Old 04-12-2019, 12:38 AM   #1
Tubeguy
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Default Mixing real drums on hardware VS. DAW

In recent discussion I mentioned that I mix drums on hardware because I can't get it to sound right with plugins. I thought I'd make a quick example of what I mean. Here is a short loop, first part is on hardware only, the second is all in DAW. Same loop. I tried to get the DAW version as close as possible but it's still lacking the clarity, punch and it's all generally bloated, blurred and it's got this slamming effect to it. (I've included some bass in it to make it more mix realistic). It's what I meant when I said digital does something evil to drums
Here it is.
https://vocaroo.com/i/s0JRCxOeIwf2

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Old 04-12-2019, 01:23 AM   #2
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They're not that different. Limit your frequency bandwidth a bit on both ends. Add some midrange saturation. It'll sound the same.
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Old 04-12-2019, 12:03 PM   #3
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It's what I meant when I said digital does something evil to drums
And you demonstrate this with a link to a digital file...


Of course digital can "do things" (good or bad) to the sound just like analog. But in general, digital is "more pure" than analog. Analog circuits always add noise and possibly distortion or frequency response variations. The noise isn't always audible, but it usually reduces the effective resolution below the resolution of a 16 or 24-bit digital audio.


It's difficult to get analog & digital effects that sound identical. Heck... Two different compressor plug-ins will usually sound different and two different analog compressors will usually sound different. The one you prefer is a matter of artistic choice.


Ignoring effects or saturation/distortion, etc., mixing is done by summation. (Analog mixers are built-around summing amplifiers.) And you know... Computers are pretty-darn good at addition. You don't see banks using analog computes to add-up your bank balance.
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Old 04-12-2019, 12:25 PM   #4
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I preferred the second one. The high end was more brittle and harsh in the first.

Sorry!
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Old 04-12-2019, 12:39 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tubeguy View Post
In recent discussion I mentioned that I mix drums on hardware because I can't get it to sound right with plugins. I thought I'd make a quick example of what I mean. Here is a short loop, first part is on hardware only, the second is all in DAW. Same loop. I tried to get the DAW version as close as possible but it's still lacking the clarity, punch and it's all generally bloated, blurred and it's got this slamming effect to it. (I've included some bass in it to make it more mix realistic). It's what I meant when I said digital does something evil to drums
Here it is.
https://vocaroo.com/i/s0JRCxOeIwf2
if you can't get the sound you like with plugins then just keep on mixing with hardware. Nothing wrong with that. It may be a matter of having set the wrong gain staging for the plugins or of using the wrong plugins, or both. Could be wrong plugin settings also. Or a less than decent interface/converter. Usually, a halfway decent converter will not introduce any noticable signal alteration (that would be a very bad converter/interface). With plugins, you have to experiment to find their particular sweet spot (depending on how hot you are feeding the signal into them) to get the best sound out of them and it may actually happen that you can't get the desired sound out of them at all. I'm experiencing this also regularly and I'm glad to be able to reach for my analog gear at those occasions.

What analog gear, what interface and which plugins were used on the two versions?

.
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Old 04-12-2019, 01:17 PM   #6
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I preferred the second one. The high end was more brittle and harsh in the first.

Sorry!
Fully agree. It is warmer
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Old 04-12-2019, 01:18 PM   #7
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They're not that different. Limit your frequency bandwidth a bit on both ends. Add some midrange saturation. It'll sound the same.
^ what he said. You can make those sound the same with no trouble at all.
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Old 04-12-2019, 01:31 PM   #8
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for a comparison like this, you should at least demonstrate the equipment/programs you used, the settings, and the process. otherwise it's not a very fair comparison or believable because both sides could be anything.
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Old 04-13-2019, 01:42 AM   #9
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They're not that different. Limit your frequency bandwidth a bit on both ends. Add some midrange saturation. It'll sound the same.
I played the clip to my kid. He could hear it right away without me asking. It becomes even more evident in the full mix because weak drums will make or break a song.

