DAW front end/Limited resources/advice?

[Jim Klein]

Due to the constant whining from my family for things like food, shelter, clothing, etc., I am always evaluating my gear and tend to get rid of those pieces I don't use very often in order to get new stuff. For the television and film composition that is my bread and butter, I'm pretty satisfied with my rig, but recently I started producing an album project involving standard rock instrumentation, something I haven't done since I had an analog console and multitrack.

Although my front end of Calrec pre/eq and Trakker sound good, I really lose a lot of the warmth and size when I track to Logic through the analog inputs of a MOTU 2408II. I did buy a Rosetta for better conversion, but to my ears, it didn't really sound better that the 2408 converters, so I returned it (thanks, Fletcher, for the great customer service!).

So.... I'm considering some alternatives:

1. Sell the Trakker and get a Fatso.

2. Sell my Lexicon 200 and get a Lucid A/D

3. Do both of the above

4. Sell the Trakker, the Lexicon, and my SV3700 (Cherry, with only 300 hours on it), and get a HEDD.

I just bought an HHB Burnit, and when archiving some old stuff I had done on my MS-16 and AMR console, I couldn't help but notice how much warmer and bigger things sounded back in the days of analog....... any ideas would be appreciated.

 

[groundcontrol]

I would definitely start by upgrading your converters. I would sugest getting a stereo or 8 channels Lucid box from Fletcher. I once A/B'ed them against Apogee's Rosetta and PSX-100 units and ended up buying Lucid's. The converters in the 2408 are definitely playing against you. If you have a bigger budget, go for the Hedd. But for just a little cash the Lucid will improve spectacularly your sound. Also, I bought a FATSO this summer and I now consider it a mandatory piece if you record to digital. So that might be a good second step for you once you've upgraded your chain with better converters.

Good luck! :w:

 

[anonymous]

Jim said:

"standard rock instrumentation"

&

"get a Fatso"

OH yes! Those two quotes belong side by side.....

What ground Control said....