Hey folks,
One thing i always wondered, is whether adding just a liitle hardware to the final stage of music production gives it some extra hardware "warmth".
What i'm basically asking, is whether you guys think its worth getting a multi-out soundcard and a cheap but cheerful mixer, so that music is going through at least some circuitry at the final stage. Furthermore, for live performance/mixing of tracks it gives you that extra hand-on appeal.
Is this crazy talk, or does it help to add a little to the sound?
Quincy
Worth going semi-hardware?
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- KVRist
- 381 posts since 13 Mar, 2002 from purple
i used to run everything through a TLAudio Fatman and my A&H System8 desk.
it did warm it up 100%
you are not crazy.
this is a good thing.
it did warm it up 100%
you are not crazy.
this is a good thing.
worst signature evar
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- KVRAF
- 2017 posts since 21 Mar, 2002 from Hutchinson, Kansas
In my opinion, no. I would rather mix on a good hardware analog mixer than a software mixer, but I would take software anytime over a cheap hardware mixer. You might be better off spending some bread and getting a good hardware compressor, such as a Manley VariMu or CraneSong, and run your final mix through that. For hands-on, there is always a digital mixer or a controller...at least you wouldn't be dumping it through a crappy low-end mixer's signal path (not a reference to jdg's post...I was writing this at the same time. The Effacer EP sounds great!).
If analog warmth is the goal, why not invest in a good pre-amp or DI and send some of your softsynths through that? I have found that running, say, the Arturia MMV through a good pre does wonders. Mind you, my soundcard is bustin' with inputs and outputs.
If analog warmth is the goal, why not invest in a good pre-amp or DI and send some of your softsynths through that? I have found that running, say, the Arturia MMV through a good pre does wonders. Mind you, my soundcard is bustin' with inputs and outputs.
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- KVRAF
- 8701 posts since 24 May, 2002 from Tutukaka, New Zealand
I'll second Scot....on absolutely no accounts buy a cheap desk if you want to improve your sound - cheap h/w is exactly that - cheap and generally poor quality. A nasty desk will likely muddy up your mix and add noise and horrible wideband nasty Eq, and double up on sounds by bleeding across adjacent channels etc etc etc. That is not what warming up tracks is about at all.
There certainly is an argument for using h/w desks for the analogue circuitry they use - on a good desk, the sound can be noticeably different (notice I say "different" not better). But for that, you need a quality desk, not a crap one.
In exactly the same way that if you want to warm up a mix by s/w, you'd do it with a quality plugin such as PSP, Sony Inflators or whatever - NOT by running it through a cheap and cheerful Cyanide plugin for example!
There certainly is an argument for using h/w desks for the analogue circuitry they use - on a good desk, the sound can be noticeably different (notice I say "different" not better). But for that, you need a quality desk, not a crap one.
In exactly the same way that if you want to warm up a mix by s/w, you'd do it with a quality plugin such as PSP, Sony Inflators or whatever - NOT by running it through a cheap and cheerful Cyanide plugin for example!