What's really refreshing is, your open honesty, you don't push your own personal agenda, you don't just steer people towards brands of equipment or even techniques; but you offer realistic assessments on a broad base of topics while keeping it 'real' for the folks who don't have the professional experience. I know you're being up-front and open-minded. I feel I can trust your appraisals - that's soooo worthy and it needs to be said!
Great point Bring MeSunshine. I believe he recognizes there are a million ways to create great music. He has found what works for him but one size definitely does not fit all. I agree, I appreciate the candor and humility.
Jason Houdyschell true! but make your ears job easier discerning and getting a good sound straight away trough means of quality gear with a well trained ear
It is because of you guys that we amateurs still do what we do. Music. You give away what you know. That's the sign of a great teacher. God bless you man.
One of the best things I’ve done as a musician/personal project studio guy was invest $40 in a Weller soldering station. I can make the exact cable I need with quality components at a fraction of the cost. Personally, I like Mogami cables and Neutrik connectors. So much more affordable in bulk. Squareplugs are also a nice connector as well. Making your own cables is also a great way to get into soldering. Since I’ve gained experience by making cables, I’ve moved up to repairing and installing components in my guitars. It’s nice being able to quickly fix a problem yourself.
Yes , Hi Warren Yes I still use an analog consoles in my studio and still love the hands on technique process but , to me some of the problems analog had digital fixed them ! So I use the best of both worlds
“It’s less about the gear and more about the ear” I like that. That’s always been my motto ever since I started making music 8 years ago. I started on Fruity Loops and my friend said “you shouldn’t use fruity loops if you want to make rap instrumentals. Fruity loops is mainly for electronic music.” These were his exact words. Good thing I didn’t take what he said into consideration because I stuck with fruity loops and I learned it well. Now FL is one of the main DAWs in the rap world and I have the whole DAW down. This same friend also always said that I needed the best gear and equipment, and he always got the best speakers, mixers, mics, etc. while I was here making music with my shitty speakers that were made in the 90s. I made some of my favorite songs on those speakers The ear will always be more important than the gear
I m a record producer from Malaysia, with 42 years experience now....I started with analog, Teac mixing console & tape machine,Tag magnum, Neve, SSL 4000, SSL 9000....ect. Now I am in the box using Studio One 5 & Cubase 11 with Apollo Twin interface. What you hv said in this video, really reminds me of that era......We've been there!!! Well done!!
@@Producelikeapro Also did a vocal recordings, mixing & mastering in Abbey Road Studios & Capitol Records Studios back in the 80's. I have watched a lot of ur youtube videos just to keep me updated with new approaches that U highlights....Tq
@@EM-km8em U just need a good condenser mic, a compressor like 1176 or LA2A and an eq to filter out unwanted frequencies, lastly get a good input level.......it's not that complicated.
@@FauziMarzuki I’m a beginner. I currently use a u87ai, and UAD twin duo. But theres something missing the quality doesn’t sound pure. Idk if i need hardware, something wrong with my EQ or what but the vocals are not coming out clean
As always. Sound advise over brand-commercial. I value his opinions highly, for: do the test. .. And it gets proven. Again: thanks for the good work, and making us all better producers!! Cheers!!!
Dear Warren, you are a God send! You give all of us invaluable Information on the art that we dearly love. You explain things so simply, get straight into it and make it all so interesting. What a natural! You must have improved the recording techniques of thousands. God bless ya cotton socks pal, please don't stop!! Much appreciated. Brian McCarthy. :)
I went from a Presonus Audiobox USB (muddy recordings through the pre-amps no matter what mic you used) to a Focusrite Clarett USB. Very happy of my new acquisition
I just upgraded from 3, m-audio delta 1010's to a 10 year old, usb steinberg ur824 with a profire 2626 and an ada8000 via adat. Everything about the setup has improved. Monitor mix is clearer, preamps are cleaner and punchier, less cables, less messing about. Latency is very good. I'm using lots of plugins on my tracking session in reaper and the latency is still under .9 ms. Very happy with my $500 upgrade.
That's the best thing about RUclips, you get wonderful advice that you wouldn't expect. I'm a saxophonist and for years was told you have to have a Selmer Mark VI. Thanks to RUclips I've learned from many professional sax players the mouthpiece and your talent is more important than type of horn. I believe your analysis can be applied to most creative areas. Thanks for your comments.
