Current Popularity Of Analog Mastering?

[jdg]

i just squirt some rooster sauce into a can of tuna, and have at it with a fork.


but im really tempted to try this bread->tuna thing.

[Waltz Mastering]

fwiw, Chuck Norris usually seasons his tuna with pepper spray, but then again he also uses Tabasco sauce instead of Visine...so I've heard.; )

Chuck Norris - Google Search

[macc]

Originally Posted by jdg

i just squirt some rooster sauce into a can of tuna

Either that's a brand name I don't know, or it's horribly euphemistic.

[Thor]

[Jerry Tubb]

Originally Posted by macc

Either that's a brand name I don't know, or it's horribly euphemistic.

It's a great Thai hot sauce:

Sriracha sauce - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Tho' I prefer habanero sauce @ 100,000+ Scoville heat units!

keep the ears clear : - )

JT

[jdg]

pepper heads unite!

my mouth is made of commercial grade asbestos

[bleen]

Originally Posted by jdg

pepper heads unit!

"unite", john, "UNITE!"

[macc]

Originally Posted by jdg

pepper heads unit!

my mouth is made of commercial grade asbestos

Same here. Freshly chopped chilli all the way for me though. Luuuurve it.

[UnderTow]

Originally Posted by jdg

pepper heads unit!

my mouth is made of commercial grade asbestos

So is mine. Unfortunately my stomach isn't...

Alistair

[Cellotron]

Originally Posted by UnderTow

So is mine. Unfortunately my stomach isn't...

Alistair

Likewise. When I was in my 20's it wasn't a problem - but now in my 40's it is. It grieves me to no end that while I love the taste of seriously spicy food (vindaloos!), it's not something my tummy can handle except in measured doses.

Best regards,
Steve Berson

[jdg]

Originally Posted by bleen

"unite", john, "UNITE!"

i edited it, for the grate gud of speling

[macc]

^ genuine big lols

[bleen]

Originally Posted by jdg

i edited it, for the grate gud of speling

Güöde! fuuck

[audioaddict]

Ok, here's a question:

What percentage of recordings are done on analog tape vs. digital?

[MASSIVE Master]

Originally Posted by audioaddict

Ok, here's a question:

What percentage of recordings are done on analog tape vs. digital?

I think I'm going to sell my deck.

[Cellotron]

Originally Posted by audioaddict

Ok, here's a question:

What percentage of recordings are done on analog tape vs. digital?

For that question my percentages are almost reversed - I'd say about 95% digital and 5% tape (about 70% 1/4" 15ips, and 30% 1/2" 30ips).

Some of the clients I have track to tape but mix to digital though - I guess maybe another few percent in there - haven't ever really tried to tally this up.

Best regards,
Steve Berson

[OMNIFEX]

Originally Posted by Powder Kutz

Not surprised with all the analog, but i am curious how you all have come into possession of your gear. Analog=$, not that digi is all that cheap either

Yours? Studio's? Rented? mostly new? mostly used?

There was a time when plug-ins was not very common. Most who are not born with a gold spoon their mouth will always buy used. Some non-working devices were offered next to nothing or free (This is before the launch of Ebay) in which you would repair yourself if you were good in electronics or had a friend that was. In your teenage years, getting a job and saving your pennies just to buy a particular audio device was quite common then.

Bear in mind those who started out never purchased the best but more over learn to work with what they could afford to achieve the best sound their ears could perceive. As time progressed many upgraded to equipment they were seeking after and, used there past experience to capitalise on the sound they were aiming for.

That is the forgotten art of audio engineering. Knowing how to achieve the sound with what you have and, not be brainwashed into thinking you must use “insert expensive boutique item here” to attain the sound you are looking for. That type of mentality would prevent many artists from becoming icons in the music industry. Of course, the sound from the alternative may not be exactly the same. However it may be close enough for the time being.

A lot of hype on certain products elevated prices on devices around 13 years ago. This is around the Internet boom. Astronomical prices on certain hardware equipment found today are a result of that. Also, many have jumped on the bandwagon of expensive audio hardware, which adds to the perception that all audio hardware is expensive. Those who own old analogue gear today are not willing to give things away free (Thanks to Ebay) or at a reasonable price (working or not) for they see the demand in vintage gear can far exceed their retail price when the device was in production.

Cheers!

[mischa janisch]

Originally Posted by audioaddict

Ok, here's a question:

What percentage of recordings are done on analog tape vs. digital?

