Reggie wrote: You have some odd notions my friend. :?
I'm afraid neither of the posted songs are the best thing I have ever heard.

ok, so what would you do, specifically, to improve the mixes?

Your thinking that you are already the best and can't really improve may end up being your limiting factor.

nah, it's just for once in my life I felt like I accomplished something great and beautiful. I've never been so satisfied with a mix of mine before. The more I mix, the better I'll get. There's no "best" in anything. Always room for improvement.

I really don't understand why you think analog hiss will make your songs sound better when turned up loud.

It might have to do with the masking phenomina, but perhaps not:

Let's say you have a really high sine wave, and nothing else. It will sound harsh and annoying.

If there are several sine waves next to each other, it will sound less annoying.

If there's a software-generated highhat, it might sound harsh, but if you put a little hiss hehind it, it softens it up.

Cucco wrote:
You're making a lot of bad assumptions here.
Such as:
1. Any $100 box could make a SSL room sound warmer and fuller

I'm not talking about mixing through the SSL.

I'm not talking about the room the SSL is in.

I'm talking about a) warmer vocal b) warmer software-generated synths.

2. You have to have a mixer at all. (I run a mixerless studio and use preamps from DAV, Langevin, Summit, Aphex and others - no mixer, just pres and digital).

I don't use a mixer either.

I said that I record in a room with an SSL. I never actually use the SSL, and I was wondering whether I should.

I mix at home, completely in pro tools.

3. You can make a big hit right off the bat without spending days and days and years in the studio.

big hit is one thing, a great-sounding recording is another. I don't think I've ever heard a great-sounding Lil' John recording.

I'd really like to know in what circle you are an audio whiz!

I'm not an audio whiz, and I don't want to be one. I'm a producer and song writer.

I don't mean to sound insulting, but in a studio with an SSL, you say you've never had exposure to a ribbon mic?!?!?! HUH??

I've talked about this situation in a previous post. I'm a student, my univeristy is cheap, they got an SSL, and not much else. We have a ribbon, but it's always broken, because some fool always drops it, sticks it out of the window to record street noise, or blows on it too hard.

You also make the assumptions that tubes are automatically "Warmer" and will magically fix your mix. The fact is, unless the tube is pushed to the point where it produces non-linearities, it should be as clean or cleaner than some of its solid state counterparts.

I don't think it will magically fix the mix, but it will make the vocal sound fuller. I do plan to push the tube a little into the non-linear spectrum.

Also, assuming that you can warm up a mix inside ProTools is going in the wrong direction too.

This is what this whole topic is about. I know I can't warm up a mix in pro tools, and I want my software synths to sound warm. HOW??

If it's not warm going into the recorder, you won't be able to make it warm. You'll only be able to mess it up.

I don't use a recorder, I make hiphop and techno, and only record vocals.

If, in fact, you are in a room with an SSL and the acoustics are truly that bad, whoever's room that is needs to be arrested. They should never subject an SSL to a bad acoustic environment! It's less of a crime to take your Louisville slugger to your poodle.

I agree, but unfortunately that's how it is. :?

Thanks.

There's a reason why Bob Clearmountain mixes on an SSL. The SSL has "that sound," and so do many other hardware boards.

When an electronic song is mixed on hardware, it suddenly has "close," "far," "top," and "bottom" sounds, physically in space. I don't know how else to explain it.

There is no question that there is a big difference between how Pro Tools sounds, and an analog board sounds.

What is that difference? Is it the analog EQ? The channel itslef, or just the fact that it's "something analog" is better than nothing?

So back to the original question: to get the "analog depth" do I need an analog board, an analog EQ, tube circuit?

I know the answer is "it depends" but I know that already. I want to know what YOU specifically would do, if you had a bunch of software synths which you wanted to give some depth and personality to.

I would love to hear the Neve mix your friend did. Please send me a link. What vintage might the console be??? I feel you are probably impressed with the analog mixing therein??

Ya' know alot of folks are taking the multi track out from their DAW and mixing these days through a passive analog summing bus through a "patial passive analog console" or a full desk like your friend did and alota' folks like the sound better that way. Some people are very sensitive to the latency issues within software mixing. I've worked both ways and have no real preference either way. I mix on my vintage 1974 Neve and in the box with Adobe Audition and Sony's Vegas 6. My results are consistent so.... ??

I think you are on the right track (pun intended) you just need to keep doing what you're doing. Most of your preconceived notions regarding adding hiss doesn't really factor in. You cite some examples you have obviously read within your studies. The other posters obviously also find some of your perceptions, peculiar but all of this is like mothers cooking, the recipes are never quite the same for everybody. There are some right things and some wrong things one can do but the bottom line is how you feel about your product and how your client feels about your product and that's really it.

Ms. Remy Ann David

Not sure which Neve it is.. I sent the website to your email. Now I gotta spend a few hours doing max/msp stuff... :?