I have a Digi 002 that I had modified by Black Lion Audio years ago with an upgraded power supply and better preamps. The sound and noise performance was much improved. I recorded many songs on it that still sound good to me today. That said, I upgraded to a Universal Audio Apollo about 4 years ago and the improvement was mind blowing. Pristine audio quality with extremely low latency and fantastic plugins. The Apollo (on sale) was about the same price as the Digi 002. You are absolutely right when you say go for the interface upgrade because greatly improved technology is so much cheaper today. Love your channel Warren.
You took the words out of my mouth. My studio stays cluttered with stands, cables, and blankets.( for covering the drums and building tents around cabinets for recording.) As far as cables go, I would lose my focus or motivation if I had to set everything up before recording each time. Great video Warren.👍 Also, I Would love to work with a console someday but, the necessities have to come first.
Cables definitely matter. Thank you for stating that. Also, in regards to the audio spaghetti under my C|24 and argosy desk, I've done a great job with hiding the hideous snake den and take great pictures. I used the back door panel of my Argosy 90 series and place it on the two legs below the front end to hide cables pouring from my console. It worked out, lol. Thanks for sharing Warren, I always enjoy your videos. Also, I just finished the build out of my studio here in Los Angeles. Hopefully, we will cross paths one of these days.
Thank you so very much. I put off recording for a long time because I didn't think my gear was good enough but after I found your channel you convinced me to start with what I have. I am having the time of my life recording my music now. Can't say thank you enough. God bless you Warren!
What I love about your channel, is that every single video is a gem. Like who does it on that level? Honesty and being open to perspectives of people starting out, advanced, pros... Guitars, bass, Vocals... the list goes on and on. Infinite amount of knowledge. Thanks you for this, you are doing so much for the work wide community.
6:25 is exactly what I learned from you, when I first began my journey with PLAPA, and then was multiplied ten fold by hearing Tom Lord-Alge say that at NAMM last year! Thank you again, Warren, for the amazing content, it's always much appreciated, even though I don't chime in enough!
A Digi-002 Rack was my first multichannel interface! Made a lot of recordings with it, some of them half decent. When I upgraded to a Lynx Aurora, though, the difference in sound quality was immediately noticeable -- the biggest difference is that cymbals sounded MUCH smoother and far more detailed... Just super-clean converters!
About a year ago I heard the raw (unmixed) tracks for the song Killer Queen. I was blown away at how close they sounded to the final song, proving your point about getting it right at the source. Thanks for the Q&A; it is helpful to get your perspective on approaching gear and artistry.
I appreciate these videos so much. I’m having such a fun time building my studio and tracking things every night. I’m continuing to solve audio problems and I can’t believe that just that alone has become a source of creativity. Watching this at 4:30am and shall be back in the studio by 11am. Peace and carry on.
I have a neve dpa and prism converters, coles 4038 etc, they mean nothing without room treatments! My phone sounded comparably ok to my neve simply because my high end gear was really telling me what was wrong(no room treatment) and my phone could lie cause it doesnt pick up all the phase details in the room. A bit extreme but true, I try tell people this a lot. Thanks Warren your videos are always the best!
The first revisions of the Digi 001 were very good sounding boxes. I think they sounded as good as anything you can get today and who can deny what a revolutionary system it was for home studios for the money. I made as good of recordings on it as I did on my TDM mix plus system.
When I buy a new cable, especially for touring, before I even used it I’d screw back the connecting shield, hot-glue the soldered section) then immediately screw back the connector (before the glue cools). Bulletproof connection that shouldn’t ever fail. Works for me, could work for someone else
DRILL your my kinda guy … be ready for ANYTHING cause MURPHY’S LAW always applies in my studio if it can go wrong it WILL .. great idea super protecting the cable ends before they leave the studio 👍👍👍
I’m still of the old school where I love using analog consoles to record and mix. I enjoyed your segment on whether or not to get a console or to record in the box but I feel like an important element was overlooked. When considering a console one needs to consider condition and future maintenance. Faders, pots and caps. If the buyer doesn’t have decent analog electronics skills to DIY the cost of maintenance can be breathtaking. Just take a look at any one channel strip and count up the number of caps, pots, etc and then multiply that by the number of channels in the board and then number can be staggering. Not good for someone with a thin pocketbook. Having said all this however I still like working on an analog board when I can. Thanks for the Q and A session.
