I thought I'd chime in on this one, it was tough to resist, even though the
opinions expressed both here and in previous posts are subjective at best.
however, that doesn't discredit any of the accurate factual info that ppl
have already added. >standard disclaimer< :)
fact: high bit rate (and sample rate) digital is more accurate than
analogue.
but that accuracy largely depends on the bit rate. I agree that the 16 bit
standard is a little course. most everyone can hear the difference b/w 16
and 20 bit audio. thankfully, there are some great noise shaping options
that can make 16 bit sound a lot better when dithering from a higher bit
rate. the premise is that you can shape the noise inherent in the
requantinization process to frequencies outside of human hearing..
however, I can't tell the difference b/w 20 bit and 24 bit audio files, even
though I've used both extensively. some ppl say they can hear the
difference, I'm just not one of them. I think if you polled everybody that
had ever a/b-ed the two, if they answered honestly they couldn't hear it
either. but, I think the real world difference is buried somewhere with the
rest of the arcane mysteries of psyco-acoustics...
there are lots of ppl that love the coloration produced by tape saturation.
I'm one of those ppl!! but, since I do all my tracking and mixdown in the
digital arena, it's a thing of the past for me.. I don't see myself buying
a tape saturation plug-in to simulate the effect either.. :) but, I do
(routinely) route my synths and such through a vacuum tube compressor. I
usually just brush the threshold, which warms the sound without ever dumping
it to analogue tape. again, it's just a matter of taste.
since someone mentioned it earlier in the thread, I happen to love digital
look-ahead limiting! it's had a huge impact on the quality of my
recording.. esp. given the nature of synths to send freaked out transients
to an unforgiving digital recording system. the result is a higher
perceived volume, that would have been difficult to realize without some of
the debris of heavy analogue compression either the individual tracks or on
the whole program..
as for the purists that discredit any digital involvement in their signal
paths, good luck.. that's all I can say. it almost seems impossible to do
that anymore... especially, since the end result is usually a 16 bit CD...
in the event of release straight to vinyl, it's possible. but in my
experience the pressing companies usually want a dat, cd, or mini-disk to
master from anyway..
I'll stop here, before the discussion switches to analogue synthesis vs.
digital synthesis... I've heard too much on that one too..
besides that's about the extent of what I know... I think the real point is
that there are no completely right or wrong ways to record. if the end
result is a good recording, what difference does it make if there were
transistors, tubes, or digital processors in the signal path??
anyway, I've been long winded, especially for my first day on the list.. :)
jeff
> I understand most mastering is done with a program called Sonic Solutions
> and the media is something that looks like a video cassette, but is
> actually a very high-res digital media. You can still retain analog
> "warmth" through the mastering process, though, if you track to tape.
> The tape that you track on compresses a bit, boosts some low end, and
> cuts off a bit of the highs, and does all the things we love about tape,
> but even though the mastering is digital, it's so high-resolution that it
> becomes almost completely transparent (not counting what you add during
> mastering, of course. ie compression, etc.) and is able to adequately
> retain the sound of the tape. I think it's a misunderstanding that
> allowing the signal to touch anything digital though the entire process
> necessarily robs the recording of analog characteristics, and you hear
> this all the time.
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