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outboard gear to add to the sound.
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klippel
Stereofeld
Started Topics :
91
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1153
Posted : Aug 24, 2013 11:46:02
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so i just bought a focusrite compounder for the bass expanding option of it.
it adds nicely something i have not found itb yet.
now i am looking further to add some outboard spice to my mixes. mainly i am looking at preamps or eqs for some mojo and colours.
any recommendations to get something with more depth and and overall nice coherent texture?
but maybe even one step before should be a decent a/d converter that you can also drive nicely in the input stage? (if something like that exists after all). i am using an rme 9632 for now and its clean but i guess there is better options.
hit me you gearslutz
  http://www.ektoplazm.com/free-music/stereofeld-frequenzwechsel
"I've always been a believer in musical repetition to draw in the listener and make the music hypnotic. Another thing I believe in is repetition." Alan Parsons |
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PoM
IsraTrance Full Member
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8087
Posted : Aug 24, 2013 16:09
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preamps can be kinda overpriced for runing synth .. and it work best with mic signal usually thought some accept line signal just fine..(sometimes on transformless input)
not worth it to run synth in my opinion even it s better to have a good api preamp or something with big transfomers sound than not , for the price i think there is maybe better choice to get some mojo.. but it s so personal..
a comp and a eq or a channel strip is nice..plus something for saturation like a culture vulture ,some pedals and hardwre fx..
i think i would start with hardware fx personaly..eventide h3000 , pedals,moogers foogers.. then hardware eq and compressor.. but really everyhting matter so it s hard to know in what order to buy..tpersonally i felt satisfied and my gear lust stoped after i could cover the whole chain with equipment choice and just record or doing digital stuff in the daw |
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PoM
IsraTrance Full Member
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Posted : Aug 24, 2013 16:45
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Taisto
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
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252
Posted : Aug 24, 2013 16:47
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I have for every outboard synth and mics first presonus studio channel, then lexicon mx200 and finally bbe sonic maximizer 822a (to check the low- and high-end) before rme multiface. In rme ff400 you have preamps in gear so back then i was using those..
I'm thinking to upgrade some sort of mixer to have more outboard effects as send channels, yamaha's seem to be good(?)..
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PoM
IsraTrance Full Member
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Posted : Aug 26, 2013 12:42
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for converter and preamps that imo would work good for electronic music (fast punchy sound ), api a2d can be nice ,thinking to get one myself. these pre saturation/compression can be usefull but kinda expensive.. for recording in top notch quality the a2d seems good choice though i don t know how much it would make a difference in a mix..if you record lot of sound , or even route plugins into it it could be nice i suppose.. adding a kind of subblte classic sound that may be to your taste or not..and adding a bit of depth and separation in the mix
api channel strip and 2500 are top notch too..but same price is crazy |
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Taisto
IsraTrance Junior Member
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Posted : Aug 26, 2013 13:06
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PoM; have you tried avalon channel strips, they say its a good one, but pricey too, of course..
Presonus studio channel is kind of budged version of channel strips for bedroom recording, but the tube it has is changeable, i just sent an email to NOS creators if they have some ideas for replace it to better one.
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PoM
IsraTrance Full Member
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8087
Posted : Aug 26, 2013 13:17
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nope didn t tried it ,opinion on avalon stuff is very divised some hate some like.. the thing i would probably like is some of their eqs .. i know one of avalon strip use same eq circuit than one of their best eq, just less flexible and some really like tthat one for this as it give you the sound of that eq for less cash..but not sure it s still the case, it seems price have rised on their strips.
the comp on this strip may add a little something nice dunno but its not very usefull it seems , kinda slow, heard/read many times it s crap |
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PoM
IsraTrance Full Member
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Posted : Aug 26, 2013 13:37
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with a 500 serie rack these stuff are good for the price..it s possible to diy or here it s a site of a guy that build them for you but it s more expensive..
http://www.customanalogservices.com/vc528rev2
was close to get vp28 but went something else but now i m thinking again to that option or vs528 to cover api goodness
it s some api clone but aimed at their vintage sound |
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Babaluma
IsraTrance Junior Member
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729
Posted : Aug 26, 2013 16:00
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for mojo and colour try something with an older design full of tubes/transformers/inductors etc. some great older stuff available second hand. can often give you nice colour not so easily achievable with plugins. will cost more though!
analogue mastering chain here (chandler, thermionic culture, and dangerous music) has no tubes, 10 transformers, and a shit load of inductors (in the passive eq). ability to hit different stages at different levels opens up whole worlds of subtle analogue tone shaping options.
the chandler tg2 preamp i use here has two DIs, and is amazing at warming up digital synths. used to feed it my korg wavestation ex. by adjusting input drive and output level you can get from clean (with hair and balls), to all out dirt.
i love my avalon u5 DI, but it's more for getting a really clean sound from the instrument to the ADC. no experience with their other gear i'm afraid.
