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Post by tkaitkai on Nov 8, 2022 16:54:25 GMT -6
Go ahead, fess up. Name gear or anything audio-related where you've changed your mind, gone back on your word, or done a complete 180.
- TLM49: I used to think this mic was horrific on my voice, but my room + front end were both dogshit at the time. The recordings I have still sound awful, but it was likely my fault. Calling BS on myself for this one.
- MXL V67G: I thought this mic SUCKED when I had it. Listening back 10 years later, I actually don't think those recordings sound bad at all. A little honky, and not my preference for my voice, but surprisingly decent for $100.
- 1176: I've had/used various 1176s, and I was convinced that they were cool but "too dirty" for my taste. I discovered what was actually making all of my recordings sound "dirty," and it had nothing to do with analog gear. I take back my claims. And now I want an 1176 again. Dammit.
Post yours!
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Post by kcatthedog on Nov 8, 2022 17:02:59 GMT -6
Interfaces, I listen to old recordings and think room for improvement but also not shitty, why’d I spend so much dough on various interfaces ( but I do love my aurora N!)
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Post by tkaitkai on Nov 8, 2022 18:56:56 GMT -6
Interfaces, I listen to old recordings and think room for improvement but also not shitty, why’d I spend so much dough on various interfaces ( but I do love my aurora N!) Same. Sometimes I listen back to old recordings I did on an M-Audio interface from 2006 (as well as a 2nd gen 2i2) and I'm shocked at how good they sound.
I still stand by my distaste for the MKI Apollos, though.  |
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Post by WKG on Nov 8, 2022 21:06:12 GMT -6
When I saw the thread title I thought it was for those seeking absolution for gear purchases hidden from spouses etc....  |
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Post by ab101 on Nov 8, 2022 22:25:11 GMT -6
When I saw the thread title I thought it was for those seeking absolution for gear purchases hidden from spouses etc.... That Sweetwater candy that they throw in the box has bought me some valuable time for explaining! |
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Post by WKG on Nov 8, 2022 23:14:18 GMT -6
That Sweetwater candy that they throw in the box has bought me some valuable time for explaining! That stuff is trail spoor for my wife, once she sees that she knows something new is somewhere in the house... |
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Post by jampa on Nov 8, 2022 23:52:20 GMT -6
Both of: over-thinking and under-thinking
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Post by christopher on Nov 9, 2022 0:29:41 GMT -6
back in my early days I thought neve / API / Neumann / SSL was dumb because old timers never tried any new cheaper stuff
I never considered that was like saying all Fender/Gibson/Marshall/Martin are overrated because they never tried and Ibanez and Line 6
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Post by copperx on Nov 9, 2022 0:47:56 GMT -6
I used to spend 90% of my mixing getting a satisfactory static balance from beginning to end and then the remaining 10% automating.
Excitement doesn't come from static balances. Those percentages ought to be reversed or, at the very least, be 50-50%.
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Post by trakworxmastering on Nov 9, 2022 9:24:12 GMT -6
External clocking. This was many years ago. I had bought into the hype about external clock improving the sound of interfaces. I thought my Big Ben clock was improving the sound of my Digi 192 I/O and I even touted it on my website. Eventually I printed files with and without and did a blind A/B listening test. Internal clock won. Oops! Confirmation bias is a powerful thing. 'Ditched the clock and never looked back. "Leeeeeet's just pretend that never happened..."  |
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Post by svart on Nov 9, 2022 9:28:06 GMT -6
When I started buying gear in the 90's, I used to think that a little modding of really cheap gear would make it better than pro-level stuff that I couldn't afford. I wanted this to be true so badly because I didn't want to accept the fact that I could never possibly afford better gear (at the time) and I needed to put my hopes and dreams into something tangible, like modding, rather than accept that my mixing skills were sub-par.
So when I finally built my first Neve-type preamps I had expected angels to descend from heaven and deliver me "finished" sounding tracks.
They did not.
This only cemented my resolve that pro-level gear was a complete crock-of-shit money grab and I doubled down on modding cheap gear instead. Wasted years of going down rabbit-holes of tone, punctuated by occasionally building things like an 1176 only further clouded my judgement as nothing seemed to deliver me from mediocre-tone hell.
Only when I started using better converters and monitors did I start to notice differences in gear and I learned the next big lesson I had willfully ignored: Doesn't matter what gear you own if you can't hear the differences. Monitoring matters above all else.
