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Slothful Bong posted:Holy poo poo this reminded me I’d even bought the TC Electronics Powercore FireWire, a hardware-based VST setup. Sure, offloading latency was nice, but I didn’t get anything I didn’t already have for the $1200 or so I spent on it in 2005. This was me with SSL's Duende FireWire DSP box. An SSL rep came in for a 'lecture' in my last year of college that was really more of a product demo. We did get to play with some cool hardware, but at the end of it the guy basically said "you know we have some B-stock of these Duende units that I can sell to you kids at a discount" and maybe half a dozen of us jumped at getting his business cards. I did use the Bus Compressor a lot, and the Reverb was actually superb, and yes it was nice to offload that DSP from the iMac I was using at the time... but like two years later they abandoned support for the box. They released a set of native plugins that were equivalent, but I felt a bit cheated out of some free DSP.
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Apr 3, 2023 20:09
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Slothful Bong posted:Yeah, this is the things that’s killed me a bit getting back into recording. There’s a lot of really good competition out there now all recorded/mixed in bedrooms, and those kids have learned it that way from the start. So I’ve gotta make something that sounds good, regardless of the musical content. Can’t coast on “this was done in a home studio” anymore!
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Apr 4, 2023 14:47
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It's me, the former pro radio dude who didn't know how to use compression until *this year*, go me.
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Apr 5, 2023 20:36
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Cross posting this from the PYF obsolete tech thread. I fuckin love stuff that sounds like this. https://youtu.be/e_8s48-hHvc Yeah yeah I know there's plugins that emulate the tape sound but it just feels wrong and not kvlt at all to do it that way. Go on, get the chuckles out of your system. I'll wait. Seems to make little economic sense to go the 4-track Portastudio route though given the cost of those units, repairs to said units (which I have little faith that I have the skill to do) and the rising cost of tapes. Figure that I can mitigate the cost and get a similar sound if I just record digitally (using an absolute minimum of overdubs and other DAW trickery) and send the final mixdowns out to a cassette deck (which seem to be a lot cheaper on various used gear sites). Figure recording with 4 mono tracks to Audacity with a single SM57 for each instrument performance would do the trick. Suggestions?
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Apr 11, 2023 04:50
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olives black posted:Cross posting this from the PYF obsolete tech thread. Your approach is basically reamping the mixdown, which should work fine. Something I've seen people doing more of lately is recording the instruments via DI and then reamping each track, which would also work for layering your tape sound. A cool thing about the reamped approach to your instrument tracks is that if you find a spot with weird acoustics that you like, you don't have to sit there recording lots of takes. You can do really weird stuff with this like "record live" in a busy rehearsal studio while you pick up the sound bleeding into the room from other bands.
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Apr 11, 2023 14:53
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Vulture Culture posted:I wouldn't sweat the rising cost of tapes. A cool thing about magnetic tape is that it sounds worse the more you use it, so a well-reused cassette will probably get you more of that tape hiss you're looking for. That's a cool idea. Thank you!
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Apr 12, 2023 03:47
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I've been using some very basic multiband compression as part of my 'mastering' chain when I run my DJ mixes. Literally just the Ableton native multiband comp on the 'Standard Multiband Compression' preset; I turn it on and scan through the mix while A-Bing it at varied 'depth' settings. If it don't make the mix sound slightly better I ditch it, but usually it does with the depth set to around 30%. Recently I started playing around with the Input/Output Gain knobs of each band, and I'm wondering if this is something I shouldn't be loving with. Seat of the pants I know that driving the Input gain of a band a little harder makes it hit its threshold more readily, so I've been pushing the midrange by like 2dB and cutting down about the same at the Output Gain. I do a bit of the opposite with the HF band; cool it on the Input so it's not compressing as hard and then add a dB or two afterwards. Again, is this a dumb thing to do, or does this practice sound familiar to what you might do as a mastering engineer or mixing a radio broadcast? That's the goal for my mixes anyway, to sound 'like the radio'. After the MBC there's a Glue Compressor at a low ratio for a bit of pump, and then it's finished off with a trio of Waves limiters to make everything nice and loud. I'm wondering if I should be loving with the MBC at all, or if it's ok to goose those settings a little bit in the interest of 'radio ready'. The only other example I can think of deliberately pushing the Input gain on a band is some production techniques I've seen for bass and lead presence, where (usually in the Serum MBC, not Ableton's, but surely applicable just the same) the midrange is pushed HARD.
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Apr 13, 2023 03:37
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What's the new hotness in a decent set of studio cans these days? I don't need them for mixing, just something decent I can buy like 4 pairs of for recording.
