2" Tape: mixdown to stereo, or record all tracks

[tluke]

I have a friend who has some very nice analog gear and is kind enough to let me use it. My question relates to his Sony 2" tape machine. It's well maintained, calibrated, sounds great. I've got finished songs I put together on my DAW that I can bring to him.

We've done some experiments just playing parts at his studio and recording on to the tape machine, I was astonished at how deep and wide and warm the sound was. Ah, so that's what all the fuss is about, I said.

I have a song I've already finished tracking and can bring to him (twenty or so tracks of 24 bit, 44.1khz audio files), we thought of loading that into his sequencer in his DAW and recording it to tape, then mixing through his Allen & Heath board, and recapturing digitally. It's a fair amount of work to do this.

Or we could just take those twenty or so tracks and mix them down to the 2" tape machine, just one stereo mix. Then recapture.

I realize there's no right answer and intend to experiment, but hoped you Gearslutz might have thoughts/opinions on this. Thanks in advance for any replies.

[cjmnash]

Originally Posted by tluke

I have a friend who has some very nice analog gear and is kind enough to let me use it. My question relates to his Sony 2" tape machine. It's well maintained, calibrated, sounds great. I've got finished songs I put together on my DAW that I can bring to him.

We've done some experiments just playing parts at his studio and recording on to the tape machine, I was astonished at how deep and wide and warm the sound was. Ah, so that's what all the fuss is about, I said.

I have a song I've already finished tracking and can bring to him (twenty or so tracks of 24 bit, 44.1khz audio files), we thought of loading that into his sequencer in his DAW and recording it to tape, then mixing through his Allen & Heath board, and recapturing digitally. It's a fair amount of work to do this.

Or we could just take those twenty or so tracks and mix them down to the 2" tape machine, just one stereo mix. Then recapture.

I realize there's no right answer and intend to experiment, but hoped you Gearslutz might have thoughts/opinions on this. Thanks in advance for any replies.

i'd either go with your first idea, or if you find that isn't feasible i would mix down to a dedicated mix down deck- 1/4" or 1/2", something that's wider than the track width of the 2" 24. quite honestly, your first idea will get you more of that analog sound you like, especially since you're using an analog console as well. imho

-chris mara
www.welcometo1979.com