Close to none for more recent mixes - there is the occasional archival work and there are some clients who want their digital mixes to be transfered and mastered from tape though...

[Bob Yordan]

50-50

Wavelab 7 hopefully changes that to 60-40?

[StephenMarsh]

We still get tape in every month, but it's by far the exception and not the rule anymore........Hard to believe it was just 10 years ago (seems like forever now) I walked into my bosses office @ Sony and told him we really needed to add a PT rig to the room.....he failed to understand why clients couldn't just keep bringing their own rigs in for playback (remember those days.....fun). He saw that most material was still coming in on tape and DAT at that time and thought it was a waste...........2 words, paradigm shift......they shuttered that facility the following year and the east coast operation followed suit not long after.

While I doubt very much the lack of a PT rig in the west coast mastering room single-handedly brought down the empire - I think it IS indicative of the things that did, corporate culture over creative thinking. Taught me a very valuable lesson......

I digress - back to the tuna sandwich recipes!!!

[Caput]

Originally Posted by macc

^ genuine big lols

I can tell you are all british as no-one has yet had the sense (or taste!) to mention the wine that should accompany this gustatory delight.

SB

[Odeon-Mastering]

Originally Posted by Caput

I can tell you are all british as no-one has yet had the sense (or taste!) to mention the wine that should accompany this gustatory delight.

SB

It s because fish is great with ouzo or retsina...lol

[Riccardo]

No tuna sammich here.

We still get a few 1/4" thin crust tasty pizza margheritas a year but very rarely 1/2" deep pans.

[Caput]

Originally Posted by Odeon-Mastering

It s because fish is great with ouzo or retsina...lol

You are quite right. Certainly Retsina is great with fresh caught and grilled, but so is a Frascati, and then you can work still after lunch.

SB

[Odeon-Mastering]

Originally Posted by Caput

You are quite right. Certainly Retsina is great with fresh caught and grilled, but so is a Frascati, and then you can work still after lunch.

SB

Who wants to work after lunch......I usually sleep

[macc]

Originally Posted by Caput

I can tell you are all british as no-one has yet had the sense (or taste!) to mention the wine that should accompany this gustatory delight.

Half a bottle of Blue Nun.

[princeplanet]

Yeah, right, back to topic at hand here. 98/2, that sounds about right to me, as in 98% of the ME's who insist on using all analog probably can't beat hands down the best guys doing it all digital. I should qualify that I'm only talking about rock and pop here and that no, I'm far from being an analog basher, I have a wall of the highest end analog outboard, several tape machines and several consoles, all of which I love and like to think I know how to use in a way that digital solutions can't touch. But that's tracking and mixing, all the analog I need. Most ME's (not all) I've suffered over the years (we're talking dozens here, and many big names too) have done sod all or made things worse. It almost seems that ME's need to bamboozle one with racks of out dated gear (most of which never get used) in order to intimidate the client into a sense of "Gee, I'd never be able to do this at home on my lap top".

Analog is far more important at the recording/mixing stage. Good mixing just needs a digital brickwall or loudness limiter applied intelligently. Less than good mixing can be rescued with one decent outboard eq and flexible mastering grade compressor. The rest of the chain can be handled just fine in the digi domain. Only 2% of the time have I had back results from all analog ME's that I couldn't match or surpass with my own digi guide mastering. Not saying analog processing post mixing is bad per se -it's unbeatable when done right-, just that very few can achieve with their tools what I can't with my digital mastering "tools".
I'm 20 years in the game at pro level and I don't make such claims loosely. Either ME's are getting slack, or digital solutions are exposing this once highly esteemed profession as anal, tech-obsessed hacks without a musical bone in their body. Oh and spare me the BS about how it's not the ME's job to be musical. I always run a mile when I hear that talk.
It's a separate topic, but not enough ME's come from a successful musical background, and that, I sense, will need to change in the near future IMO. Sure some gigs require the bespectacled scientist geek type to calibrate absolutes in the high end world of film, tv and major label classical, jazz and even pop, but most of the ME's on this forum are just sexing up 2nd rate recordings of pop, rock and hiphop fit for a little local radio or facebook/myspace p/b. These projects usually require serious mojo injections (possible with digital, yet ironically what analog is potentially better at) instead of a 1% DC offset correction.

Look, it's just the way I see it from where I'm standing, and I of course understand that many ME's are getting thin 2 dimensional DAW recordings that could do with some analog mojo, but I'll stand by what I say when I suggest that most analog mastering you hear in the real world today can, unfortunately, easily be matched or beaten with a simple digital rig and some ears!