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Apr 13, 2023 12:39
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I'm asking this here because it involves recording, even though it's a technical question. I want to plug my keyboard into my PC. But I'm running out of USB spots. Are those hubs lovely in regard to latency? Here is what I have that needs to be plugged in: Mouse Keyboard Audio Interface for recording and playing guitar Digital Piano Webcam PS5 controller Is there anything I need to know or consider? I figure make sure my interface and piano get a normal spot straight to the motherboard, will the other stuff be affected too negatively? I have 4 USB spots on my mobo, and one on the front of my case.
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Apr 13, 2023 22:27
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Hubs don't do anything wrt latency as far as my experience goes. The shittiest thing about hubs is that they get flaky if you plug in too many things that are USB powered. The hub having it's own power brick can help with that. In a PC I'd consider a four port card perhaps, if you have the space for it. Sometimes motherboards have extra headers that just need a cheap bracket. That's imo the no bullshit option.
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Apr 13, 2023 22:56
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Drunk Driver Dad posted:I'm asking this here because it involves recording, even though it's a technical question. I want to plug my keyboard into my PC. But I'm running out of USB spots. Are those hubs lovely in regard to latency? Here is what I have that needs to be plugged in: what Flipperwaldt said I beat Doom Eternal on Nightmare with mouse + keyboard on a USB Hub. If there was any latency I didn't notice it. Do yourself a favor, though, and adopt a strict NO DATA DRIVES policy with it. You will eventually want to connect another computer to it, and if you accodentally toggle the hub to another machine in the middle of a transfer or have sensitive data on the drive then you will be sad.
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Apr 14, 2023 01:20
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HaB posted:What's the new hotness in a decent set of studio cans these days? AKG K240s are a good price/quality balance for that role imo
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Apr 14, 2023 01:24
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HaB posted:What's the new hotness in a decent set of studio cans these days? i mostly know people who do field recording more than studio work, but just about everyone i know uses sony mdr-7506s. they sound good and fairly flat, and they're not super tight on the ear so they don't hurt to wear for long periods, but the downside is that they're a bit more susceptible to bleeding into vocal mics. i also see people use sennheiser hd-280s in the studio which have much better separation, but always made my head hurt if i wore them for more than 15 or 20 minutes at a time.
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Apr 14, 2023 01:44
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AKG are still the gold standard for studio musicians. K240 if you want open-back, K271 if sound bleed is an issue. They don't have the bass weight that the Sony MDR-v750s do, but they sound great, and they're loving indestructible.
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Apr 14, 2023 02:10
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When COVID hit and we moved to working from home, I started using my K240s and SM57 for meetings. People were like “drat you look and sound like a radio host”. Buy a pair of K240s and use them for everything except the bus.
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Apr 14, 2023 02:30
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They're good for the bus too, further to my point that they're indestructible: I've sat on them so many times and they don't break, but I can't say that for two (maybe three) pairs of Sonys.
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Apr 14, 2023 02:59
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I had the pads shred completely down and the wiring give out on my K240s, but that was after a decade of really heavy use.
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Apr 14, 2023 03:11
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Mister Speaker posted:I've been using some very basic multiband compression as part of my 'mastering' chain when I run my DJ mixes. Literally just the Ableton native multiband comp on the 'Standard Multiband Compression' preset; I turn it on and scan through the mix while A-Bing it at varied 'depth' settings. If it don't make the mix sound slightly better I ditch it, but usually it does with the depth set to around 30%. If you pretend you're mixing/mastering for vinyl, you'll usually get close, and just be left with some little tweaks. Mix-level compression for loudness, as opposed to that pump effect, is usually the opposite of what you want to do for radio. Radio is a pretty low-fidelity medium even with a decent FM signal, so brickwalling a sound is likely to just make it sound hissy and bad. Usually you want to focus on high-quality mids since they suffer the least signal loss and interference over FM, and use less compression than you would for a digital mix. So I think the multiband compressor is a good play here, but I would first try to stick that glue compressor ahead of it in the signal chain, then use the multiband to push the low-mids and mids but mostly leave the bass range and highs alone. They'll need to keep the dynamic range to sound good in that medium.
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Apr 14, 2023 05:13
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Thanks, that's really helpful! I will definitely try Glue Comp->MBC with this latest mix. Any comment on my previous ones (in the link in my avatar)? I tend to DJ with the mids scooped a bit anyway; I wonder if this is just fundamentally the wrong way to do it but to my ears it seems to sound alright.