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Old 04-13-2019, 01:58 AM   #10
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What analog gear, what interface and which plugins were used on the two versions?

.
Ok, good question right here.
For analog I used Soundcraft Spirit Folio SX, Reverb is Lexicon MX300, compressor as last in chain is Fostex 3070. Snare distortion was done just by driving the mixer. By the way the drums were recorded with 3 mics in to only two tracks.

In Daw I used Clipper for snare, ReaEQ, Poorplate for reverb and TDR Kotelnikov to comp the whole set. From all VSTs I've tried, these gave me the closest results while trying to keep it as simple as the hardware.

It took me 3 minutes to get my sound in analog domain, and 20 minutes fiddling in the DAW
But that said, I think it might be possible to get closer to the analog sound but it would probably take a whole lot more time, bunch of other plugins and some frustration - at least in my case.

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Old 04-13-2019, 07:00 AM   #11
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I played the clip to my kid. He could hear it right away without me asking.
Well then I guess that completely negates what I said, including my specific advice.

Kotelnikov is hardly the compressor you want to use. That is one of the cleaner compressors. You might want to use ReaComp with RMS set to 0 (just for a suggestion of a plugin that I know you already have and works great, capable of sounding not so clean when it's used in "peak mode").

There are also EQs included in Reaper that have saturation for the various bands. Look for "4x4 EQ" for instance.

One more plugin you might want to try: Airwindows IronOxide5.

Those 3 plugins together should yield excellent results.

I could go on but if you've already decided to use hardware then I guess there might not be much point. Yes it can be frustrating to try to nail a sound which is natural in another domain. But once you understand how to do it, it doesn't take long. The first step is demystifying the whole thing.

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Old 04-13-2019, 07:26 AM   #12
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It took me 3 minutes to get my sound in analog domain, and 20 minutes fiddling in the DAW
But that said, I think it might be possible to get closer to the analog sound but it would probably take a whole lot more time, bunch of other plugins and some frustration - at least in my case.
I've spent hours/days/weeks/months dialing in my acoustic drums setup in REAPER, and have it all saved so that I simply add my template, record some drums and they instantly sound like I want because all the FX on the four drum tracks were setup and tweaked before I recorded the first drum hit.

I have a similar template for my V-Drums and Superior Drummer with as much time invested in setting it up so it can be used as quick and easy with the exact expected results every time.
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Old 04-13-2019, 07:35 AM   #13
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I wonder how hot the levels are set. That said, driving a console into saturation can be emulated, too. Moreso: it's not just one console at your disposal, but several (e. g. Airwindows, Acustica, Sknote etc.).
The workflow is different though and one has to get used to it. But once you've learned your tools, itb will be as convenient (or even more convenient due to recallability) as otb.
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Old 04-17-2019, 10:00 PM   #14
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To be able to recall is a great advantage but it's not so terrible in hardware since now we have digital cameras.
But yes, while I mix drums on hardware, I still get them as close as I can in the DAW while mixing instruments so I can say that I still do mix drums in DAW.
JamesPeters here mentions some of the VSTs I also use, Iron Oxide is often helpfull. But I'm still missing that "natural" element in the sound so after I do my mix, I re-do the drums in the hardware. Difference is that it doesn't have that plastic sound I get from VSTs.
But I'm sure music style has a lot to do with it. In my case going for 60's or even before sound, the plugins are hard to get right no matter how "vintage" they might call them.
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Old 04-18-2019, 12:48 AM   #15
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In my case going for 60's or even before sound,
That's what I do in >50% of the projects. I couldn't be happier with Nebula/Acqua in that regard, I prefer those over mid-level hardware by a mile.

