Gear Upgrade. WHERE DO I GO NEXT

[lawrence_o]

You know what? Your gear is certainly not bad. There's always better of course but instead of buying tons of new gear, buy a mix course just to see how others produce acceptable results by just mixing in the box.

Go to http://www.harddisklife.com and order Mix it like a record by Charles Dye.

He shows some cool stuff. It sounds well for coming out the box. I personally still like OTB sound but Charles does some awesome stuff and I learnt a lot from it. It made my mixes way better and made me realise it's not about the gear.

Cheers
Lawrence

Originally Posted by lawrence_o

You know what? Your gear is certainly not bad. There's always better of course but instead of buying tons of new gear, buy a mix course just to see how others produce acceptable results by just mixing in the box.

Go to http://www.harddisklife.com and order Mix it like a record by Charles Dye.

He shows some cool stuff. It sounds well for coming out the box. I personally still like OTB sound but Charles does some awesome stuff and I learnt a lot from it. It made my mixes way better and made me realise it's not about the gear.

Cheers
Lawrence

I'll check out MILAR, but Im not saying I'm terribly unhappy with the quality I get now. I'm just constantly looking for improvement.

Thanks fo the heads up though.

It's funny, I'm now stuck with not being "HI end" but I'm not on budget gear either.

I dont know what's next. (THOUGH I DO NEED MICs)

Originally Posted by lawrence_o

You know what? Your gear is certainly not bad. There's always better of course but instead of buying tons of new gear, buy a mix course just to see how others produce acceptable results by just mixing in the box.

Go to http://www.harddisklife.com and order Mix it like a record by Charles Dye.

He shows some cool stuff. It sounds well for coming out the box. I personally still like OTB sound but Charles does some awesome stuff and I learnt a lot from it. It made my mixes way better and made me realise it's not about the gear.

Cheers
Lawrence

Easy for you to say. Your gearlist is only EVERYTHING I want

[lawrence_o]

Well I started out using 1622 and 882 20 converters from digidesign. The sound was usually shit and I had to work really hard to make it a little decent which not always succeeded. Of course my mixing skills had to do something with it too because sometimes I had okay results though never great.

So I decided that ditital and ITB mixing especially sucked. Okay, let's look for a used SSL then. Between the time of ordering the SSL and delivery, I had a chat on the net with one guy named Bob Katz and he said 'you need better converters' and he recomended Prism if I wanted the best. So I got a prism and yes, a LOT of improvement. I tested the prism against the 192 from digi and the prism won it, really. Althoug not all sounds differed that much, but when a synthpad especially one with reverb or delay on it had to be ADd, the prism sounded much wider and more transparant then any other box.

Anyway, if I had known the prisms would have been that great, the SSL would never have been purchased because the results ITB are equally good if not better, cleaner. But, you need outboard effects, especially reverb because so far no pulgin can rival a Lexicon verb.

What I'm trying to say is merely, beware you won't get disapointed because any more expensive new better gear you might purchase does not yield notable better results... It's the man behind the buttons that makes the most of the difference.

I got in theory better gear than Charles Dye. Better converters, by far a better console (icon vs. SSL) but honestly? My mixes cannot (yet?) compete with what he does...

That's the lesson I learnt, stupid but true, I have the best gear you can get but still, I am not happy (enough) with my mixes and now I can tell for sure, it ain't the material, it's the man (moron? ) behind the knobs

Cheers

I agree it's DEFINATELY the man behind the knobs that matters. But it does matter if that man has enough power to complete his task.

Ocassionally I'll read about Ship Shape or Charles getting it done totally ITB and I'll look at their techniques and think

DAMN I would need an HD 12 system to approach all of the processing they are using LOL

[andrewj]

My recommendation would be:

better converters! The prisms are really nice! Also the lynx aurora or if you need a stereo highend pair, get the lavry! Just heard the best about them!

Another unit I would recommend is an SSL (style) Compressor! I love the Alan Smart C2! Hot hot hot! Also the original GStyle Buss Comp is hot hot hot! You may choose!

And if you go for some neve sounds make sure to check the brent averills also! I love them a lot!

Best luck and please tell me about the Gemini! Heard nice things about that mic! Do you use it a lot?

[lawrence_o]

Originally Posted by no ssl yet

I agree it's DEFINATELY the man behind the knobs that matters. But it does matter if that man has enough power to complete his task.

Ocassionally I'll read about Ship Shape or Charles getting it done totally ITB and I'll look at their techniques and think

DAMN I would need an HD 12 system to approach all of the processing they are using LOL

You would be surprised what you can do with HD3 acell. Of course, if you're gonna mix at 96 or 192 you need a space shuttle full of DSPs to process Dye's traks. I feel that 48kHz is usually enough though. Actually at 96 you might even have sufficient power with a HD3 Acell. Never tried, I'd say, ask Charles :-))

[lawrence_o]

Originally Posted by andrewj

My recommendation would be:

better converters! The prisms are really nice!

Check www.prsimsound.com. They are selling ADA-8 demo units and end-of-stock pieces at half the normal price. (still a LOT though). The difference between the ADA-8 and the ADA-8XR is that the latter does 192kHz and shows a bit of improvement on a scope. If it's hearable I doubt but anyway. You can always start with the ADA-8 and have it upgraded later to the XR which is another ace Prism has, the upgrade paths. Try that with any other brand...

Originally Posted by andrewj

Another unit I would recommend is an SSL (style) Compressor!

That's so true. The E-type bus compressor is literally glue to a mix. A mix may be good and yet by pressing the button, it sounds suddenly glued together. Funny, Charles Dye calls it the RECord button in the sence of a vinyl record, not the 'record to tape' button.

I also wonder about the Neve EQs. Would like to try them but they ar really really overpriced. Take a 1073 or 1081, they cost about 3000 or 4000 USD or even more, used, that's ridiculous!

[Studio Dweller]

It seems like you've said this yourself already, but I would agree that adding a new mic to your collection would be a good way to go. I have a reasonable mic collection (U87, M149, Peluso 2247LE, SM7, TLM 103, RCA 77DX, KM84, etc.) and when I audition mics on a singer who I haven't recorded before, I'm always glad to have a choice. Many times there's a clear winner where one mic is a much better fit than the others for the particular vocalist. It's also nice to have a choice of mic for the song. IMO, it's the first and most important link in the chain.

[lawrence_o]

Originally Posted by Studio Dweller

It seems like you've said this yourself already, but I would agree that adding a new mic to your collection would be a good way to go. I have a reasonable mic collection (U87, M149, Peluso 2247LE, SM7, TLM 103, RCA 77DX, KM84, etc.) and when I audition mics on a singer who I haven't recorded before, I'm always glad to have a choice. Many times there's a clear winner where one mic is a much better fit than the others for the particular vocalist. It's also nice to have a choice of mic for the song. IMO, it's the first and most important link in the chain.

Hi,

I can imagine my following question being somewhat difficult but could you try to describe the difference between an U87 and an M149? Am curieus..... What are your favorite mics?

Thanks
Lawrence