Mixing ITB with outboard ... how do you do it?

[copperx]

This is kind of a newbie question ... how do you use a hardware
compressor/eq on tracks that you have in your DAW?

Using the outboard when recording (before A/D) makes a lot of sense, but sometimes you need to eq/compress to fit things into a mix. I don't want to use plug ins. So, how do you do it? do you pass the track thru D/A, then the outboard and then A/D again?

[VO-Guy]

I do this sometimes. I use the Firebox. I come back out of the Firebox into the Comp\EQ and back into another input on the Firebox.

[DrDeltaM]

Originally Posted by copperx

do you pass the track thru D/A, then the outboard and then A/D again?

Exactly. make sure the DAW compensates for the introduced latency tho

[copperx]

what about additional jitter/artifacts resulting from repeated ADDA conversion?

[DrDeltaM]

Originally Posted by copperx

what about additional jitter/artifacts resulting from repeated ADDA conversion?

If you use good convertors, the loss is minimal. The gain of useing quality outboard gear is much greater then the 'loss' due to the convertion.

[WEAPON_X]

in the current nuendo 3 and cubase sx3 version the feature to include outboard as easily as plug ins has been implemented and the nasty bit of nudging around top compensate for latency is past now - and the use of using this is woth the price.
really works well and like a charm. highly recommended.
but - use good converters and quality outboard, otherwise the sense of doing such things is scrutinized.

[Jason Poulin]

Out of Nuendo,

DAC-1

Outboard gear

Apogee AD-16X

Nuendo



That's my round trip. It rocks and the loss of quality from conversion is next to none. Actually, I've never noticed any loss at all.

Jason

[jdg]

whats your DAW?

i do this too with in logic with the I/O helper plug.

but it sure is nice with cunuendobase with the automatic latency thing.

[AnalogBob]

Originally Posted by jdg

whats your DAW?

i do this too with in logic with the I/O helper plug.

but it sure is nice with cunuendobase with the automatic latency thing.

I/O helper in logic sounds great is it hard to do............

[copperx]

Thanks for the replies!

Do you think if I have not-so-good convertors (e.g. MOTU) and
not top-of-the-line outboard (DBX 242 Parametric, RNC compressor,
Ashly SC-50 compressor) ... is it worth the round trip? or would
you rather use plug-ins (e.g. Waves RComp, Waves PEQ)?

[jdg]

Originally Posted by AnalogBob

I/O helper in logic sounds great is it hard to do............

no, its pretty great..

just insert the I/O helper on any track or bus, pick the correct inputs/outputs for your audio device, and there you go.

also, for latency, u can use these plugs to find and fix them manually (PITA kinda, but works):
http://www.collective.co.uk/expertsl...encyfixer.html

[Kubilay]

Originally Posted by copperx

Thanks for the replies!

Do you think if I have not-so-good convertors (e.g. MOTU) and
not top-of-the-line outboard (DBX 242 Parametric, RNC compressor,
Ashly SC-50 compressor) ... is it worth the round trip? or would
you rather use plug-ins (e.g. Waves RComp, Waves PEQ)?

Until you get better DA, outboard, and AD, stay in the box.... especially if you have RennEQ and RennComp; both very very good IMO. get a few more flavorful plugs a la Hydratone and URS, and your golden.

...just my nickel.

Exception: It's still a very good idea going out and back in in order to make it sound "stupid" (Zappa quote) i.e. with guitar pedals and such, when you're going for "grit" and "attitude" over "quality". Nothing beats real, bad distortion... can't fake "nasty" with software.

[DrDeltaM]

Originally Posted by jdg

no, its pretty great..

just insert the I/O helper on any track or bus, pick the correct inputs/outputs for your audio device, and there you go.

also, for latency, u can use these plugs to find and fix them manually (PITA kinda, but works):
http://www.collective.co.uk/expertsl...encyfixer.html

I use Logic too, with the LatencyFixer plugin. Not really a PITA imo, it's just an extra plugin, and standard it's always on the correct latency value since it remembers the last setting. If all your convertors are the same ones, it's pretty easy cuz of this then.

[Jbassist]

Originally Posted by WEAPON_X

in the current nuendo 3 and cubase sx3 version the feature to include outboard as easily as plug ins has been implemented and the nasty bit of nudging around top compensate for latency is past now - and the use of using this is woth the price.
really works well and like a charm. highly recommended.
but - use good converters and quality outboard, otherwise the sense of doing such things is scrutinized.

How do you do this in nuendo 3?
any else who knows this feel free to respond aswell!

[Jbassist]

With this i obviously a similar way to the logic I/O plugin.

[Musikvilla]

Originally Posted by copperx

what about additional jitter/artifacts resulting from repeated ADDA conversion?

I did a test one time where I took 2 tracks from an ADAT and just bounced them to 2 other tracks. I did this 20 times and you know what. I actually liked the sound better after it had been through 20 conversions. Now I must say that the signal to noise level came up but the tracks sounded sweeter to my ears.