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the plugins are hard to get right no matter how "vintage" they might call them.
Have you ever tried – just for the sake of experimenting – to recreate the settings of your hardware mix in software? And I don't mean ReaEQ, ReaComp etc., but more advanced/sophisticated plugins (demo the appropriate Acqua channel strips for 30 days, that's what I'd recommend. Amethyst, Gold, Water, Viridian for true vintage tones).
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Old 04-18-2019, 07:32 AM   #16
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Originally Posted by Tubeguy View Post
In recent discussion I mentioned that I mix drums on hardware because I can't get it to sound right with plugins. I thought I'd make a quick example of what I mean. Here is a short loop, first part is on hardware only, the second is all in DAW. Same loop. I tried to get the DAW version as close as possible but it's still lacking the clarity, punch and it's all generally bloated, blurred and it's got this slamming effect to it. (I've included some bass in it to make it more mix realistic). It's what I meant when I said digital does something evil to drums
Here it is.
https://vocaroo.com/i/s0JRCxOeIwf2
Digital doesnt "DO" anything and thats the problem IMO. Drums always sound better to me with some saturation. If you dont get that saturation in the recording phase then it needs to be added in the digital mixing phase. If you dont... you get all pokey attack and no body or character. Compression helps but its NOT the same as saturation. This article has a good write up about the difference between digital and analog transient response:

https://recordinglounge.blogspot.com...d-digital.html
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Old 04-18-2019, 07:43 AM   #17
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Digital doesnt "DO" anything and thats the problem IMO.
^This. Drums always sounded that way. The difference is with analog you get softening/saturation automatically, with digital you have to manually add it. It's true that because of this, one has to get good at doing it, but one also had to get good at recording in analog in various areas too - we often forget that we went through a different but similar set of growing pains learning to record analog well.
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Old 04-18-2019, 08:22 AM   #18
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Digital doesnt "DO" anything and thats the problem IMO. Drums always sound better to me with some saturation. If you dont get that saturation in the recording phase then it needs to be added in the digital mixing phase. If you dont... you get all pokey attack and no body or character. Compression helps but its NOT the same as saturation.
^^^This right here!

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The difference is with analog you get softening/saturation automatically, with digital you have to manually add it. It's true that because of this, one has to get good at doing it, but one also had to get good at recording in analog in various areas too - we often forget that we went through a different but similar set growing pains learning to record analog well.
^^^ and followed by this!

Well, I'm just repeating you guys but these comments right here are the complete explanation of what's going on and worth repeating.
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Old 04-18-2019, 05:51 PM   #19
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Have you ever tried – just for the sake of experimenting – to recreate the settings of your hardware mix in software?
Absolutely, I do that all the time. I create desired sound in hardware because it's really fast to do for me and than I recreate it by using VSTs. The reason being is that when I have a sound in my head, I can get close to it quickly in hardware and that way I don't loose track of what I'm creating. When I fiddle with VSTs I often loose track.

And the softening effect mentioned above, yes analog lends it's self to it without needing to build it up like a lego with plugins. But the plugins are getting more creative now so that's good.

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Old 04-19-2019, 04:39 AM   #20
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Losing track by VST'ing is something I definitely used to be guilty of, when I made the transition from Logic/OSX to Reaper/Win. Nebula was brand new then and there was hardly more than the factory library and some free programs (which took forever to load, as they were really pushing the quality limits while the CPUs were so slow).
Admittedly it took "some time" until I had learned my tools – after those tools being finally available. But now it pays off: I know exactly which EQ or compressor (or X) will give me the tonal results I have in my head.*

[But that said: I'm 200% INFJ and thus restless learning the tools that I feel are perfect for me. Hardware is super fun – I have 2 high quality consoles, sitting around – but in the end maintenance and, despite taking pictures, unreliable recallability** was the decisive factor to dive into the world of high quality plugins. It's ALL about personal preference and "feeling good", so let's just be happy that we both found the ways to materialize the sound we've always searched for ]

* as a sidenote: this is probably the reason why plugins based on "classic" gear are so successful. The engineer knows exactly what to expect … if the emulation is close to the original.

** an example: you print "version 2.2" which has a +1.5dB louder guitar solo than "version 2". The artist gets back to you and asks why the bass isn't as deep and steady as in the previous version. You print "version 2.2 fixed", which took about 90 minutes to recall and fine-tune, and now the artist wouldn't like the snare sound (bc the attack time of the compressor was like 0.2 ms off from the version before, but you didn't realise it as you were, unconsciously, focused on the bass). And so on.

