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Post by donr on Aug 25, 2017 13:49:04 GMT -6
I think what Bob O. said about multiple mics/trks recording room tone makes sense as far as audibility of non-dither'ed truncation distortion. On my laptop with AKG 712 cans, I couldn't hear more (any) noise or distortion on either of Ragan's clips.
I asked MOTU's Dave Roberts about what DP does with its Hardware I/O plug, and he said DP presents the send with a 24bit fixed signal, and DP doesn't dither on the way out.
DP doesn't dither the 2 mix output either unless you want it to, there's dither in the Masterworks Limiter. He did recommend dither whenever reducing the output bit depth.
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Post by donr on Aug 25, 2017 13:28:13 GMT -6
Wow, Sweden/Scandanavia rock for GS.
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Post by donr on Aug 24, 2017 13:13:10 GMT -6
I 'blind test' in a DAW using the John Kennedy method. Close your eyes and click the mouse on the bypass button so fast and so many times you don't know if it's bypassed or not. Then choose which state sounds better before opening your eyes. Then I know if the process I'm trying improves things or I'm fooling myself.
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Post by donr on Aug 24, 2017 0:39:02 GMT -6
Can't imagine building dither into DAW I/O plug sends would cost anybody anything. What do DAW makers think of dither?
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Post by donr on Aug 22, 2017 23:05:36 GMT -6
I almost posted the Amper AI article I read here yesterday, but decided not to bring people down.
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Post by donr on Aug 21, 2017 20:37:41 GMT -6
Nice photo Ragan, a bonus here when you get some good detail of an gear rack like that.
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Post by donr on Aug 20, 2017 13:56:48 GMT -6
Wiz, how much Zulu did you use?
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Post by donr on Aug 19, 2017 20:25:46 GMT -6
Sounds great Peter. Sweet, clean, balanced and seductive.
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Post by donr on Aug 17, 2017 21:03:48 GMT -6
Martin, An R.C.A plug, Wire strippers, solder and a soldering gun would do it 15 minutes. I'd find it hard not to be able to solder and be in the music business. It started with me at 10 years old when I had to solder my first broken guitar cord. When I was 9, I assembled Eico and Gromes amp and tuner kits for my Dad and my next door neighbor. My only mishap ever was soldering an RCA pin plug unsecured and having the pin's molten solder spring up and hit me in the face and eye. Luckily, not the cornea or pupil. Object lesson.
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Post by donr on Aug 15, 2017 4:17:30 GMT -6
I just discovered Chris Cornell's 2015 record "Higher Truth" which he made with Brendan O'Brien. It's really good.
Tunes, lyrics, parts, sounds and mix are moving, inspiring and durable, especially in the context of today. I guess I never heard anything from it at the time. Check it out if you haven't heard it. Chris won't be making any more of these.
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Post by donr on Aug 14, 2017 15:31:48 GMT -6
Great thread about a depressing reality. I'm so fortunate I can still sing and play today, people still come to see me, and I make a good chunk of income off stuff created decades ago.
Still, I'd be hard pressed to pay a studio today what I'd need to make a decent record 100% there. I would track basics (drums) somewhere, and get some genius to mix after overdubbing at home. Not like the old days.
BOC did the 'Mirrors' record with Tom Werman. It may not be the most "BOC-like" record we did, but Tom was a pro and knew what he was doing. Kudo's to engineer Gary Ladinsky for the sound of the record.
I'm thinking about trying Billy Decker to mix something.
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Post by donr on Aug 14, 2017 14:54:13 GMT -6
Warmth and crispness. That kinda says it all. Yeah! Fresh out of the oven goodness. Yum!
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Post by donr on Aug 11, 2017 18:32:45 GMT -6
MYN, thanks, I should pad down the input on the WA76. It is a little noisier than my other gear.
I don't mind the LED's on the mic, it's good to know both sides are getting phantom power. There's light for each circuit. You only notice it in subdued room.
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Post by donr on Aug 10, 2017 21:34:27 GMT -6
Here's the Townsend Sphere mic with the phantom power LED's lit. It's like singing into a little juke box. In the background is WA-76 serial #001. I must have got sent that by mistake!
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Post by donr on Aug 10, 2017 16:24:23 GMT -6
The pre's were Apollo Twin Silver, with no Unison plug. You could use two of any pre, as long as you have UAD interface or DSP to run the software and calibrate levels if the pre's don't have detents. Then you need UAD to use the software after recording.
Without the software you can use the mic as a stereo mic, you address the edge of the capsules. The software allows you to blend any combination of models when you use it that way. I haven't tried it yet.
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Post by donr on Aug 10, 2017 14:14:15 GMT -6
Here's another Sphere comparo, before I leave for another five days on the road. Mic into Apollo Twin, linked Stereo. Into DAW. Just vocal, a chorus of "Burnin' For You." In the DAW playback, UAD Sphere software, into UAD 1176AE 8-1, UAD LA-2A Silver, each shaving 1-3 dB off the peaks, UAD Pultec just touching 5k on the broad side, and just attenuating 60z about 1 ½. Typical voice flattering. DP Masterworks limiter shaving another 3-5 dB on the bounce. I bounced a clip of each mic model, tweaking it to get what I thought was the most useful sound on my Focal CMS65's. The surprises to me were the 49, the 57, the 87 and even the 451. No surprise was the 67 and the C12. The Coles I wouldn't sing into, even though I could balance the response with tweaking. And No DSP was pretty good too. Unpack this folder in the Finder or the Windows equivalent and you can switch back and forth rapidly. www.dropbox.com/sh/tbuu8vz22jpibip/AADnqiZzizobuB8Ajxh7VkL-a?dl=0The weirdest part was tweaking the pickup patterns on playback. Put it from cardiod to omni, and you can hear my room in omni with any mic model. Dang. Get a couple of these mics and you could re-balance an ensemble after the fact of recording.
