Can you ever "warm" something up with digital?

[fairlyclose]

there is always a mapping from a signal in the digital domain to any other signal in the digital domain. So if you have heard something over a digital system that sounds warm to you then yes it is possible to warm things in the digital domain.

[zerocrossing]

I’ve had (what I thought was great) ITB mixes going. Sounded great in the car, phone tablets airpods etc etc. But then I run it through some outboard comps and eqs or master processor, and the mix gets an extra 5-10% boost in clarity, becomes more 3D, and overall the tone is much more balanced.

So in summary, “digital warm” is still somewhat cold, lacks a bit of life. But “analog warm” is like sitting by the fire place with a nice warm blanket, drinking hot cocoa.

So to the OP, you want analog warmth? Go get yourself some analog gear!

Why cant we all just agree to these facts and continue from there?

Because facts have this property that they can be proven scientifically. Say, in double blind A/B testing. Whereas

There is a Problem with 'Digital' mainly in the Upper End of the Frequency - spectrum, which can elegantly be solved by adding some Outboard - gear; lets say a Tegeler Creme or an SLL Fusion, or even cheaper, older Units, which will really help your Mixes and also not abuse the Ears of your Mastering - engineer. Call it Glue, 3D and clarity or just the last 10-15% you cannot achieve with Digital (only).

fails even basic logic and sanity checks.

Hey I did not write that second quote, that is from another user but somehow you put my username on it? Would appreciate you correcting that!

And blind A/B test are as unscientific as you can get. Everyone hears differently and blind A/B test have nothing to do with facts when it comes to analog vs digital.

Those are your words. 100%.

[vurt]

Digital is somehow good enough for medical use but not good enough for 4 drunk bastards with subpar guitarwork and shitty lyrics. C’est la vie

well, syringes filled with chemicals are good enough for medicine as well, but you never hear of musicians using that!

[FrogsInPants]

There is a Problem with 'Digital' mainly in the Upper End of the Frequency - spectrum, which can elegantly be solved by adding some Outboard - gear; lets say a Tegeler Creme or an SLL Fusion, or even cheaper, older Units, which will really help your Mixes and also not abuse the Ears of your Mastering - engineer. Call it Glue, 3D and clarity or just the last 10-15% you cannot achieve with Digital (only).

fails even basic logic and sanity checks.

Hey I did not write that second quote, that is from another user but somehow you put my username on it? Would appreciate you correcting that!

And blind A/B test are as unscientific as you can get. Everyone hears differently and blind A/B test have nothing to do with facts when it comes to analog vs digital.

Those are your words. 100%.

No, that was El°HYM.

viewtopic.php?p=8514119#p8514119

[gearwatcher]

Well you 100% haven't quoted them in your post so it's a bit rich nitpicking about my quoting.

As for AB testing - I call bullshit.

The only difference that would matter at all in this case (especially given the poorly defined dubious and outright stupid term like "warm" which on average means 20 different things to 10 different people) is the perceived difference.

And if people that otherwise claim they could always hear the difference, could not prove to be able to in a double blind AB tests, we know that they are victims of their own perception fooling them and the alleged difference isn't actually perceptible.

Failing to meet that criteria the correctly quoted but is certainly not a fact.

[zerocrossing]

Well you 100% haven't quoted them in your post so it's a bit rich nitpicking about my quoting.

As for AB testing - I call bullshit.

The only difference that would matter at all in this case (especially given the poorly defined dubious and outright stupid term like "warm" which on average means 20 different things to 10 different people) is the perceived difference.

And if people that otherwise claim they could always hear the difference, could not prove to be able to in a double blind AB tests, we know that they are victims of their own perception fooling them and the alleged difference isn't actually perceptible.

Failing to meet that criteria the correctly quoted but is certainly not a fact.

When I worked in an A/V store, we’d always get a dude coming in and asking about high end cable. I’d take them into our audiophile room and let them listen to something really nice and say, “that was regular cable.” Then I’d press a button on the switcher and say, “now this is [insert name of high end cable]. Do you hear the difference in clarity and separation? How much more vivid the sound field is?” 100% of the time I was told that they heard a difference. There was no alternate cable routing. They were listening to the identical thing twice. Then I’d explain what I’d done and offer to sell them whatever cable they wanted. Some still went for the expensive stuff.

[zerocrossing]

There is a Problem with 'Digital' mainly in the Upper End of the Frequency - spectrum, which can elegantly be solved by adding some Outboard - gear; lets say a Tegeler Creme or an SLL Fusion, or even cheaper, older Units, which will really help your Mixes and also not abuse the Ears of your Mastering - engineer. Call it Glue, 3D and clarity or just the last 10-15% you cannot achieve with Digital (only).

fails even basic logic and sanity checks.

Hey I did not write that second quote, that is from another user but somehow you put my username on it? Would appreciate you correcting that!

And blind A/B test are as unscientific as you can get. Everyone hears differently and blind A/B test have nothing to do with facts when it comes to analog vs digital.

Those are your words. 100%.

No, that was El°HYM.

viewtopic.php?p=8514119#p8514119

My bad, I was looking at the first quote.

[_leras]

human perception in general is pretty poor

Yep, bet there's not a single person in the world that's turned an EQ knob on the wrong channel and though they heard the sound change for at least a few seconds...

Digital is pretty good these days though.

I'm sure analog still has a small edge over the best models, but....

With digital I can make a chain with ten plugins, parralel channels, etc, lots more flexibility.

[_leras]

Why cant we all just agree to these facts and continue from there?

There is a Problem with 'Digital' mainly in the Upper End of the Frequency - spectrum, which can elegantly be solved by adding some Outboard - gear; lets say a Tegeler Creme or an SLL Fusion, or even cheaper, older Units, which will really help your Mixes and also not abuse the Ears of your Mastering - engineer. Call it Glue, 3D and clarity or just the last 10-15% you cannot achieve with Digital (only).

I'm not convinved you can make 10-15% difference with analog, that you couldn't with good digital emulations.

I think there are several great pultec style eqs, lots of good compressors in n digital too.

I don't actually hear a problem in the top end frequencies with digital. Do you have an example of an issue you've faced?