EDIT: I love using hardware in the creative stage, be it broken or unpredictable gear or be it hands-on tools like delays, filters or microphone-preamp-compressor combinations. The quirkier, the better.
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Old 04-19-2019, 05:00 AM   #21
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we´re in 2019, cant see why we still discuss this things.
Anyway, it is possible to make HUGE and GREAT drums sounds using plugins. It´s a matter of taste and get it right. Less is more.
I´m not saying that mixing in analog is better or worst, its different. Time wise and recalls, omg, make it digital. If you´re one of those that closes the mix for the client and that´s it, go hardware / Analogue. If you care about the costumers opinion and need at least 3 or 4 revisions..go digital. Its portable, its fast, its great.
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Old 04-19-2019, 05:31 AM   #22
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It's what I meant when I said digital does something evil to drums
You think in the wrong way. The digital brings nothing to the sound, it's just 100% transparent (this transparency that the manufacturers of legendary analog gear tried to achieve as grail at the time). This is not the case at all with analog gear that, even with top specs, automatically have two effects on the signal.
1) adding noise,
2) saturation (and thus clipping / compression) when the level exceeds the unit level. And, to make a basic reminder, in a DAW, the metering is expressed in PEAK while in analog, we tend towards the VU ... which is not the same thing... at all.

and so?

at the gain stage, the game is distorted because in analogue, we will have a tendency to align with 0VU and thus induce more than probably a bend of the transients

But, that's not why we can not reproduce the analogue sound in digital ... just add some saturation and noise on the tracks. This is basically what the VCC slate or waves NL or all UAD plug are doing
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Old 04-19-2019, 05:55 PM   #23
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Ok, good question right here.
For analog I used Soundcraft Spirit Folio SX, Reverb is Lexicon MX300, compressor as last in chain is Fostex 3070. Snare distortion was done just by driving the mixer. By the way the drums were recorded with 3 mics in to only two tracks.

In Daw I used Clipper for snare, ReaEQ, Poorplate for reverb and TDR Kotelnikov to comp the whole set. From all VSTs I've tried, these gave me the closest results while trying to keep it as simple as the hardware.

It took me 3 minutes to get my sound in analog domain, and 20 minutes fiddling in the DAW
But that said, I think it might be possible to get closer to the analog sound but it would probably take a whole lot more time, bunch of other plugins and some frustration - at least in my case.
"From all the VSTs I've tried...." doesn't really tell us a whole lot.

Do you have a list? Partial list?
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Old 04-20-2019, 12:04 AM   #24
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You don't need a boatload of processing.

"VST'ing"? curious...

In analog you push up the faders.
It's quick and easy you say!

OK. Bet you clipped a couple things here and there. No pesky digital red lights to bother you and make things difficult.

Perhaps the saturation from clipping or whatever even sounded "right"?

Fine.

Do the same thing on the digital board.
Overall levels to get the meat of the sound where it's supposed to go.
Don't mind those red lights just yet.
There will be no "VST'ing"...

Now grab a couple limiters and/or distortion plugins and make the red lights stop. There's your "analog magic".
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Old 04-20-2019, 11:49 AM   #25
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For those of us who grew up chained to the &$&$*&^&( tyranny of consoles, many of us did not hear some sort of magical, mystical saturation fuzz distorto bullshit which somehow magically lifts the sound into an otherwise bland dimension.

No IF you heard any change to your audio that you didn't intend, you cursed the laws of physics and then recorded hotter than you wanted to to get out of the noise floor, or quieter than you wanted so that you wouldn't lose all you drum spikes

All this idea of some supernatural unobtanium from console distortion is all just bullshit to me

Yes I said it. Revoke my vintage license. I never ever ever ever ever want to go back there (except for a few of the DSP reverbs who's DSP has not been ported to VST .... yet)
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Old 04-20-2019, 12:57 PM   #26
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For those of us who grew up chained to the &$&$*&^&( tyranny of consoles, many of us did not hear some sort of magical, mystical saturation fuzz distorto bullshit which somehow magically lifts the sound into an otherwise bland dimension.