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Apr 14, 2023 14:22
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Origami Dali posted:I had the pads shred completely down and the wiring give out on my K240s, but that was after a decade of really heavy use. Which are all replaceable. Another vote for the K240's. Ive only had mine for about 8 months but 8 is about the number of times I would have destroyed any other headphones in these 8 months and these are still as good as new.
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Apr 15, 2023 07:44
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sounds like i need to try these 240s
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Apr 15, 2023 08:02
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They're not *perfectly* flat as far as response curves but they're an industry standard for a reason. They're pretty flat with a bit of a mild bump around 150 Hz and around 6000 Hz. If it sounds fantastic on a pair of K240s, it'll sound good on just about anything.
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Apr 15, 2023 08:35
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Mister Speaker posted:Thanks, that's really helpful! I will definitely try Glue Comp->MBC with this latest mix. Any comment on my previous ones (in the link in my avatar)? I tend to DJ with the mids scooped a bit anyway; I wonder if this is just fundamentally the wrong way to do it but to my ears it seems to sound alright. A common trick for singles and radio mixes is also to blow out and brickwall the first 20-30 seconds of the song (past the intro), and then dial back the compression to give the listener a chance to hear the song. One of my favorite examples of this technique, exaggerated to all poo poo, is actually a symphonic black metal song. Listen to how the bombast backs out and the soundstage opens wide up as it moves out of the intro and into the first verse: https://youtu.be/NiNTrKsQ8TU
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Apr 16, 2023 16:04
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Vulture Culture posted:I'm out so it will be a bit before I get to it, but in general, just about all the dance music I've ever heard tends to be light on the mids because people listen to it at loud volumes for long periods of time, in cold environments with bad acoustics. This is absolutely fine for digital media - mix to your purpose, your environment, and your ears. Bumping the mids and maximizing the dynamic range just becomes important because of signal loss. are they supposed to be inside of a manual transmission? (because that’s loving rad)
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Apr 16, 2023 16:57
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Can someone recommend a free reverb plugin that works in reaper? I'm not picky due to free but the 3 I've downloaded this week either don't work/open or have some kind of horrible crackling (Black rooster gold plate reverb sounds good but is just a crackling mess when it's on)
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Apr 28, 2023 22:07
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Valhalla SuperMassive for modern type Voxengo OldSkoolVerb for what it says Though crackle can mean you need to increase audio driver buffer size.
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Apr 28, 2023 22:20
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I've always had issues with Black Rooster stuff, it just doesn't seem to like whatever PC i run it on, either crackles or crashes regardless of buffer size or anything else (Cubase user, but haven't tried any of theirs since C10 due to these issues) When the plugs do work they are pretty nice sounding but I don't have the patience to janitor them when there's so many alternatives NonzeroCircle fucked around with this message at 22:41 on Apr 28, 2023 |
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Apr 28, 2023 22:39
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Baby Audio Magic Dice is fun for weird, too. I bought the full version (Spaced Out) when it came out and it's fun.
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Apr 29, 2023 00:40
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NonzeroCircle posted:I've always had issues with Black Rooster stuff, it just doesn't seem to like whatever PC i run it on, either crackles or crashes regardless of buffer size or anything else (Cubase user, but haven't tried any of theirs since C10 due to these issues) I'm just too stupid to know how to fix stuff when it doesn't work. Like 50% of the reason I have a MacBook was cause I wanted to get more into music production and had a horrible time with software and drivers on my PC, so anytime something's fiddly enough I can't get it working on there either I kinda move on. Like I said the gold plate reverb does sound good, at least what I can hear of it behind the wall of crackling. I'll try loving with the buffer which I realize I have not actually done before
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Apr 29, 2023 02:40
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Wowporn posted:Can someone recommend a free reverb plugin that works in reaper? I'm not picky due to free but the 3 I've downloaded this week either don't work/open or have some kind of horrible crackling (Black rooster gold plate reverb sounds good but is just a crackling mess when it's on) Valhalla Supermassive!
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Apr 29, 2023 02:46
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Downloaded supermassive and oh my gently caress was that so much less painful than the last three verbs I tried, thank you for saving my many minutes of frustration. The centaurius setting is working out well for me.
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Apr 30, 2023 00:16
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Wowporn posted:Downloaded supermassive and oh my gently caress was that so much less painful than the last three verbs I tried, thank you for saving my many minutes of frustration. The centaurius setting is working out well for me. I pretty much hate 99% of DAW related things. Most plugins are ugly as hell with bizarre overly complicated UIs and lack the sound quality to make up for it. Valhalla stuff is incredible though. That dude has an amazing ear and also a phenomenal design philosophy. All of his plugins are lightweight on the computer and are very well designed from an interface perspective.
