Flying the analogue flag !
Analogue sound bites:
WHAT THE TRADE SAYS ABOUT ANALOGUE
TLA AUDIO FAT TRACK advert : : www.audioprointernatiol.com magazine : MARCH 2008
With the analogue versus digital deabte rages on ,most people would agree that each format comes armed with its own unique benefits and the smart money is therefore spent on taking advantage of both . Whether a fan of digital or analogue , there has long been an attractive compromise between the two in the form of a DAW /analogue console combination.
AUDIENT LARGE FORMAT analogue consoles :
"Classic Anlogue Solutions ............ whilst adding the sound of the best large format console technology ........
...summing in the analogue domain ensures NO reduction in resolution -making your bass fuller , cleaner and more coherent :
SOS "ON TEST" the SPECK X summing box ......" A lot of summing amps seem, deliberately engineered to provide a slightly warm, "fat analogue" kind of quality ; the X sum does'nt do that ! " Why ?
TLA Audio Ivory series advert :
"hundreds of talented artists are already benefiting from the ability to maintain the great sound of analogue recordings while maintaining the flexibility that digital provides " (using the TLA Ivory box ).... etc etc ........elusive classic sound of the analogue era remains constantly at their finger tips .
and the TL Audio : Valve front end M4 ....seeking the more traditional, expansive big console sound , a sound simply not available using an "all digital " set up ..........classic EQ (same as CP6800 ) ideal for high quality track laying and stereo mixdown the M4 also provides a tactile and ergonomic control surface .....
Malcolm Toft of his ATB console : " now you can achieve that "vintage console" sound from your recordings "
Resolution mag' : (www.resolutionmag.com)
Interview with Rupert Neve
Does digital draw you or do you remain an analogue man ?
"For many years we've been told about wonderful digital quality. Its a wonderful medium certainly, for storing editing and delivering sound but resolution is greatly inferior to analogue -a bit like comparing film quality, where resolution is probably limited mainly by lens quality, with pixels where more is always better but expensive.......
Also from the same Resolution June issue is an interview with producer Tom Elmhirst .. . "I would never dream of mixing out of two outputs in Pro Tools, I like the physical bit of mixing ...I like pushing it ,which you can't really do in a computer, I find you run out of headroom quite quickly !
From Resolution :"Warm-the new cool" : TLA advert www.tlaudio.co.uk/guy
WHAT THE USERS SAY ABOUT ANALOGUE
AudioPro January 2008 :Dave "JADE" Wooster from Coolworld Luton " I am a firm believer in both worlds . You can do a ceratin amount with editing software : cleaning and editing that be almost impossible to do on the desk (analogue) The nice thing about bringing it into an analogue desk it that it does seem to bring a ceratin amount of realism back into the tone.
"Whether you believe in fact that analogue still sounds better than digital is all relevent to what your listening to it through : some people are listening to it on a phone vesus some one listening on a £2000 hi fi system . You have to try and hit it somewhere in the middle "
"Recording onto Pro Tools I wanted something that would give a warmer analogue sound"
-Guy Berryman, Coldplay's Bass Player
I was just in Soundcraft/Harman in Potters Bar waiting in reception and I came across one of their sales brochures - it read thus :
"Soundcraft Ghost sees growing sales ! It is one of life's paradoxes that -at a time when many would have predicted that analogue audio would finally have given up the ghost (ha ha) -demand for the analogue Soundcraft Ghost mixing console continues to grow.
One of the main factors driving this success is simply sonic -a lot of engineers find that digital sounds fine, providing you put the signal through some analogue circuitry to "warm it up" first.
This is especially true in the music recording sector , where combining successive tracks of complimentary material (I think they're saying : a mix) is perhaps better handled in the analogue domain. It can be no coincidence that a high proportion of Soundcraft Ghosts are sold to Pro Tools users who regard them as "a great front end " for their computer -based systems. "
"I think ,the analogue console is still a better interface from the standpoint of summing, EQ and user friendliness-moving a fader,muting a channel, its easy to get a bad sound from a computer -it can all go south very quickly "
-Geoffrey Daking article in PSN Sept issue
Long time PC Midi User Dave Gilbraith has just done this Canadian Album called "Storm Gordon" using a Soundtracs MEGAS and PC MIDI, have a listen its nectar to the ears!
