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Originally Posted by Pixel25  I dont' agree totally with that statement. Tape has it's benefits in mastering...sometimes. It's defeinitely not something i would default to on every single session, as some engineers do (mostly to try and impress clients) I used to use an ME that bounced everything i gave him to tape (on a really well maintained ATR machine.)
On so many cases it smeared the drum transients much more than a traditional compressor. In other cases it worked just fine, however I finally found an ME that was flexible and made an informed choice based on the mix.
The fact that you say it's the most transient compressor ever, does not sit well with me.
If it was the best thing, then many more top MEs would use one. Don't get me wrong, I'm not bagging the technique, it's just that i find it a little over rated. |
I don't use tape on every job nor do I recommend others use it on every job, I merely stated that it was one tool that I often use & find more successful then typical 2 buss compression. I don't use tape where the mix has already been to tape somewhere along the line, or if the mix already sounds thick or too dense. But for the jobs that are thin, harsh or not well controlled & need some body, warmth or even on some that are really nicely mixed ITB (which is about 70% of my jobs these days), tape can make a great difference to the end result.
As I stated a lot depends on the machine, the electronics on the machine, what operating levels the machine is set up for & how hard the operator hits the tape. It's kind of like dialing in a compressor, it takes time to get that magic setting. I've got 2 decks here a Studer A807 1/4" which tends to compress transients more & sounds a touch honky. This gets used (not that often) at lower speeds with some music (usually stuff that's all mixed in the box) that needs a little character or for bands chasing after an old school sound. The other deck I have is the 1/2" ATR-102 with ARIA electronics, I compared the stock & ARIA electronics & chose the ARIA for it's detail & transient response. This gets used on jobs that aren't over compressed or too dense to begin with & it's sound is cleaner & punchier then the Studer.
As for compression I'm not against it, I use it all the time but usually prefer parallel compression over traditional brute force 2 buss compression.
Matt