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Post by cowboycoalminer on Jan 20, 2021 6:08:42 GMT -6
Anyone who read JohnK's thread about the vocal track he received from a singer using consumer-quality gear witnessed exactly why better gear is.. well, better. Sure there are lots of folks that will continually promote the "it's the ear, not the gear" mantra, but the truth is that better gear gets out of your way and gets you farther, faster. You can bugger anything up, including using good gear and still producing bad results, just the same way you can crash a ferrari just the same as a kia. The ferrari gets you more performance if you can actually use it but it also doesn't limit you to school-zone speeds either. I don't disagree. I should have made the original post a little more precise. I think there is a minimum threshold for what is good quality. Microphones are extremely important to have higher quality. There's just no faking it with mics. But I guess what I was getting at is we don't have to break the bank these days to get to a usable level. The really expensive stuff is nice (I've owned and used a lot of it), but just isn't a necessity to make great sounding records these days IMO. P.S. Don't skimp on mics lol!
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Post by cowboycoalminer on Jan 19, 2021 8:15:18 GMT -6
There is a lot of terrible music being made on great gear. Touché
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Post by cowboycoalminer on Jan 17, 2021 15:22:36 GMT -6
I mean, once you get into the Apollo threshold or higher, what is the "wall" that separates pro from consumer? If a person can't make great records with the technology we have today, can they ever?
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Post by cowboycoalminer on Jan 17, 2021 15:17:44 GMT -6
The Grace gear only gets praise from those that have them. And the reason that most don't have them is because of GS. If it's not Neve or the colorless flavor of the month, no one buys them. Grace Design is altogether as good if not better than anything on the market. Be not afraid.
I've owned some high end "colorless" gear. Grace is by far the best IMO.
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Post by cowboycoalminer on Jan 17, 2021 15:10:25 GMT -6
The rare times I work on my own music and mix, I way over think it. I can mix another persons song in a couple hours and feel good about it and send it along for approval, but my own stuff I’m more tempted to lock it to a grid if it’s to a click, pull out the tuner, do 50 passes of a guitar lick even though the third one was fine...it’s good to hand it off to someone else to finish if you can allow yourself to do it Sean I get what you're saying but I've never had this problem. Mostly because I don't make my main living from music I guess. I just let the chips fall. Don't get me wrong, I try to make my stuff sound good, but mostly, I just let it land where it's going to.
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Post by cowboycoalminer on Jan 12, 2021 8:49:58 GMT -6
I'm here to confess my sins: I'm a one-man-band project studio guy who doesn't mix anything beyond rough demos. I figure that if I can write a song that doesn't suck (or come up with a worthy cover arrangement) and manage to... - Nail the guitar
- Nail the bass
- Nail the drums
- Nail the keyboards
- Nail the vocals
- Nail any other samples or instruments
- Nail the groove, feel, vibe, emotion, attitude, etc.
- Track all of the above well
...then the very last thing in the world I want to do is completely %&$# up the end result with my amateur mixing "skills". If the song is worth publishing, I'll send it to professionals for mixdown and mastering.
Sure, I could learn to mix, but it'd take many years just to get to an almost-professional level. Frankly, I'd rather spend that time learning how to write better songs. My studio is set up for tracking with zero consideration for mixing, and any rough demos I mix happen ITB in headphones on a couch.
Anyone else here taking this approach?
Send it to me and let me $#(& it up. Always better to let someone else do it.
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Post by cowboycoalminer on Jan 12, 2021 6:07:48 GMT -6
That said, Id bet this is as good as the DA I have. Love to try one.
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Post by cowboycoalminer on Jan 12, 2021 5:46:43 GMT -6
I have the Grace M905.
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Post by cowboycoalminer on Dec 26, 2020 8:24:01 GMT -6
john Kenn Are you trying to send a the whole mix bus into it or parallel into it w/ sub groups & print or what? What DAW ? I’m trying to set up an insert (in Pro Tools) where I can basically put it in the insert slot and use it like a plug-in. I understand how to calculate it - figure out the delay in samples, then divide by the sample rate times 1000...that’s the milliseconds. But I can’t get it to work to save my life. I enter the values and then it does nothing. I don’t want to print and screw up my workflow...I’m over that. Takes too much time. Cubase does it automatically. Hopefully it’s coming in Luna soon. I never could get it right with PT's either. It's maddening.
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Post by cowboycoalminer on Dec 15, 2020 17:09:36 GMT -6
I thought you already had one of these. I must be hitting the bourbon, too.
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Post by cowboycoalminer on Nov 23, 2020 7:29:34 GMT -6
So, I’ve had the AMS-Neve 1073DPX here for a few months now and have been recording all of our duets for the Christmas album with it. It sounds great, but I do have some questions. I find the unit distorts really easily, so I have to keep the gain and output gain down, because Emily and I are loud. I generally have to keep the operatic stuff at 30db of gain and the output know at 10 o’clock or you can see on the digital meter that we hit the red easily and get that Neve distortion that is nice on some things, but not the kind of vocals we go for. This means the signal in the DAW is lower than I’m used to. Now, I obviously make up for the gain with a compressor emulation, etc. Perhaps it is just that I have been recording too hot for many years, which is totally probable. That’s probably my only complaint with the unit. I’ve been meaning to post about it and get some thoughts, but I just haven’t had a minute, but since we’re discussing Neve preamps I thought it might be a good time. I don’t get that kind of crunchy distortion on my Dan Alexander unless I really push it. I can usually keep the gain at 40db and adjust the output so as not to peak the converter and have no issues. Of course, the Dan Alexander is a 1272, not a 1073. Anyway, just curious if this is typical or just something with this unit. 10 oclock on the output seems very low. Should be able to dime that thing I would think. Try turning your output up and pull your input all the way back and see what happens.