Coherence. Ahhhhh!!!! Lovely to hear a really bright bloke with a passion for what he's doing explain things that are potentially complex in a really straightforward coherent manner, with humility. It is one of your gifts. Thanks for sharing in this way Warren.
Hey Warren, with all the clients you work with, companies you work with, all the deadlines you have to meet and running the academy how do you keep it all organized as to what to get done day to day ? Do you have your assistants remind you ? Do you use an app on your phone ? Old school appointment book ? I'm really curious about it thanks !!
I do both. I mix "in the box", for my TV, animation, and commercial projects, but still prefer to use an analog signal chain, and my console, to record and mix bands. I even still love to use my multitrack tape machine, when the project can afford it. Also had a chance to hang out with Glenn for a few hours, at the Hollywood studio (I was programming a laser show at the El Capitan theater for 10 days). Nice room! Great gear! Hope you guys bring in some great talent!! Keep up the great work!
I have been using a Behringer uphoria interface, which I know is regarded as 'budget', but I have to say it is very good, it has got me started, it is enabling
I love that he mentioned CV gate like it was Sanskrit, meanwhile more and more brand new synths are incorporating CV these days so that they can interact with Eurorack. CV is probably bigger right now than it ever was back when it was the ONLY standard!
I went from 4 m-audio delta 44's that I bought in 2003...which gave me 16in 16 out to a RME Fireface UCX and the difference was night and day.. HUGE difference in sound.
Yes, the 1040 ST (nicknamed "Stacey") was a midi sequencer, but years before that, I used an IBM PC 5150 with twelve-tone Cakewalk v1.0, through an Roland MP-401 UART Midi interface, while most others were using a Roland MC 500. The MC 500, while far more portable, was seriously limited in the amount of midi information, (You'd be surprised how quickly a mod wheel would chew through the MC 500's 50,000-note limit!) while the PC rig had no such limitation. We recorded a time code track to track 24 of our 2 inch Ampex reel, which kept everything pretty much in sync for recording vocals and other acoustic instruments, recording midi instrument volume levels in the PC, and only bounced everything to 1/4-inch after all levels were agreed upon. Yes I'm that old. Before there were "sound card" audio interfaces, I used to experiment with down-clocked Burr-Brown LABDACs, and used them to record 16-bit sound. Wish to heck I'd patented that!
Control voltage (CV) is still widely used in analog synths... It really hasn't gone anywhere, especially with the very big resurgence we've seen in modular synthesis. With USB Midi as well it's a great time to be into synthesis wiring all of them together in all kinds of ways. As for interfaces... Damn does it help with quality. But that's not the only thing. It's also about ease of recording! For a long time you seemed to always have to do minor troubleshooting every time you wanted to get a signal in. Nothing huge, but sometimes enough to ruin the creative flow. And if you aren't technically inclined it could really put a person off of bothering (i am technically inclined, so that wasn't my issue). I recently got an SPL Crimson 3, and it works easily with everything (computers and iOS) with very good quality. It makes it so having any kind of inspiration is something you can take advantage of in under a minute. That's rad! I need to stop buying cheap cables though. At least have a couple since most often you are only recording one thing at a time.
Hey Warren, unless it was used for other things, then yes, it's still a standard in that world! Could be that you are referring to its use otherwise and that probably did fall off. Thanks!
Actually, the Moog synth i bought is a version of the Sub 37 called the Subsequent 37 CV... Moogs still use CV in all of their synths, but this limited iteration of the Subsequent 37 not only has the usual CV Gate in for controlling the synth, but an addition of CV patch points out for a few different things. Their whole mother line is full of CV patches!
Thank you for this on cables. When I started announcing, I made my own Canare Star Quad mic cables. Sometimes 50 feet. Yes, you can hear the difference to the positive. Also, running 100 feet to mic a bass cabinet, I made Monster speaker cables. HUGE difference.
