone EQ. Kind of an odd choice, but for me, EQ matching guitar tones has been a revelation. I no longer struggle with distorted guitar ITB. In my head, I have a hierarchy that goes something like this: real amps > Kemper > EQ matching > everything else.
3. Having a massive drum library. I've probably wasted hundreds of hours scouring the internet for "rare" drum samples, but it's been super rewarding and has made a big improvement to my drum sounds.
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Post by ralphverdult on Sept 19, 2020 15:32:18 GMT -6
So many over the decades.... How about ONE every 5-10 years? If we can play it like this... The 2 reverbs I bought in the last years, a 480L (2018) and an EMT 140TS (2020), make choosing reverbs sooo much easier. No more scrolling through plug-in presets, just plug in the real thing and there it is!
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Post by wiz on Sept 19, 2020 17:29:39 GMT -6
Hard to say... but probably my Vintage U87
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Post by zonkola on Sept 19, 2020 22:29:34 GMT -6
1) Acoustic panels - not sexy, but the tide that raises all boats 2) Retro Sta-Level - OMG vocals
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Post by lando on Sept 20, 2020 0:32:53 GMT -6
Biggest difference for me was without doubt treating my studio with lots of GIK acoustic panels and bass traps. That made every microphone I owned sound infinity better.
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Post by subspace on Sept 20, 2020 9:45:10 GMT -6
Switching from a Mackie to a Trident Trimix console. It was 19 years ago so I have to be reminded periodically. Last rock tracking session I wasn't loving the bass tone, tried unplugging from the outboard 1084 and going direct through the board, instant better fit for the track. Went ahead and tried the same with the guitar and vocal outboard channels and yeah, the tracks just rock together. 'A great rock board' is kind of a vague description until you run through that exercise.
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Post by johneppstein on Sept 20, 2020 12:30:44 GMT -6
The biggest?
By weight or by physical dimensions?
The former would be the Studer A800. The latter would be the Soundcraft DC2020 console. (yes, it's a pun, but also true.)
This might surprise some people, but the third would be the Antelope Orion 32, which gave me the ability to not use the Studer, which I didn't have with my previous converters, which were capable of taking anything and "converting" it to somerthing audibly less. Some people have problems with the Antelope stuff, but it's been 100% solid for me and sounds great. And now I have the same number channels of conversion as I do in my console.
For mics, probably my first Pearlman TM1, which I prefer to my older U87Ai, which is itself a fine mic. And, of course, my first KM84, which is, well, a KM84.(so is the second...)
And there's the Latch Lake 2200 stand, which beats the pants off my Atlas studio stands. The Latch Lake DOES NOT droop. Haven't tried it, but I swear I could probaly hang my 234 pounds off the boom. It might tip, but I doubt it would droop.
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Post by marylin on Sept 20, 2020 14:23:20 GMT -6
For me it was my first DIY U87 clone when Ive stuffed there geniue Neumann K87 capsule; and M49 clone...
In the last days DIY dual output microphone totaly changed my workflow (same princip as AA oc818 etc...).
Lucid 88192 ADDA was for me eye (ears) opening experience! So much more details in my recordings....
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Post by nick8801 on Sept 20, 2020 19:16:44 GMT -6
Tough question...honestly for me, it was making the decision to go back to school for music production. I’ve always recorded music on some level since I was around 19, but in my late 30’s I kind of hit a wall and I was getting frustrated with my work. No single piece of gear was saving me at that point. When Berklee started offering online masters in music production, I jumped on it. Not only did I get to study with some incredible teachers, but it upped my teaching salary, so now I can keep buying more gear lol.
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Post by plinker on Sept 20, 2020 22:13:04 GMT -6
Monitoring: Pelonis 42 + Sonarworks
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Post by prene1 on Sept 20, 2020 23:20:07 GMT -6
Cranborne 500adat & Mixbuss 32c ( minus all the crashes ).