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Post by cowboycoalminer on Nov 23, 2020 7:25:59 GMT -6
Anyone tried the new Heritage Audio HA73EQ ELITE or HA81A Preamp & EQ yet? I wonder how it compares to previous models and the original. I'm still using my Heritage DMA 73 I bought years ago. Had it up for sale once and no one bought it. I'm glad now. Still the best sounding amp I've got and I've got several.
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Post by cowboycoalminer on Nov 18, 2020 14:55:53 GMT -6
Buy any one plug , start a ticket and ask or call cs! Gotta buy a plugin to get demoes reset???
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Post by cowboycoalminer on Nov 18, 2020 14:12:26 GMT -6
How does one get their demoes reset? Since they've gone corporate, very difficult to get service. Still have a few of the old guard phone numbers but not sure they even work there anymore.
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Post by cowboycoalminer on Nov 18, 2020 13:26:37 GMT -6
The pres at Abbey Road must deserve a mention I would think. I've used the Trident series 80 many times, did my first album on the original classic API board and did a quick mic test on a restored Neve console. All were superb. I personally never thought the Trident 80 was all that special. The API was great, but I find they can sometimes irritate a little if you push it too hard on a vocal. Now, if API's were good enough for Tom Petty, well, they're good enough for me, but.. the best sound I've ever heard was in fact through one of those giant Neve consoles. I was at a mixing session of a James Blunt session and a Neo session. They'd done 5 tracks each live for a broadcast. I'd also heard Brad Paisley's recordings at the same studio, all done on a Neve. So, I sure wouldn't mind one of those little API boards, or an SSL, but I would have to say the big Neve console was the most impressive to me. I have the Stam SA73. It's the little 1/2 rack one channel 1073 style pre. It's wonderful on guitars and bass, but for vocals, my Dizengoff D4 ( Abbey Road clone) just sings a bit more. I would love to have one of the updated 2 channel Stam units. I'm also interested in the Heritage Audio Elite series. So far, I've heard a few Neve clones, but so far, only the Stam got me in the zone. I'd love to compare it to an original Neve one day, just to see how close it really is. Great post, Martin John Butler ! The Dizengoff is a lot better than many people realized at the time. I was lucky to grab one as well as the DA2 (RCA clone) - winetree got a pair of each! Some units were duds, but never heard a complaint from you or Robert, and mine are perfect. Nice addition to the thoughts! Hope cowboycoalminer doesn't mind the roller-coaster we're on in his thread. :-) Never. Just along for the ride, broheim. Hands in the air.
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Post by cowboycoalminer on Nov 18, 2020 13:19:36 GMT -6
Better still is a 1084 with its three high frequency options of 10, 12 and 16khz. Although the class A/B Neves sound subjectively more hi-fi/present than the Class A Neves. I agree with this. More Hi/fi yes and pleasing to the ear. But Class A just demands to be listened to, catches our attention and won't let go. There has to be some kind of psychosomatic thing going on with the 1073.
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Post by cowboycoalminer on Nov 17, 2020 13:04:39 GMT -6
to Neve. Something about the 1073 sound that is what music should sound like. Not saying that other variants can't be useful, (they can) but if I only had one sound to record music with, it would definitely be the 1073. I like other variations of Neve tones as well but the 1073 is king IMO.
Any thoughts?
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Post by cowboycoalminer on Nov 17, 2020 12:56:30 GMT -6
With any kind of DSP (Apollo/PT HD) etc, there's always a fair amount of delay that messes with the brain. I know everyone nowadays claims there's hardly any latency but there is latency. All major studios and most highly productive studios use analog to record playback with. Zero latency. What you hear is what you get.
I'm not advocating that everyone go back to analog monitoring but the pros still do. Just saying.
And the best takes I've ever gotten have been through an analog console.
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Post by cowboycoalminer on Nov 16, 2020 15:13:25 GMT -6
My Grace M905 is incredible. I have a complete lack of interest in DA conversion after buying this. Don't know what they did but they did something.
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Post by cowboycoalminer on Nov 16, 2020 15:04:25 GMT -6
I bought his Bryston 4b. Got a great deal on it.
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Post by cowboycoalminer on Nov 12, 2020 14:46:05 GMT -6
Here is my favorite underrated guitar solo. Comes in at about 1:25. Only you...
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Post by cowboycoalminer on Nov 12, 2020 12:44:24 GMT -6
Lets all get over to GS and enjoy some popcorn together.
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Post by cowboycoalminer on Nov 12, 2020 12:21:16 GMT -6
Please don't think I'm trying to take anything away from this thread. Knowing Donr, I'm sure he will appreciate this addition to the list. My vote for most underrated guitar solos. Jack Daniels is a forgotten Nashville guitarist but the man had as excellent timing and feel as anyone I've ever heard. This solo gave me chills the first time I heard it and every time since. Jack lived up to his name. Struggled with addiction most of his life. But lawd, what a guitar man.
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Post by cowboycoalminer on Nov 12, 2020 12:06:36 GMT -6
Amazing talent. Grew up listening to him, and now I know him. Should've been number one on this list IMO.
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Post by cowboycoalminer on Nov 10, 2020 18:18:16 GMT -6
Tune in today for our event with Jeff Balding featuring the new API Summing Extension for LUNA. www.uaudio.com/liveI assume Vance will be doing a demo soon? He's an old API guy.
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