Interesting themes and questions Warren. I use a 32ch inline Soundtracs Topaz Project 8 in my studio. Just the other day connected my second ECHO AudioFire12. Subgroups and master out from the mixer to one interface, 24ch return from both interfaces to 24 B-inputs from the mixer. I am very happy with my hybrid setup (using Cubase Pro as DAW) and I can work very well with it. And no more channels left free on the mixer. 32 main inputs all in use and besides the 24ch return from the ECHO's, also 8ch return from different cassette recorders/players (2ch, 4ch, 8ch). Your video productions are also very inspiring to me, just finishing my own home studio.
First studio computer I ever saw was a COMMODORE 64 in the corning playing Racing Destruction Set. It was there to keep the kids from bothering dad on the weekends dad and keep the Pros at work on the console. :-). Great channel and thank you for all your shared wisdom.
Yes, the sound of $$$! I'm quite skeptical, George. Classical musicians used to swear Stradivarious violins sounded better than top notch modern violins until someone ran a double bind test. Guess who won. Since you paid more for Apogee (or UAD), it's bound to sound better. Isn't it?
Most definitely! I upgraded from a tascam 16x08 interface to the Behringer X32. Just the digital to analog converter is more than just a difference. I've never heard my monitors wake up and be super sensitive to eq changes before. Also the usb asio drivers shake hands very well with my DAW and computer. Concerning quality of recorded tracks? Much better than the pre amps in the tascam by far. This unit fell within my budget. Next time around I will not hesitate to go for the Midas console. So yes!! Upgrading your interface to whatever brand or budget tickles your fancy, will speed up workflow and processing sound much better quality.
@@Producelikeapro It sure is. And to close the circle: I was looking for a way to record multiple tracks of my modular synth to my PC, started researching mixers and interfaces, and ended up watching six or seven of your videos.
Warren talked about spending money on your front end, with a brilliant mic pre. I agree! But, one thing I've learned is that brilliant doesn't necessarily mean expensive. Listen to the equipment, not the price tag, and certainly not the spec sheet!
Upgrading your interface will definitely help with the quality. I was on a USB M-Audio Profire 2626 for many years. I upgraded to a focusrite clarett thunderbolt and wow....The mic pres were a million times better and my latency is 0 with the thunderbolt. And I didn't even have to spend a huge load of cash.
@@jamesdoctor8079 oh wow that's a great idea! I actually have the profire 2626. I couldn't use it for the longest time since there are no updated drivers. Is it hard to setup to use it as a slave to the main interface?
Last Summer, I bought a Soundcraft MTK 24, which is a multitrack mixing desk using just ONE USB cable. It is absolutely sensational, and I cannot recommend it highly enough. It has Lexicon reverb built-in, and the analog sounds are truly remarkable. There’s also a plug-in which remembers your settings so when you revisit a recording from the past, the analog mix / sound is still there. It’s a beautiful machine, and the best part about it, it retails for £670. Forget your Focusrite mini-devices et al, the Soundcraft MTK 24 is without question a world leader for home studios. Groundbreaking isn’t the word...
It's very relieving to hear that good cables matters. And not just in hi-fi gear, but in studios and in live PA as well. And it is interesting that cables actually might be more important than the price of the interfaces and mixers.
From watching many of Warren's videos, I'd say there are too many inexpensive mics to choose from that will provide excellent results. So your preamp would be the main concern. High budget would be a BAE1073 mic pre. The UK Sound 1173 (as Warren talked about early in this video) is less expensive and gives you a mic pre and compressor for mid-budget. I bought a UA610 and love it (with an AT450 mic). For low budget, I've heard good things about PreSonus pre's. I personally would only compress after recording because once your signal is printed, you can't change it. Using a comp on the way in is for the pros, like Warren.
My first multichannel interface was a Digi-002R. It was great in that it got me going! I've since upgraded to a Lynx Aurora (sadly not the n version). The most immediate difference I noticed when I first used it was my drum overheads sounded so much cleaner... No harshness on top at all!
I just updated to the new Apollo X6. I've had an Apollo since they were first introduced. The converters and clocking were always weak points, and I lusted for something like a Burl or Dangerous Music conversion. UAD finally got the message, and the new Apollo is on par with those. So yes, an upgraded interface can improve sound quality. Now, it's up to my skills to create good sounding recordings, it's not my interface. I have to say I think a great mic that fits your style is the most important ingredient because most interfaces have OK converters and preamps anyway. My personal benchmarks are set pretty high, so I need to get the closest I could to the kind of sounds I was used to getting in great studios at home.
