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Post by nick8801 on Jan 18, 2020 7:47:14 GMT -6
I always find it interesting when people say they can hear more separation in an analog sum. If that’s happening it must just be a bit of saturation bringing out the different elements in the mix. If you have a good ear and can mix well, it’s pretty easy to get separation from a DAW sum. There’s and old saying that our ears/brains can really only focus on 3 things at once. If you want separation, just make less stuff important at any given time in a mix. If you still need that saturation(which I do!) then just get a nice stereo outboard chain going, but I still think I can get cleaner mixes by staying in the box and not reconverting everything.
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Post by nick8801 on Jan 18, 2020 7:40:15 GMT -6
Really excited about this release....at first I was like ugh another DAW, but this looks interesting, and for free it’s totally worth trying out. I do miss the fun of speculating on products though! Can we start a thread where we just guess what’s coming next from companies?? Also, I still really think a hardware box ala McDsp would be the next logical step in the UAD plugin universe. I still hold my prediction that that is what UAD3 will look like!
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Post by nick8801 on Jan 12, 2020 22:13:00 GMT -6
I’ll play, since this is sparking my curiosity as well...I’m going with external analog fx box, controlled digitally, like the McDsp thing. But I bet they do it at a much better cost and offer several varieties. 2 channel for stereo processing stuff, maybe 8 and 16 if you wanna track with real analog enhanced plugins as opposed to just digital emulations. We will see.....
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Post by nick8801 on Dec 30, 2019 9:17:00 GMT -6
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Post by nick8801 on Dec 30, 2019 9:16:22 GMT -6
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Post by nick8801 on Nov 5, 2019 13:18:20 GMT -6
I always follow the Nike slogan of "Just Do It". Sometimes you gotta just keep going. Maybe a guitar part is a little off, or maybe a vocal is out of tune, but you will never finish anything if you keep questioning every decision. It should always be about emotional performance anyway. I can't even count the amount of times I've argued with people over minute details when the performance was really great. It's easy to criticize small minute details when you're the performer, but it takes some skill to step back and listen to the emotion of the performance because chances are, that's what the audience is going to hear. What's interesting (and I tell bands this all the time), is that I actually encourage other performers to leave in some of the warts, but when it comes to my stuff, I'll do take after take until it's "perfect". I do the same thing. I think I re-did the vocals on my last record several times before I was happy. If I was working with another engineer or producer I'm sure they would have told me that they were fine several takes ago. On the other end of the spectrum, I work with an artist who almost always refuses to do more than one take on anything. He really wants to capture the energy of the first performance. Sometimes it works great, sometimes not so much. It really is song dependent. Go for emotion and you will succeed.
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Post by nick8801 on Nov 5, 2019 12:43:36 GMT -6
I always follow the Nike slogan of "Just Do It". Sometimes you gotta just keep going. Maybe a guitar part is a little off, or maybe a vocal is out of tune, but you will never finish anything if you keep questioning every decision. It should always be about emotional performance anyway. I can't even count the amount of times I've argued with people over minute details when the performance was really great. It's easy to criticize small minute details when you're the performer, but it takes some skill to step back and listen to the emotion of the performance because chances are, that's what the audience is going to hear.
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Post by nick8801 on Oct 24, 2019 19:19:00 GMT -6
I sort of did this on my latest record. Everything was recorded with a vintage u87 into a Useful Arts sfp30. Even di was the little solid state Fearn into the Useful Arts. The only exception was vocals which was an sm7 into the same pre.
Here’s an example....
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Post by nick8801 on Oct 11, 2019 15:31:30 GMT -6
So it’s been a few weeks and I just wanted to give a little update. In short, the B2 is knocking my socks off. Anything that has ever bothered me about conversion is out the window. Low end now records much more defined and solid, and there is no weird smeared high end. Things just sound a little more 3d and real. I’m also finding sample rate is more obvious. Just for fun I switched from my standard 48 to 96. The high end on my acoustic and cymbals was just really pretty, and very much like it sounds in the room. I am using the Burl set to -16 which is just a touch under what they recommend starting with. It’s a little more open to me there. I haven’t had a mix project to work on yet, but I’m sure mixing into it will be equally devine. All in all I don’t regret my purchase one bit.
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Post by nick8801 on Sept 29, 2019 11:37:17 GMT -6
...which piece of hardware would make the biggest improvement on the mixbuss over software for me, leads me to ask......Which piece of gear, from Summing, plugins, comps, eq’s, mixers, transformers, etc made the biggest difference in improving your sound ? Am I the only one who's tired of questions about processors being answered with advice about monitoring and acoustics? It's just the most overdone thing on audio forums everywhere... for decades... Yawn... When people ask about processors, can't we start assuming that they have their monitoring covered? Just to save space? Sorry for the rant, it's just enough already. And my coffee is too strong this morning! To answer the first question the OP asked - If I had to pick a "piece of hardware that would make the biggest improvement on the mix bus" it would have to be the Hendyamps Michelangelo tube EQ. There's some magic in that box and it's versatile. Lots of coloration when you want it or relatively clean EQ when you want that. It's also great for tracking. It looks like the OP also asks a more general question about non-mix-bus processors overall. I find it impossible to answer that question with just a single piece of gear. It's an amalgamation. So I refer back to my first answer. I hope this helps! Fair point....in that case I’d say quality preamps. I recently picked up a Useful Arts sfp30 and it’s my favorite preamp I’ve ever used. Also, the Izotope stuff has made life very easy in plug-in world. So much so that I sold many of my outboard pieces.
