I do almost everything after unless there's a specific reason.

Normally you want the signal clean going to tape. I might use a compressor/limiter, if what I'm recording has a wide dynamic range. However I rarely EQ going to tape. It's nice to have an un-tainted original to go back to.
Of course, If you are sure of your EQ settings...

Again, though I would keep any augmentation light.

Massive Mastering wrote: I do almost everything after unless there's a specific reason.

Can you please elaborate a bit more ?? Steps that you do, equipments, that sort of stuff. Thanks!

You haven't stated your genre of music...

For POP/ROCK/R&B etc... vocals I ALWAYS compress while tracking.

Same for acoustic guitar, bass, drums, etc...

The level & type of compression varies with the material and genre being recorded as well as production needs.

However, remember that once it's in there...it can't be taken out.

Occasionally, I EQ some intruments as needed when tracking. Again, the situtation and production style dictate what I want to do.

I generally have a pretty distinct and clear idea of what the final mix will sound like so, I use processing while tracking with that sound in mind.

digitmstr wrote: You haven't stated your genre of music...

For POP/ROCK/R&B etc... vocals I ALWAYS compress while tracking.

Same for acoustic guitar, bass, drums, etc...

The level & type of compression varies with the material and genre being recorded as well as production needs.

However, remember that once it's in there...it can't be taken out.

Occasionally, I EQ some intruments as needed when tracking. Again, the situtation and production style dictate what I want to do.

I generally have a pretty distinct and clear idea of what the final mix will sound like so, I use processing while tracking with that sound in mind.

Thanks alot...Anyone else ??

If you try it for yourself, you will notice that there are sounds you can dial up by adding compression and eq both before and after recording, that you simply cannot achieve by processing post recording.

With kick drums for instance, I usually need to eq a both before and after recording, to get the sound I like .. With compression, I have learned that by gently compressing on the way in and then a little more at mix, I can get a tight focused sound without a lot of compression artifacts.

I have tried other methods, double eq's and comps post, but it is never quite the same.

The thing to do, is to do it all the different ways you can imagine, be inventive and creative .. Learn what works for you .. what gets the sound you like.

Then when you record, you can envision the mix before you record the tracks ... and treat the tracks you are recording accordingly.

There is no preference for me other than to do whatever it takes to get the the results you are after. Using eq before compression is often necessary for tone control but it also is necessary many times to enhance and provide better control of how the compressor responds to freq peaks. Eq after the compressor is often necessary to further taylor the sound but is also required to make up for the artifacts caused by the compressor or in many cases mainly because of the artifacts caused by using cheap crappy compressors.

Like always, Thanks alot you guys!!!