With those kilo-ohms of source impedance, all that capacitance is a killer. I just measured a 3m (10ft) Cordial guitar cable with my LCR-meter, and it said 390pF; a cheapo 5m (45ft) "Thomann" one measures around 670pF.
Brilliant advice as always ("less about the gear, more about the ear".... priceless), also glad that you're back to a simple single camera shot rather than all that jagged jumping about that you were doing briefly a few weeks ago. Your channel is the schnizzle Warren!
HI Alexander, yes, indeed, the question was specially about 20 year old Interfaces and I have to agree that even some of the cheapest ones now sound so much better than the 15-20 year old ones!
I just switched to Kirlin Cables, a Canadian Pro Audio Company... I was skeptical but had to find out for myself. I now highly recommend them! Wireworld cables are next on my list- Cheers!
Warren, Firstly, don’t kno if U had ever done this, but I would love a blooper post ;) However, a serious thank you for your frank answers plus your analogous of why we buy what we do, which are all, as I know, to be true and valid. As far as WHY WE PURCHASE ANYTHING, at the most basic, fundamental level, whether it is a car or box of cereal, is THE WAY WE BELIEVE WE WILL FEEL BY OWNING it! Worth reading again, The reason we buy ANYTHING, is because of the way we believe we will feel by owning it! Now, some may question, what about a necessity, like a bandage for an injury -well, it makes you feel like you filled the need to protect your body; did the right thing for yourself Your explanation reinforced this and, I’m sure it rang true with all. Thanks for your honesty - I believe this vid stopped many who now think wiser about needing a console, but not being able to afford one. Those who simply want it will still get one, perhaps with some buyers remorse when the credit card bill comes through, buy maybe not, for it does fill need(s). You have done a good and ethical service for your viewers. The only thing you left out imo is, GUYS NEED BUTTONS. many of us become plugin junkies, at least in part, for that very reason!. Many thanks, Jeff Marc
@@davidallenhammond2777 i think mine is about gone. it works but i just can't seem to get a good vocal, or acoustic sound. i have a pretty good mic for recording..something is just not quite right..i'm 99.9% sure it's my interface!
Re 17:56 I used the Acorn Electron which had built in midi, with C-lab Creator back in 1991. used to stripe the tape (Fostex R8) with SMPTE code to sync it all up.. Awesome bit of kit at the time. I purchased the R8 and the Fostex midi mixer all from Kingfishers :-)
For me in genearl Mastering engineeers are necesarily but also HIGHLY overrated, they are doing their job as many others in the music production chain....they are not the Gods...
My first teacher in studio work tought me very early, that the price of proper cables in a studio system would cost about 50% of the price of the equipment. So when I bought my mixer and connection bays, I was properly prepared and I was able to get very nice quality multi-cables and Neutrix connectors and proper patchbays. There are running 3 huge cables from the back of my mixer, to my patchbay rack and with the power cable from the mixer, that's all you can see. Well, you can probably imagine what the back of a rack with 240 patchbay connections looks like, but still its all very cleanly organised. To make my point, being properly prepared when designing/building your system, can seriously decrease the mess of cables in your studio.
I guess it's more about workflow ease, routing options and the added feature of most digital consoles doubling up as audio interfaces too. The cheaper ones will give u a stereo link but some of the more pricy ones will give you multitrack options!
Just to comment, I’d love a console. For me it would be about having EQ and possibly compression on each channel without worrying about running out of CPU power or DSP, especially with the recall of modern consoles. I also love the analogue vibe you get even when running signal through “cleaner” consoles. My friends all laugh at me since my DAW sessions basically look like a console layout. Lol.
@@steverakas3573 Swap out the internal drive that runs the OS and ask the technician to mirror (copy) your drive - it's usually not much more of a fee, and it makes for a seamless transition when you get your computer back. I have both my OS and Pro Tools on my internal SSD, and 3 external SSDs hooked up for redundantly saving PT tracks, MIDI files, and various backups.
I started sequencing with the Atari 1040ST running C-Labs Creator (which evolved to Logic on the Mac) and used MTC to sync it with cassette at first, and then later the ADAT. Man I thought I was in heaven with that setup. The immediacy of the midi sequencing on the Atari was great.... probably my imagination, but I still feel it was tighter than what I'm running today.