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Post by nick8801 on Sept 28, 2019 6:40:59 GMT -6
Are you into ribbon tweeters? I had a listen to the newer Adams line a while back and thought they were excellent. The s2v’s were really clear and punchy, but the larger s3v’s were really enveloping.
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Post by nick8801 on Sept 28, 2019 6:32:47 GMT -6
Sound treatment, my u87i, and a pair of ns10’s. A balanced room, a great microphone, and a microscope on the midrange. I’m working faster than ever and having a lot more fun! Just added a Burl B2 to the mix...that might add to this equation in a few months....
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Post by nick8801 on Sept 27, 2019 15:57:43 GMT -6
Got it today!! I only had about an hour to experiment but I did try bass and acoustic guitar through the Burl and the Apollo. First impressions were really positive. Low end seems tighter/stronger. Sound quality seems a little bigger overall. I didn’t mess too much with the input control but even set in the middle I’m hearing much more clarity. Can’t wait to stack a bunch of tracks with it.
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Post by nick8801 on Sept 26, 2019 4:45:22 GMT -6
I wouldn’t call what I paid cheap, but it was definitely much cheaper than buying new. I looked at that 2192 but decided the Burl would probably be a step up. Supposed to arrive tomorrow but I’ll be away all weekend. Just listened to the masters I got back on a solo ep I did. Everything was recorded with a Useful Arts tube preamp and the Apollo 16 mkii. I have to say I’m really happy with the sound of things. I did run my two mix out to my Buzz SOC 1.1 as I felt it added a little depth, but overall the sonics are pretty great in my opinion. I’m really curious to see what the Burl can bring to the table.
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Post by nick8801 on Sept 22, 2019 12:02:09 GMT -6
Just scored a Burl B2 for a very good price on Reverb. I looked at everything available out there, and the Burl was really the only thing that checked all my boxes. Looking forward to putting it to work! If I don’t find it makes enough of a difference I can easily flip it for what I paid. Will report back!
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Post by nick8801 on Sept 16, 2019 17:50:58 GMT -6
Been using SSL converters since they bought Sydec over a decade ago. If my current setup ever dies and I can't figure out a way to fix it, I'll probably go MOTU unless SSL gets back into the studio converter business. I have a friend who swears by his old ssl converters. I also have a friend with a motu and his stuff sounds great. Perhaps I’m barking up the wrong tree with the converter hunt, but I’ve always needed to touch the pot to see if it’s hot lol.
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Post by nick8801 on Sept 15, 2019 17:46:27 GMT -6
Good suggestions so far...mix capture is not an issue as I’m basically all in the box. No need for DA. I’m happy with what I have at the moment. Just looking for something to give the tracking a little extra love so my in the box work is better. Looks like the Burl is still top of the heap. I’m doing a lot of rockish and popesque stuff so I think that might be the best option. Appreciate the input!
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Post by nick8801 on Sept 15, 2019 8:40:36 GMT -6
My current converter is a blakface apollo 16. It’s great for tracking full bands, which I do occasionally, but most of what I’ve been doing is one or two tracks at a time. I’m also mostly in the box these days, and I’d like to put most of my focus on the front end. If you guys had to pick one really great AD to pair with the Apollo for a more high end flavor, what would you choose? I’m thinking Burl is the obvious choice, but what else is out there? JCF? Apogee? Looking for something that can up the sonics by a few inches. I’m happy with my pres/mics/room, so let’s hear it? Any suggestions I should be considering?
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Post by nick8801 on Sept 3, 2019 8:06:31 GMT -6
Great video!
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Post by nick8801 on Aug 17, 2019 22:30:47 GMT -6
Love mine as a mono drum overhead. It’s also a killer guitar amp mic. It actually works really well on some vocals too. I believe Eric Valentine uses it in unique placements to get his one mic drum sound. It is rather low output, but with the right preamp, man it really has a sound.
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Post by nick8801 on Aug 9, 2019 6:50:59 GMT -6
Tried these out yesterday....really liked the 176! On another note I finally tried Capital Chambers! Holy ****! That is all.
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Post by nick8801 on Aug 7, 2019 6:48:11 GMT -6
The reps for Blue are good people. I’ve met them at AES several times and they’ve told me they would send demos if I was interested. Just an FYI! The big bottle is a killer mic. Every once in a blue moon (no pun intended) they go for sale with a complete cap kit over at Sweetwater.
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Post by nick8801 on Jul 27, 2019 13:49:31 GMT -6
I like whatever the first examples are. There is a little more presence that makes it feel finished, where with #2 I feel I would reach for some kind of processing. Both sound really great but #1 is my preference.
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Post by nick8801 on Jul 25, 2019 18:45:16 GMT -6
So many UAD plugins! I really never bought plugins before I got into UAD. I was fine with stock plugins. Here’s a few I don’t think ever even made it to a final mix....Elysia Alpha Comp, Cooper Time Cube, Thermionic Culture Vulture, Ocean Way maybe once...there are definitely more but I’d have to dig through my library to remember them all. Like Ragan said, I don’t really regret any of them. I did learn a lot by using them, I just wish I wouldn’t have been so impulsive when I was building my system. I’ve had to get the Izoptope Production bundle, Slate subscription, and the Soundtoys bundle for school and I have to say I do really like all of it, especially the Izotope stuff. But I mean how many plugins can you really use on a mix??
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Post by nick8801 on Jul 25, 2019 7:24:01 GMT -6
Love Buzz Audio. I’ve had an SOC 1.1 comp for several years, and although I rarely track with compression anymore it’s still one of my favorite compressors. It has a nice “glow” to the sound and seems to bring everything forward a bit. Sounds great on some mixes too!
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