I came full-circle and decided to go all-in on pro-level gear and I suddenly heard what I had only dreamed about.. Better quality. From the same gear that I had written off as being profiteering bullshit only a few years prior. I learned the 3rd hard lesson: pro-level gear is indeed pro-level because it gets you results faster but it's not infallible because you're still in charge of using it.
I then went crazy with hardware during tracking and ended up fucking up a bunch of tracks on a number of sessions and then swearing off using baked-in tones during tracking.
I then did the same thing with ITB/OTB thinking that OTB simply HAD to be superior.. Convincing myself that I heard the difference and that I was superior for using hardware for mixing.. And finally coming around to realizing that I didn't hear any significant difference and I'm much faster and better almost completely ITB for mixing now.
Now I'm back to baking-in tones during tracking because it's so much easier and quicker.
I could go on and on about things I've completely messed up over the decades, but these are the biggest fuck-ups I think I've had and they all come down to my ego and lack of experience being in the way of my learning and growing.
Keep those minds open, even to things that are negative. You can't grow and adapt if you stay in a bubble.
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ericn
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Balance Engineer
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Post by ericn on Nov 9, 2022 11:54:57 GMT -6
Talent, and understanding the physics will get further with a Mackie then a newbie with no knowledge with a Neve.
Listening to hype will get you no where, listening and judging for yourself is everything.
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Post by mcirish on Nov 9, 2022 12:31:28 GMT -6
I'd have to agree about monitoring and room correction. For too many years, I kept thinking that my room and monitoring was fine, yet my mixes had some serious issues that always had to be fixed in mastering. I was adamant that I could just "learn" my monitors better and be fine. Years of self-doubt and struggling to hear what's there. Finally did a lot of room treatment and correction software. Instantly went from "eh" to "good". If you can't hear it correctly, you can't mix it correctly.
I still drool over way too much stuff that will make very little difference. But that's why we are here; to console each other in our compulsive behavior.
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Post by copperx on Nov 9, 2022 13:24:16 GMT -6
NS-10s. When I first got them, I thought they were simply speakers with an odd frequency response that you had to learn, just like every other speaker. Mixing with them at 85-90dB and getting things to translate was even more difficult than with monitors with a flatter frequency response. Stuff was all over the place. Not to mention, listening to them at even 80db for more than 10 minutes resulted in a terrible earache (and Steve Albini hates NS-10s for that reason, the ear pain). I still don't understand how I can get an earache in seconds from listening at 80dB with NS-10s, when I can listen to other monitors at 95dB for minutes with absolutely no pain. I regretted my decision to buy such violent speakers and disconnected them.
Much later, I read that Andy Wallace and CLA mix at whisper levels. Below 60dB. I decided to give the NS-10s one last chance, and then I saw the light. I turned them almost all the way down, but not to the point of any instruments disappearing. NS-10s are mid-forward, and when you turn them down, they become even MORE so. It turns out that when the volume is down, tracks that have conflicting frequencies beg you for separation. And often, you can achieve this with a simple eq move. In speakers with fuller frequency responses, it was common for me to whip out Equilibrium and carve stuff with many EQ points. When you're in NS-10s, it's clear how sometimes ONE move creates all the separation you need. With this clarity, sometimes you realize you don't need eq; a simple level change resolves overlapping frequencies! But that's not all. The insane transient response that is probably responsible for the icepick-like earaches lets you set compression exactly. You can hear what different attack and release settings do to the icepicks (transients), whereas in fuller speakers, you merely hear faster attack times as dulling the high end and differences in the release are really hard to hear unless you make it extremely quick. After spending one or two hours tweaking the mix with the NS-10s I switch to the fuller range speakers and listen with awe ... "wait ... I made this mix? That quick? Everything's so clear and in the right place!" Confirm in the car. Everything is where it should be. Magic. A big caveat, though, is the bass and kick. Getting a sub or setting the bass levels in other monitors solves that.
The whole "if the mix sounds right in NS-10s it will sound good everywhere else" is garbage. The mix never sounds good in NS-10s. However, the things scream at you if there are overlapping frequencies or uneven dynamics. If you fix those things and then look at the big picture, your mix will be almost done. Use the time freed up by the NS-10s for automation and voilá.
