How many people here use Analog? How many with digital?
I tend to go with digital (through my stompbox) for personal stuff, but my band's recorder tends to use analog stuff to record us. He gets the most amazing sounds out of it, but I can't (I'm just too darn lazy to get it to work... I stick with my stompbox through PC to record).
How about you guys?
Analog vs. Digital
# 1
I had Magix Stuido 6 once and I tried recording something but it sounded horrible (the guitar specifically). Then I tried recording the same song into a cheap 4-track recorder and it sounded far better (though by no means professional). Too bad I recorded over it.
# 2
For $$ reasons I use digital. When I think of analog recording, I'm not thinking of cheap (yes the all have sucky electronics) 4 or 8 track cassette recorders. To me analog means a 2" studer reel to reel. This media for these machines are very very expensive. Yes you can erase magnetic tape, yes you can push mag tape and "saturate" it and get some nice warmth. But let's face it most of us record to get ideas down and build songs. You can't beat digital. It's friggin CHEAP. And if done properly yeilds results that rival mag tape. I don't know what kind of problems Gargy waas having but I get stellar results. Save you pennies, ditch the 4 or 8 track cassette, and invest in a good multi-input soundcard, get a decent mixing board, and learn to use the digital recording software of your choice (Sonar, Cubase, ProTools) There are some great free recording packages out there such as Audacity or reaper. I can't speak to these as I've never used them.
The biggest problem most people have when making the change from analog tape to digital is with analog you CAN push the levels and still get decent (sometimes better) results. With digital, once you hit 0 dB you have massive distortion. You need to learn to set up the gain in each part of the chain so that you never ever hit distortion. It;s not all that complicated, it just takes a little getting used to.
The biggest problem most people have when making the change from analog tape to digital is with analog you CAN push the levels and still get decent (sometimes better) results. With digital, once you hit 0 dB you have massive distortion. You need to learn to set up the gain in each part of the chain so that you never ever hit distortion. It;s not all that complicated, it just takes a little getting used to.
# 3
I used to use exclusively analogue. Mainly cause I had a 16 track Fostex studio and it was my daily workhorse.
I switched over to digital several years ago though, and never went back.
It was hard at first to get used to doing stuff like exporting instead of bouncing down but after a coupla years I started realizing all the advantages of using digital.
Analogue is all linear... you record from beginning to end.
Digital is more like painting on a canvas. You can compose stuff in little boxes and then just copy and paste to make up a full song.
When I want to write a song now, I basically do 8 bars and then just copy and paste the whole thing. Then add overdubs over top of the copies to fill it out.
Even harmonies are simple... just record 8 harmonies, then copy and paste them through the whole song.
Plus there's no beating using stuff like VST synths and plug-ins like amplituble.
I switched over to digital several years ago though, and never went back.
It was hard at first to get used to doing stuff like exporting instead of bouncing down but after a coupla years I started realizing all the advantages of using digital.
Analogue is all linear... you record from beginning to end.
Digital is more like painting on a canvas. You can compose stuff in little boxes and then just copy and paste to make up a full song.
When I want to write a song now, I basically do 8 bars and then just copy and paste the whole thing. Then add overdubs over top of the copies to fill it out.
Even harmonies are simple... just record 8 harmonies, then copy and paste them through the whole song.
Plus there's no beating using stuff like VST synths and plug-ins like amplituble.
# 4