No IF you heard any change to your audio that you didn't intend, you cursed the laws of physics and then recorded hotter than you wanted to to get out of the noise floor, or quieter than you wanted so that you wouldn't lose all you drum spikes

All this idea of some supernatural unobtanium from console distortion is all just bullshit to me

Yes I said it. Revoke my vintage license. I never ever ever ever ever want to go back there (except for a few of the DSP reverbs who's DSP has not been ported to VST .... yet)
what quality and price range are you refering to regarding those consoles?

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Old 04-20-2019, 01:33 PM   #27
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Have you tried Code Red Free by Shattered Glass? I don't personally care for the EQ, but I really love the way it soft clips drums. I prefer the sound of its clipping over using a limiter. The plugin is modeled after a 60s console, iirc. The paid version has more EQ bands.

Start by leaving the output & EQ untouched and adjust the input until you're hitting the VU meter the way you want. Then adjust EQ & output as desired.
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Old 04-20-2019, 03:39 PM   #28
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what quality and price range are you refering to regarding those consoles?

.
We had Neve's from the 8068, 51's 8108, 8128 and VRP. Trident AB, Trident TSM and Series 24, SSL 4000 e, g and AWS

Spent all you time praying that the particular channel you picked still works, constantly moving broken channels to the right ends of the boards, sticking toothpicks in switches to hold them down.

And then hoping the sound you got back out wasnt too degraded compared to what went in. Sometimes with the 81 series neves, if you werent watching the levels well, they could distort the cymbals in a handy way, but nothing you couldn't do with a plugin today

Never heard magical transistors or transformers in any of those things, just noise, frequency limting and skewing, and unwanted distortions
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Old 04-20-2019, 05:08 PM   #29
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We had Neve's from the 8068, 51's 8108, 8128 and VRP. Trident AB, Trident TSM and Series 24, SSL 4000 e, g and AWS

Spent all you time praying that the particular channel you picked still works, constantly moving broken channels to the right ends of the boards, sticking toothpicks in switches to hold them down.

And then hoping the sound you got back out wasnt too degraded compared to what went in. Sometimes with the 81 series neves, if you werent watching the levels well, they could distort the cymbals in a handy way, but nothing you couldn't do with a plugin today

Never heard magical transistors or transformers in any of those things, just noise, frequency limting and skewing, and unwanted distortions
I'm sorry for you obviously having been struggling with faulty analog stuff a lot. But why bother with dysfunctional SSL's and Neve's? Throw them out of the window, carry on and buy a laptop and Ozone 5

You are currently getting crazy trying to figure out a reliable way to have a low-latency setup with Dante, USB or whatever digital audio format. Is this struggle with digital more satisfying than the analog one? Is your digital issue a reason to bash Dante or USB in general?

Analog gear requires maintainance to function properly just like any other equipment. Plugins need appropriate computer processing power to deliver properly, among other factors. You'd not compare plugins while some of them are in a dysfunctional state either. Dealing with faulty devices is not fun for sure. But I don't think it's fair to pretend that analog high end like Neve or SSL generally adds nothing more than noise/hiss and ugly distorsion to signals. LOL!! Millions of flawless productions are proving the opposite. Who would deny the virtues of (functional) analog high end?? If it was as crappy as you describe it, who would have ever used it?

Faulty gear is not adequate to make fair comparisons. High end gear can get dysfunctional like any other analog gear and maybe more often than plugins. I've been using SSL, BAE and other high end stuff for years and while it will probably add an unavoidable yet unperceivable amount of noise (probably the best sounding dither you can apply to a signal) I actually do very clearly perceive the sonic benefits that make it worth using them all the time, no annoying noise, no perceivable, unwanted distorsion - they sound terrific. I'd be more than glad if plugins had that sound!! And I can also get pleasing, intended saturation if desired. I'm not hearing any strange mojo sound with them. I'm just getting more pleasant, pro-sounding signals compared to most of today's plugins.