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Apr 30, 2023 08:25
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Yeah I often bemoan that DAWs and music software in general feel 15 years behind art/design software in terms of ease of use and stuff. I spent some time studying UI/UX design this year and that only made it worse lol
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Apr 30, 2023 17:41
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Does anyone here like putting their recordings onto obscure / dead physical formats? I was looking at toying around with Mini-Disc, this has absolutely no practical reasons, I just thought it would be fun to do. But am unsure what hardware to find on ebay. I want to find something I can easily plug into my PC, I have access to Windows, Linux (through a Steam Deck, but that can still work), and a Mac, but the Mac is an M2, so nothing mini-disc is likely compatible at this point.
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May 5, 2023 20:27
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You can always real time record to minidisc, often through an optical cable for optimal quality. The old recorders that don't do usb or long play might be cheaper anyway, not sure. Optical out pci card for a pc should be cheap also. Depends what your time is worth, especially if you want to add titles and everything. Though if I remember this video right, you can do net md through a website or something: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HC-8IGkdDxw Basically just watch all techmoan and this does not compute about md to get up to speed.
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May 5, 2023 21:53
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For mini-disc hardware, do you have any recommendations? I am starting entirely from scratch. [edit] Ooh wait, this video covers that. :P I was thinking it was just about the software side.
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May 5, 2023 22:53
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Yeah I haven't done anything with md myself in a good 20 years, so I couldn't recommend you anything if it's not in those videos. It just seemed relevant that there happens to be a multiplatform solution for the software side, since you were mentioning what computers you have access to.
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May 5, 2023 23:07
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I said come in! posted:Does anyone here like putting their recordings onto obscure / dead physical formats? i don't know anything about minidiscs, but i've put out albums on 1/4" reel to reel tapes before. i don't know if it's helpful to anyone, but it definitely took me some time to figure out that i needed to calibrate 0 on the analog VU to -18dbfs from the daw. i just used a 1khz sine wav because that's what i always used to calibrate camera hops when i was doing tv, but idk if that was optimal. i love dead formats, i hope the minidisc stuff goes well!
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May 5, 2023 23:08
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Flipperwaldt posted:Yeah I haven't done anything with md myself in a good 20 years, so I couldn't recommend you anything if it's not in those videos. It just seemed relevant that there happens to be a multiplatform solution for the software side, since you were mentioning what computers you have access to. Yeah! That video was super helpful and something i'll be going back to watch again. Doing more research into the hardware that the video recommended, those devices are either very expensive now, or just are not being sold anywhere anymore (even on eBay).  So need to do more research and find more commonly available miniDisc recorders.
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May 5, 2023 23:48
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I think I want to get new monitors. My KRK RP8GP2s (with the 10S sub from the same generation) have served me extremely well, for fifteen years. I've never had to repair them or anything, a fact which seems to astonish people. The same people also love to dunk on the KRKs, something I noticed a suspicious uptick in when Best Buy started carrying them. I've been saying they sound fine for years, and that with the kind of music I mix and write (lol I don't write poo poo anymore) they're more than enough. But then I started working at Long & McQuade. One of the nice perks of working in the Pro Audio department is we've got an treated room where all the monitors on display are hooked up through a switch, to an Apollo interface and a computer running Spotify. When customers aren't demoing stuff, we can throw on generally whatever we want to hear. And several of my coworkers are also junglists or at least into the wider sphere of electronic music. The ribbon tweeters in the ADAM monitors are way more apparent than I thought. The high end that comes out of them just feels super effortless and airy. I'll definitely have to check to see that I was listening to the comparable price-point models to the KRK offerings, because now I'm not sure. And I feel bad, you know that 'pathetic fallacy' of ascribing human characteristics to inanimate objects (like not wanting to dispose of an old phone when you replace it)? I love my Rokits and they've served me well. But yeah, I kinda want those ADAMs, if they are indeed at a comparable price point to my KRKs. I'm in no financial position to buy anything right now but the gears are turning in my head. We also have a pair of ATC SM25As. They sound incredible; everything sounds great on them. They're like $6k a piece. Lottery money poo poo. I guess I'll ask a question so this post isn't just an E/N rant: Is it acceptable to pair subwoofers from one manufacturer to monitors from yet another? If I kept my RP10S, for example, with the ADAM monitors. Mister Speaker fucked around with this message at 21:57 on May 17, 2023 |
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May 17, 2023 21:49
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