"Good to hear from you & I'm very glad you enjoyed the Storm Gordon clips from the website (which is due for an update!) Of course you're very welcome to put a link on your website...
The 'Twilight World' single I mixed on a Megas (FOH 'Megas Mix' 24-ch live console) here in Toronto, otherwise they're all mixed on my trusty PC-Midi 24 back in Scotland"
-Dave Gilbraith of Storm Gordon via e-mail
- Storm Gordon Official Website (www.stormgordon.com)
- Listen to Storm Gordon on MySpace (myspace.com/stormgordon)
The following were taken from Pro Audio Magazine: (www.resolutionmag.com):
"I love the sound of analogue,so I still mix down to analogue"
-Producer Joe Chiccarelli ( U2 ,beck, Hanson, Rickie Lee Jones, Elton John ,Tori Amos, George Thorogood, Bon Jovi and Bob Seger)
"but I'm very much an analogue desk man, much as I do love Pro Tools "
-Producer Greg Haver, from Wales (Manics, Catatonia, Superfurry Animals, 60 Foot dolls and Melanie C)
"I can't stand everything being digital, I think that sounds terrible"
-Beck
"digital sound makes the fillings in your teeth fall out "
-The Steely Dans ( some American boy-band)
"go completely digital ? no way , the Solitare (Soundtracs)is absolutely integral to our sound , the EQ is punchy as F**K !"
-Producer Aston "Freestylers" Harvey using the Soundtracs Solitare (www.thefreestylers.com)
"Analogue gear will always sound better than cold digital machines"
-Andreas Michael of Swedish Hi-End Audio distributers FLYLINE Music (www.flyline.ch)
Ben Watkins (SOS interview) : " ....felt that his mixes lacked energy and were sounding "too digital"
JAN 2007 : Paul O'Duffy is still using his trusty old Soundtracs PC Midi 24 for front end /tracking , I installed it for him 12 years ago and he's never switched it off ( until his power supply just blew : I repaired it !!! but not bad after 12 years !!
Yes, I did Swing Out Sister amongst others - recently I've been working with Amy Winehouse and I'm just finishing off an album with a girl called Amanda Ghost ( who co-wrote that god awful James Blunt record!)
You can find more details here: http://www.myspace.com/pauloduffyproductions
and http://365artists.com/producers.php
Knock yourself out...
My Soundtracs rocks
August 2005
I saw a double page spread in Aug 05, Pro Sound News for Mackie advertising thier new ONYX range of analogue mixers .One line caught my eye >> " and our all-new Perkins EQ circuitry - based on the Wein Bridge topology found in hallowed "British" desks of the 60s and 70s -offers all the warmth of British EQ ..... The Wein bridge has been used for donkeys years on all the Soundtracs EQ products , I think I was born under a Wein bridge !!!
and the footnote : "All -new Perkins EQ circuitry provides the sweet musicality of "British" EQ circuitry..........." nice one ! www.mackie.com
And why do you need an analogue console anyway ?
Please read this stuff from recent Sound on Sounds' if you've got the time:
"I would advise bands to keep a third of their budget aside for mixing. The summing of the internal busses on a Digi 01 (and PC sound cards) for example, is done with algorithms and number crunching so naturally it's your biggest compromise when you're trying to fit 48 tracks onto two. The summing of a an analogue desk, even a cheap one, is greatly improved because it's using voltages rather than numbers" From SOS
Topaz Project user :
CHECKABLE FACT: Many People still want an analogue desk to track through or mixdown to, from the outputs on their DAW system soundcard. I have discovered (as many others have) that when I send digital recordings to the line -outputs out of my computer into individual channels on the TOPAZ, the whole mix develops spaciousness, individual sound separation and warmth/depth, significantly lacking when burning direct to CD from the DAW.
March 2007 , just been to CUBE STUDIOS near Polperro in Cornwall to service Gareth Jones recently installed Soundtracs IL 36 .
he said " Tim I've had the lot in here !! A+H , Mozart , Soundcraft and this In Line is the tops !!
JANUARY 2008 : Gareth just bought a JADE 40 : it has been on his wishlist for 12 years !! No he has fulfilled his dream
I might just add he runs a huge pro tools rig with a colour monitor the size of Essex but still chooses an Analogue console to SUM and Buss ................
Useful SOS Forum link about the whys n' whynots of buying an analogue console :
http://www.soundonsound.com/forum/showflat.php?Board=MRT&Number=313114