Are you seriously trying to bash the countless pristine-sounding all-analog productions made through SSL, Neve and other high end stuff? Is this some sort of personal frustration? Who the heck forced you to spend your time with faulty analog gear?? And then your last sentence ... Boy, that's either very bad luck with your gear or ... something is not right with your ears

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Old 04-20-2019, 08:21 PM   #30
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Jeff Harris, Gary Vitako, and Michael Kaye were regulars at our studio. Its not that the stuff wasn't extremely well maintained, its that by its very nature it fails most of what a cheap soundcard could do today, and what it was capable of doing, it often wasn't capable of doing for very long, reliably in a production environment.

The damn things cost so much that you HAD to keep the rooms booked constantly, which meant very little downtime to fix anything, the best you could usually do was move bad channels to the right and pull them out one at a time and replace switches (when those switches were even available!!!! Which is a HUGE CAN OF WORMS) during times when you should be sleeping.

My issues with DANTE come more from the fact that others have already done the particular job in question, and that for some reason, years later, another company can't do nearly as well, albeit on different hardware. In this case I may just be expecting too much in practice, while probably being right in what I'm expecting in theory

I didn't have faulty analog gear. I had analog gear. The best that money could buy, but it is indeed limited by the laws of phsyics.

Like it or not these are measurable things, in which case the cheap crap of today does in fact almost always measure better than the best gear of the analog era.

The other argument, that there is a magical something in how the old gear breaks the sound, and that THAT should be the yardstick to measure everything with is what I take issue with

I LIKE to get back out what I put in

But I also do understand that there are lots of times when you want to get something back out. I distort my guitar on purpose. I can see people distorting their mic preamps and busses on purpose as just as valid.

But to say that if your shit is NOT broken, that somehow you gear or methods are invalid is just plain retarded. Not that anyone is saying that right here, right now, but it does get said a LOT.

And no, all those great albums of the past, for the most part, after spending most of my adult life with the people who made those albums, were done IN SPITE of the problems with the gear, not because of them. To a man, they love the idea of WYSIWYG and laugh when reading forum posts about how people insist that these guys wanted broken shit. They didn't.
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Old 04-20-2019, 09:39 PM   #31
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Originally Posted by insub View Post
Have you tried Code Red Free by Shattered Glass?
That's one plugin I've been trying to run since they put it out but every time I load it, it completely crashes Reaper. Even Plugin Analyzer shows it's not a valid VST and won't run it.
It's a mystery to me since I never have any problems with VSTs. What is even more strange that it runs on my old spare PC but not my current one which runs exactly the same system Win 7.

Last edited by Tubeguy; 04-20-2019 at 10:04 PM.
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Old 04-21-2019, 05:06 AM   #32
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Originally Posted by pipelineaudio View Post
Jeff Harris, Gary Vitako, and Michael Kaye were regulars at our studio. Its not that the stuff wasn't extremely well maintained, its that by its very nature it fails most of what a cheap soundcard could do today, and what it was capable of doing, it often wasn't capable of doing for very long, reliably in a production environment.

The damn things cost so much that you HAD to keep the rooms booked constantly, which meant very little downtime to fix anything, the best you could usually do was move bad channels to the right and pull them out one at a time and replace switches (when those switches were even available!!!! Which is a HUGE CAN OF WORMS) during times when you should be sleeping.

My issues with DANTE come more from the fact that others have already done the particular job in question, and that for some reason, years later, another company can't do nearly as well, albeit on different hardware. In this case I may just be expecting too much in practice, while probably being right in what I'm expecting in theory

I didn't have faulty analog gear. I had analog gear. The best that money could buy, but it is indeed limited by the laws of phsyics.

Like it or not these are measurable things, in which case the cheap crap of today does in fact almost always measure better than the best gear of the analog era.