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Post by ab101 on Nov 9, 2022 13:40:39 GMT -6
"... But that's why we are here; to console each other in our compulsive behavior. ..." Wow - you nailed it. I knew I had a gear problem for years. I thought I was the only one who had such a problem. Then I found gearslutz. I knew I was not alone. And now this wonderful forum. There is a balance between wanting a whole of gear and being able to make use of what is practically available based on one's economic situation and other priorities in life. And as Eric said above, a great recording person can make a Mackie work out well. Certainly, there has been great "art" stirring the souls of people that has been made on what many today might consider "mediocre" gear. A great artist can figure out a way to work with most mediums. And like "Breakfast for Tiffany's" - no matter what I bought, it is like this: "Because no matter where you run, you just end up running into yourself." Eventually, the gear can only take one so far. The rest is self-improvement. (I am learning this about singing - it is great to have a great mic, but it is even better to do the vocal exercises!) Anyway, my rambling thoughts of the day! |
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Post by stratboy on Nov 9, 2022 15:04:58 GMT -6
Great thread! Keep bringing the hard-won wisdom.
For me, there is no substitute for a good sounding room. That’s where it all starts for me. Only took 20+ years to get there. 🙄
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Post by jaba on Nov 9, 2022 15:59:32 GMT -6
In the early days of digital I immediately started plastering tape-sims and saturators on a lot. Once I got better monitors I realized they were usually doing more harm than good. I'm now back to using them, but there's some really good ones now (and I like to think I'm better at knowing when they're actually helping).
I also look back very fondly on a Mackie Onyx I used for conversion some years ago. The conversion wasn't bad really, but I adored the ability to use it's analog sends to throw things into (in my case) either a SpaceEcho or a dbx118. Lots of happy accidents that got baked into the tracks right off the bat. I miss that.
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Post by drumsound on Nov 9, 2022 17:24:23 GMT -6
I'll confess to allowing things to be 'good enough' sometimes. Like that instrument could sound a little better, but that's gonna take time and effort, and this sound 'good enough.' I regret it sometimes, but more often than not, I don't remember what things I said it about after the day is over.
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Post by tkaitkai on Nov 9, 2022 17:52:34 GMT -6
I'll confess to allowing things to be 'good enough' sometimes. Like that instrument could sound a little better, but that's gonna take time and effort, and this sound 'good enough.' I regret it sometimes, but more often than not, I don't remember what things I said it about after the day is over. I love this and I do the same thing all the time.
This reminds me of another thing I've done a 180 on: harshness.
For a good 3 years or so, I was obsessed with killing any semblance of harshness, and it basically had me fixated on ultra-nitpicky shit that no one will ever care about.
What stopped this was honing in my listening skills & realizing that a TON of my favorite mixes are, in fact, kind of harsh. Turns out I like a little harshness. Who would have thought.
Nowadays, I have a very simple solution: pull up a similar reference and level match. If my mix doesn't hurt my ears by comparison, just leave it alone. Let it be "harsh." So what.
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ericn
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Post by ericn on Nov 9, 2022 18:24:18 GMT -6
I'll confess to allowing things to be 'good enough' sometimes. Like that instrument could sound a little better, but that's gonna take time and effort, and this sound 'good enough.' I regret it sometimes, but more often than not, I don't remember what things I said it about after the day is over. Yeah, sometimes you know you just have to keep things moving for creative reasons, sometimes it’s balancing performance/ sonics and sometimes if you go all protectionist you know your never going to see completion/ get paid. |
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ericn
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Post by ericn on Nov 9, 2022 18:26:00 GMT -6
Hear is another one, there are times you realize you are not there to make them sound good but to confirm what the artist thinks sounds good.
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Post by Ward on Nov 9, 2022 18:57:53 GMT -6
Bless me father for I have . . .
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ericn
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Balance Engineer
Posts: 15,011
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Post by ericn on Nov 9, 2022 19:29:12 GMT -6
Bless me father for I have . . . Your penance is one of every Audioscape product shipped to me at… |
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Post by geoff738 on Nov 9, 2022 19:34:39 GMT -6
I like SM7s. Not just on screamer vocals. Kick drum. Guitar cabs.
Cheers,
Geoff
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Post by geoff738 on Nov 9, 2022 19:41:00 GMT -6
I haven’t recorded a full drum kit since the 90s.
Cheers,
Geoff
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