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Post by prene1 on Sept 20, 2020 23:21:07 GMT -6
For me it was my first DIY U87 clone when Ive stuffed there geniue Neumann K87 capsule; and M49 clone... In the last days DIY dual output microphone totaly changed my workflow (same princip as AA oc818 etc...). Lucid 88192 ADDA was for me eye (ears) opening experience! So much more details in my recordings.... The lucid stock or revive audio modded ?
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Post by ragan on Sept 20, 2020 23:47:49 GMT -6
Those 88192s are sleepers. I've been meaning to grab one forever. A good friend and I shot them out against our Symphony MKIIs, our Apollos, his Avid/HDX box. 88192 was consistently in the top couple for us when we listened blind. You can get them for next to nothing these days.
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Post by johneppstein on Sept 20, 2020 23:58:33 GMT -6
Those 88192s are sleepers. I've been meaning to grab one forever. A good friend and I shot them out against our Symphony MKIIs, our Apollos, his Avid/HDX box. 88192 was consistently in the top couple for us when we listened blind. You can get them for next to nothing these days. Not supported anymore.
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Post by ragan on Sept 21, 2020 0:29:15 GMT -6
Those 88192s are sleepers. I've been meaning to grab one forever. A good friend and I shot them out against our Symphony MKIIs, our Apollos, his Avid/HDX box. 88192 was consistently in the top couple for us when we listened blind. You can get them for next to nothing these days. Not supported anymore. People just use ADAT into other interfaces. Easy and cheap way to add 8 nice sounding ADDA channels.
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Post by marylin on Sept 21, 2020 0:47:59 GMT -6
For me it was my first DIY U87 clone when Ive stuffed there geniue Neumann K87 capsule; and M49 clone... In the last days DIY dual output microphone totaly changed my workflow (same princip as AA oc818 etc...). Lucid 88192 ADDA was for me eye (ears) opening experience! So much more details in my recordings.... The lucid stock or revive audio modded ? Stock...
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Post by nomatic on Sept 21, 2020 5:32:26 GMT -6
The Dutch and Dutch 8C Monitors and my JCF AD-8 convertors x2
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Post by sean on Sept 21, 2020 7:17:24 GMT -6
At home, strangely, a pair of ATH-M50X headphones. I've been mixing a lot of records on them since March and they translate surprisingly well. What I really need to hire an electrician so I can get my wiring updated in the basement to actual uses other stuff without blowing breakers, but these have been making it less of a necessity.
At the studio, a EMT 140 and BX10 reverb. They've just been the "sound" of a lot of records and are unique to the space. Everyone's UAD EMT 140 and BX20 sound the same, but real analog reverbs definitely "define" a studio. And now I really regret not buying an Ecoplate II that was for sale here in Nashville last month. It would have looked good in the laundry room!
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Post by Mister Chase on Sept 21, 2020 9:05:48 GMT -6
Single biggest... probably when I went from a Roland Octa Capture to a Lynx Aurora. Now I'm on an (n). They made a huge difference in everything going in or out. I'd say that's a big deal. Everything changed for me at that point for mixing and tracking.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 21, 2020 10:25:58 GMT -6
My 1980 Marshall JMP 2204. Start with the best possible source. I record bands that play crazy loud distorted guitar tones and I have no qualms about "imposing" my rig (also a 1970s Marshall cab with Greenbacks... perfect pairing) on people. This has consistently made my life A LOT easier and the more guitar-driven records I've worked on sound awesome. Honorable mention to Electronic Audio Experiments Mu Blaster boost/overdrive pedal. I can't overstate how incredible this thing is, even if only used as a tone control. It clowns every similar pedal I've tried and I'll shout that from the top of a mountain any day. Speaking strictly studio gear? I'm not sure. I don't have a ton so I agonize over every purchase and value what each thing contributes equally (but also, my MC77 ).
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Post by svart on Sept 21, 2020 10:42:22 GMT -6
Very hard to say..
For overall mix improvements, probably stepping up to my first pair of real professional monitors after using random cheapies and regular speakers for years.
For workflow and general abilities, would be Reaper because before that I used both hardware recorders and random softwares with no real overall DAW capabilities.
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