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Post by donr on Aug 10, 2017 13:54:41 GMT -6
Cool, I didn't realize this mic existed. I'd like to try it.
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Post by donr on Aug 10, 2017 9:45:07 GMT -6
Is the software useful/available without the mic? IOW, say someone has a hardware clone of one of the modeled microphones. Does/can the software help zero-in the clone sound to perhaps a more realistic offering? The software is for sale on the UAD store for $199. When you buy the mic you get a coupon which makes it free. I don't know if it's available outside UAD. The software is written for the mic, a LDC stereo mic with two capsules 180º apart and two discrete outputs. Theoretically you might get similar intended results with two of any mono mic in a 2 channel back to back configuration, addressing one side of the two but recording both. I'm thinking with any of this tech, it's not so much how close to the reference model the mic sounds, it's whether what you're hearing and recording is pleasing and useful.
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Post by donr on Aug 10, 2017 9:26:53 GMT -6
I liked "C." Sounded musical, controlled and had no audible faults. Didn't compare to the others tho.
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Post by donr on Aug 9, 2017 20:36:52 GMT -6
Same file I think donr cheers Wiz It's the same link/url. You're right, I'll fix the url tomorrow to the other file.
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Post by donr on Aug 9, 2017 20:33:57 GMT -6
How freaking cool is it to have Buck Freaking Dharma posting tunes here... What really sucks is when Don's in town and your to sick to go hang! Hey Don did you get the Broken pot fixed? Eric's talking about the Volume pot on the Cheeseberger, the guitar in my avatar. It broke off the circuit board after 19 years. I was able to order a new board and control pots from the guy that supplied them to Steinberger orginally. I bought a couple spares too for the future. I played Kansas City a couple weeks ago and missed seeing Eric. We met the last time I was there with Boston.
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Post by donr on Aug 9, 2017 20:23:23 GMT -6
I'm just feeling my way around this mic and what it may do. I think I worked it a little close for not using a pop filter, and it went into the Apollo without any Unison pre's or any processing to DAW. Just clicking through the models, the 67, 87, and C12 seemed useful to my voice, the 47 would work with some EQ. I want to try it with another pre-amp. Sphere recommends if you want saturation, to run the model software first, but I'd like to try the Stam 1073 on it. The neatest feature of the software to me was the ability to alter the proximity and axis orientation after recording. I liked the sound of the mic about 60º off axis oddly enough it smoothed out both the voice and the guitar. I also settled on a loose cardiod pattern and slightly less proximity than spec'ed for the mic. I was also pleased with the sound of my room, after the Jeff Hedback treatment was installed. I could hear no glaring evil at all, even as the room retains some life and room sound.
I want to try it as a stereo mic. It's possible to use two different mic emulations in the stereo mode too.
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Post by donr on Aug 9, 2017 11:17:44 GMT -6
I finally got a chance to put up the Townsend Sphere microphone I bought last year and was shipped during a period of heavy touring for me. It's a stereo mic, with a multipin jack split out into front and back XLR cables. It's designed to be monitored through the UAD Sphere software, and recorded into a linked stereo channel. With the software, the mic sounds like a mono mic, with adjustable pickup patterns and off axis and proximity adjustments available both real time and after the fact for all mic models. If you don't monitor through the software, the two capsules appear left and right. It can also be used as a point source stereo mic. My first impression was it was a good sounding mic, I liked what I was hearing through the cans as I set it up. The mic has four white LED's inside the head basket that indicate phantom power to the two capsules, a neat touch that looks good in subdued lighting. I did a quick demo, voice and acoustic guitar together, the mic about half way between them, about a foot away, no pop filter or screen. Then I listened back, selected the U67 model and adjusted the axis and proximity and filters to taste, and added a bit of sweetening with UAD Manley Vari-mu, UAD Pultec and some Slate 480 plate. I didn't try to make it loud, the RMS is -22. It's a fair example of the sound of the mic. The different models sound distinct, but likely not as different as the modeled mics themselves. www.dropbox.com/s/tidat8amjhggg4f/Sphere%2067%20In%20Thee%20mix%20copy.mp3?dl=0Here's the same performance with a model called Sphere Direct. It had more bass so I rolled off some on the Pultec. www.dropbox.com/s/79qj8udebipkch7/Sphere%20Direct%20In%20Theemix%20copy.mp3?dl=0
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Post by donr on Aug 8, 2017 9:58:39 GMT -6
Well, the internet has disrupted the hell out of the music business, as much as any I guess. Even I don't want to own music if I don't have to. I do appreciate live performance much more than I used to. I'm seeing much more artists live and not listening to records so much.
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Post by donr on Aug 8, 2017 9:20:36 GMT -6
Yeah, I'd also like a full screen size rendition of the cover art and package too. Why not?
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