converters are generally trying to be clean (except for something like the burl's), so if you want colour then don't go there yet. rocking crookwood AD and DA here, as part of a custom mastering console rig.
http://hermetechmastering.com : http://www.discogs.com/artist/Gregg+Janman : http://soundcloud.com/babaluma |
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PoM
IsraTrance Full Member
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Posted : Aug 26, 2013 16:13
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thermionic rooster seems like a good choice to me in modern stuff to add some mojo , tubes,transfo, eq , preamp and one saturation stage similar to culture vulture .definetly something i would check
culture vulture is also a great choice ,if you like soundtoys decapitator you would love a culture vulture (there is no the blend or filter feature on the cuture vulture but the saturation/distortion from very subble warming and taming of hard digital transients to crazy thd is very good, to me this thing sound the most impressing with digital source as it give them analog sound caracterisitc , though it sound great on analog one too)
you buy the cheapest CV change the tubes with good nos and you get a war machine for recording synth and drum machine , or if you want to boucne plugins into it ect it might be better to get the balanced plus version that come with great tubes already |
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Taisto
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
16
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252
Posted : Aug 26, 2013 20:30
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http://www.nostubestore.com/2010/04/tungsram-ecc8312ax7cv8156b339.html
They (NOS) recommend this one for my purposes when i asked more musical and warm sounding tube. And it is not that expensive than i was waiting  I already removed and put back the original tube from studio channel and it was not any difficult..
Also i'm getting this week Aphex Aural Exciter 104 with big bottom.. planning to use it in premaster channel with some reverb send..
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klippel
Stereofeld
Started Topics :
91
Posts :
1153
Posted : Aug 27, 2013 10:08
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thanks for all your input!
let me explain a bit more what i planned to do.
i tried a number of hardware synths but the workflow is just not mine (kill me for it, i do not care). i am an all midi bitch until the final mixdown. ergo i will make everything in the digital realm and only go out for summing/mojo to the 2buss.
i search for depth and saturation i know from older psy records that were made on consoles.
i know i will not get there 100% but maybe some of it is achievable get back.
my first plan was like this:
take a 8 channel analogue desk (ssl xdesk, expensive but superclean) or if you know any 8 channel mixer also vintage (but they need service so often i reckon) and have my four busses (kick, bass, synth, fx) run through the mixer, have the outboard (compounder for now) as insert, culture vulture seems very interesting indeed and then go back to the daw. maybe hit another preamp with the whole mix before going back into the d/a? your chandler looks sexy babaluma for example.
what i wonder is, is there cheaper vintage gear to have the same kind of colouring, i am a noob outboard gear wise. if so please state names if you know for boards preamps whatnot.
after all i know i can get better mixes than now just itb, but its also gearporn i lust for, does not have to be super expensive gear.. just gear that makes sense..
http://www.ektoplazm.com/free-music/stereofeld-frequenzwechsel
"I've always been a believer in musical repetition to draw in the listener and make the music hypnotic. Another thing I believe in is repetition." Alan Parsons |
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Taisto
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
16
Posts :
252
Posted : Aug 27, 2013 10:25
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Babaluma
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
18
Posts :
729
Posted : Aug 27, 2013 11:12
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any well designed, good sounding analogue gear will usually be expensive by default, as they are usually all discrete (no chips). this adds to the "viney" sound quality, but also to the cost.
secondhand older analogue gear that is well known goes for silly prices (neve, telefunken, urei, pultec, fairchild etc.) newer designs based on the older stuff (such as most of the outboard gear i use), are also very expensive.
if you are looking for good AND cheap, then you are going to have to do some research. there is LOADS of old analogue gear out there from the 50's onwards that sounds amazing, but is relatively unknown.
there's a guy here in italy who buys loads of this stuff up on ebay, does it up in nice enclosures, fixes it/replaces parts, makes it work well with modern studio gear, and sells it on, and it's still cheaper than a lort of other stuff that sounds as good.
either that, or go with lower cost/kit companies who offer recreations of older designs that you then have to build yourself. there are loads of these too, seventh circle audio, drip electronics, fivefish etc.
http://hermetechmastering.com : http://www.discogs.com/artist/Gregg+Janman : http://soundcloud.com/babaluma |
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PoM
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
162
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8087
Posted : Aug 27, 2013 15:37
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vintage gear is good way to go for color..but what i have noticed it s that some of vintage stuff can be not enought detailed .i m ean you can get lot of color but at same time loose details.. this have a price.. high end stuff will keep all the details as i think it s the priority of lot of quality gear and just add a touch of color that will adds up the more you run sounds into it..more transparent..
there is sure some good and cheap but there is lot of cheap and just ok..dont sound high end at all and for modern needs you really need detailed stuff..something that add lot of color but blurr your sound wil not be that usefull and this can come at a price |
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