Rant over, thanks to the 2 of you that heard me out. You can all get back to discussing your fave lunch wines.

[Andy Krehm]

Originally Posted by princeplanet

Yeah, right, back to topic at hand here. 98/2, that sounds about right to me, as in 98% of the ME's who insist on using all analog probably can't beat hands down the best guys doing it all digital. I should qualify that I'm only talking about rock and pop here and that no, I'm far from being an analog basher, I have a wall of the highest end analog outboard, several tape machines and several consoles, all of which I love and like to think I know how to use in a way that digital solutions can't touch. But that's tracking and mixing, all the analog I need. Most ME's (not all) I've suffered over the years (we're talking dozens here, and many big names too) have done sod all or made things worse. It almost seems that ME's need to bamboozle one with racks of out dated gear (most of which never get used) in order to intimidate the client into a sense of "Gee, I'd never be able to do this at home on my lap top".

Analog is far more important at the recording/mixing stage. Good mixing just needs a digital brickwall or loudness limiter applied intelligently. Less than good mixing can be rescued with one decent outboard eq and flexible mastering grade compressor. The rest of the chain can be handled just fine in the digi domain. Only 2% of the time have I had back results from all analog ME's that I couldn't match or surpass with my own digi guide mastering. Not saying analog processing post mixing is bad per se -it's unbeatable when done right-, just that very few can achieve with their tools what I can't with my digital mastering "tools".
I'm 20 years in the game at pro level and I don't make such claims loosely. Either ME's are getting slack, or digital solutions are exposing this once highly esteemed profession as anal, tech-obsessed hacks without a musical bone in their body. Oh and spare me the BS about how it's not the ME's job to be musical. I always run a mile when I hear that talk.
It's a separate topic, but not enough ME's come from a successful musical background, and that, I sense, will need to change in the near future IMO. Sure some gigs require the bespectacled scientist geek type to calibrate absolutes in the high end world of film, tv and major label classical, jazz and even pop, but most of the ME's on this forum are just sexing up 2nd rate recordings of pop, rock and hiphop fit for a little local radio or facebook/myspace p/b. These projects usually require serious mojo injections (possible with digital, yet ironically what analog is potentially better at) instead of a 1% DC offset correction.

Look, it's just the way I see it from where I'm standing, and I of course understand that many ME's are getting thin 2 dimensional DAW recordings that could do with some analog mojo, but I'll stand by what I say when I suggest that most analog mastering you hear in the real world today can, unfortunately, easily be matched or beaten with a simple digital rig and some ears!

Rant over, thanks to the 2 of you that heard me out. You can all get back to discussing your fave lunch wines.

I'm not sure where you have mastered to form this opinion but I would have to disagree with your general observations, at least in regards to mastering.

I work for a fair number of award winning mixer/producers who keep coming back b/c they like what I do and the sound I get. The masters they are getting back are 99.5% done with a combo of world-class digital and analog units. I only mention the "award winning" part to counter your belief that analog mastering is only for "sexing up 2nd rate recordings of pop, rock and hiphop fit for a little local radio or facebook/myspace p/b". Some of my high end guys use SSLs and outboard gear as well as plug-ins. Not one of them has ever asked me to go all digital!

My mastering chain includes up to 6 analog and 4 digital outboard units, not counting converters. I do use plug-in limiters most of the time and once in a while, the MDW plug-in.

I have compared the sound of a chain of my digital outboard units against my analog/digital combo and there is no comparison, at least to my ears! BTW, my digital units are 2 Weiss units, a TC 6000 mastering, the K-unit so I'm pretty sure that would sound as good or better than a plug-in only setup.

Recently, a client hired me and another engineer (who has some excellent credits) to do some of the same songs and he chose me to finish the album. When he told me who my competition was, I asked him why he chose me and he told me the other guy was all digital (one of the very few award winning mastering engineers who masters all digital) and he felt the analog masters sounded better. Of course it could be that I just did a better job on these type of mixes but I'm pretty sure my analog rig added an important element that was missing from the all digtal version.

Judging by my booking calendar, I don't think any of us analog guys are going out of business any time soon!

[Masterer]

A nice crisp white Zinfandel would probably be my favorite choice with a tuna sandwich.

[Cellotron]

Originally Posted by Masterer

A nice crisp white Zinfandel would probably be my favorite choice with a tuna sandwich.

More of a hot sake with tuna tataki person myself. As always - ymmv!

Best regards,
Steve Berson