unmixed recording quality

[domthedrummer]

Hi, i'm just starting out and have the following setup:
EC electronics 2200A condenser mic
Mackie DFX6 mixer
soundblaster audigy EX soundcard - soon to upgrade to audiophile 2496

I have played around with mic placement, sound damping, reverb, compression, etc and whilst i have a lot to learn, I was wondering what quality to expect from a raw unprocessed track; most uploads to this forum seem to be in a different league- is this down to mixing and technique or equipment too? How much is the audigy hindering me?

I would be grateful if someone could upload an unmixed vocal or guitar sample, as heard straight after recording.

[lucey]

might be more useful for you to upload a raw track and see what it sounds like to others

you could say what you're missing in your own track and people could comment on how the gear is contributing, or what changes would be wise to get where you want to go.


listening to other mixes you like i can assure you the raw tracks sound good, but what does hearing them help you to get from a to b?

[eyesore]

Actually, Mr. Lucey, I think Dom makes a valid request, and many could learn from this as well, myself included. After all, it all begins with good tracking.

NIN has put up the files to their single "Only" so that people could remix it. You can sign up to download the files here: http://www.nin.com/access/only/
There's a good chance they aren't available in a format you can use though, but check to see - I am not sure what software you are using. You could listen to the individual tracks that went into making this song and you can even get a piece of a mix showing how they would mix it I think. I haven't been able to try it myself yet but plan to. I did hear a lot of others on these boards complaining that the quality of the tracks weren't that great, but it is a song that was released as a commercial single and it's a start for you.

Also William Wittman, who has several hits to his name as engineer, posted up some drums from a current project in post #36 of this thread: http://gearslutz.com/board/showthrea...t=31775&page=2

Thank you.

[lucey]

sure whatever anyone wants to do ...

i just thought that if he has doubts about his tracks and wants them to be bettter but is not sure how to get there ... the fastest way to get input would be to post them

[DeeDrive]

I think you expect to be about 90% of the way there by the time you lay down the track. I mean this is regard to quality of course, this doesn't apply if you're trying to get some crazy sounds during mixdown. The main thing is don't ever tell yourself "well this sounds bad, but when I mix it down, it should sound great", because this will never happen. I only rely on the mix to solve very minor EQ differences, and dynamics through the use of compressor. As far as the quality of the audio, the mix isn't going to change things as dramatically as most people hope.

[domthedrummer]

Thanks for the responses! I downloaded the NIN track, and that was quite insightful. Also found that equalisation helps remove much of the muddiness i was experiencing. I'll post my recoding in due course.

[eyesore]

Originally Posted by domthedrummer

Thanks for the responses! I downloaded the NIN track, and that was quite insightful. Also found that equalisation helps remove much of the muddiness i was experiencing. I'll post my recoding in due course.

Actually, now that I have downloaded the NIN tracks, I see that that vocal isn't very useful for our comparison purposes, because it was tracked pretty distorted.

And so I restate Dom's request:

I would be grateful if someone could upload an unmixed vocal or guitar sample, as heard straight after recording

Some male pop rock type vocals would be useful to me.


Dom, I agree with Dee Drive that you shouldn't have to be using a lot of eq. I have had to a lot also and so I look to improve my tracking instead. I think rooms and some poor source sounds were the biggest offenders for me.

Thanks.