The other argument, that there is a magical something in how the old gear breaks the sound, and that THAT should be the yardstick to measure everything with is what I take issue with

I LIKE to get back out what I put in

But I also do understand that there are lots of times when you want to get something back out. I distort my guitar on purpose. I can see people distorting their mic preamps and busses on purpose as just as valid.

But to say that if your shit is NOT broken, that somehow you gear or methods are invalid is just plain retarded. Not that anyone is saying that right here, right now, but it does get said a LOT.

And no, all those great albums of the past, for the most part, after spending most of my adult life with the people who made those albums, were done IN SPITE of the problems with the gear, not because of them. To a man, they love the idea of WYSIWYG and laugh when reading forum posts about how people insist that these guys wanted broken shit. They didn't.
no intention to hijack this thread

I'm not sure what to actually conclude from what you've experienced. As a matter of fact, I ABSOLUTELY don't care which technology helps me getting a good sound! I take whatever get's the job done. As far as I'm concerned, three quarters of my 28 years of audio engineering life I've been stuggleling with getting let's call it the "ultimate charts sound", by exclusively using digital gear (three digital consoles connected to three computers). The results were absolutely professional but it never gave me the desired satisfaction for my own ears (clients were happy, though).

Only after combining digital convenience and purity (not cheap either) with a sophisticated analog front end I've been able to get to the level of the best commercial productions. Maybe I've been doing something wrong all those years. Anyways, I'm not seeing an all-digital solution that would satisfy my sonic expectations in the near future (in spite of me being willing to adopt) and, hence, I'm not regretting shelling out considerable amounts to get to this level. Both realms come with their particular challenges and quirks but they are also providing something the other one does not offer. YMMV.

PS: I'm not saying that faulty gear is beneficial or desirable in any way at all.

.
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Old 04-22-2019, 08:35 PM   #33
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That's one plugin I've been trying to run since they put it out but every time I load it, it completely crashes Reaper. Even Plugin Analyzer shows it's not a valid VST and won't run it.
It's a mystery to me since I never have any problems with VSTs. What is even more strange that it runs on my old spare PC but not my current one which runs exactly the same system Win 7.
Are you running 32 bit Windows and REAPER? Perhaps you installed the wrong bit-version of the plugin? It's available in both 32 & 64 bit versions. The plugin should (must for 32 bit) match the bit-version of REAPER that you are running.
http://www.shatteredglassaudio.com/product/106

I'm running 64 bit REAPER with all (& only) 64 bit plugins in Windows 10 64 bit. I've never had a problem with either of Shattered Glass's free plugins.
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Old 04-23-2019, 02:12 AM   #34
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I'm running Win 7 32 bit and tried to install all the versions including VST3 32 and 64 bit. It just won't run. It's the only plugin that won't run and I have tons.
But like I said, it runs on my spare PC which has the same Win 7 installed, it's just a slower CPU. It's bizarre, I should not need any extra files in my system to run this plugin. I might not even like it but the curiosity drives me nuts! :-) I even downloaded it few times from different sources just in case but no go.

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Old 04-23-2019, 06:29 AM   #35
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It's the only plugin that won't run
Same experience here. No matter which version or bridging etc.
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Old 04-24-2019, 01:18 AM   #36
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Same experience here. No matter which version or bridging etc.
Didn't want to hijack the original subject but since we here....
Did you try it on another PC? I'd love to get to the bottom of this.
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Old 04-24-2019, 01:30 AM   #37
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Didn't want to hijack the original subject but since we here....
Did you try it on another PC? I'd love to get to the bottom of this.
Not yet, but the other PC would be my x86 laptop. The 32bit version will probably work, but who knows? Will try!
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Old 04-24-2019, 07:14 AM   #38
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So, yes, it will load – and work – in 32bit Reaper.
Soundwise I think it's okayish, nothing to write home about though, still pretty "digital".
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Old 04-30-2019, 12:25 AM   #39
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Strange it loads in some and not in others. But if you detect the "digitalis" sound from it, I'll take your word and will leave it alone. I just remembered that maybe it won't work with some video cards. I've came across some posts about buggy programs that do that. Maybe that's why it free because of the bug.
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