Hey Warren, really cool to hear the actual workflow you use when doing hybrid mixing as I always wondered how you fit everything you needed into the console as such. Great stuff, though, i'm pretty comfortable knowing I'll probably never use or have a need for a console myself. But still they are from a gear perspective awe inspiring!
I can relate to your PT LE 001 story. 2001 is when I built a pc and bought PT LE 001 on which we dumped the tracks we recorded into it and continued recording the rest of the tracks. I was figuring out how to use it as the album progressed, as well as how to record in general, and eventually produced the final product. It sounded so much bigger than our previous album. As I listen back, as it was the last album I played guitar on, there are things I would do differently to clean it up, as well as re-record the drums directly into the interface, (we used an 8 track minidisc until I had the PT system requiring us to mix to 2-track) but the rest of the band is still happy with the final product. I have one song I uploaded to youtube, sounds a bit punkish, but never knew how to describe the music we wrote other than rock. Nothing else is available for digital download, however, I'm thinking I maybe should change that. 20 years later, we may record again, as I have a low budget studio that I haven't had time to work in much but I'm starting to play again. My main interface is a Midas M32R as I also do live sound occasionally and I needed a swiss army knife for this piece, however, I'm working toward a dedicated interface. I definitely use the knowledge you share to help me in the studio, so thanks for the time you've taken to share such a wealth of knowledge!
Cable management: Everything I needed to learn as a complete noob about cable management was covered in your tour of Simon Phillips' studio. WOW! He even makes his own cables! So, I quickly studied to see how to make a cable, realized that a new soldering iron would cost more than one quality cable, so I bought one instead of making one. But when I went to buy one, I got the best, most expensive one the store had and I had an idea of what constitutes a good vs. mediocre cable from studying making cables. It didn't make any sense to me to have just bought my first large condenser mic (Shure KLM 27) and then go cheap on the cable. Now. Time to replace the old MBox2 interface that will no longer talk to my laptop. I went to record the other night, hit the red button, and nothing happened. I couldn't figure it out. I had not changed anything (I thought). But, it appears as though my MacBook Pro decided to upgrade one night when I wasn't paying attention and now its running Sierra instead of Yosemite and there are no drivers available. Oh well. Looks like payday I will be getting a cute little red box that says Gen 3 on it.
What??? I had an Atari 1040st back in the day--and you just reminded me!!! I totally forgot about it; at the time I loved that computer. On the issue of interfaces--I upgraded to a higher end UA interface and noticed the improvement immediately. I had a $300 interface before and it was "OK," but it was like trying to win the Indy 500 with your street vehicle. I have a ton of software instruments, but without high end AD/DA converters, they won't shine...IMHO. Love the depth of knowledge and experience. Found you by accident!
For long guitar cable runs, simply plug a short run from the guitar to a guitar pedal first. E.g. Boss SD1, and leave the pedal in bypass. It buffers the signal to provide a low impedance output capable driving a long cable run. I run through a 100ft snake this way so I can play from the control room. Ground loops can be a issue, but battery powered pedal solves that.
Hey Warren, glad you’re having fun and making these! When I track a guitar I di into balanced cable , then use an impedance conv at amp end -all good for top end diminishes. For those who have time Making cables is a good way to save money and do some good housekeeping .x
Thank you for touching upon cable quality! As you mentioned, when dealing with short runs, it doesn't make much of a difference but, other than that, cable quality is key. I used to believe that it wasn't really an issue until I'd start setting up for a recording session and I'd have to waste 30mins. trying to figure out WHY i wasn't getting a signal from 2 or 3 of the mics set up to record a drum kit (room mics included, of course). Also, interference and losing the HF on mediocre 1/4" guitar cables running over 50ft was always a surefire way to kill the vibe of a session. I always took the time to wrap-up all my cables with meticulous care - even the mediocre ones - after every session and I still ran into problems for years. Eventually, after doing some research, I bit the bullet and started spending my money on high quality cables. They're not cheap, however, they will save you a ton of headaches in the end and provide you with the best signals to work with.
I owe all my recording and mixing knowledge to you Warren, love the academy, thank you! Could I ask you to do a session on how to best prepare and export stems to send to a mixing engineer please?
I used a console/daw, console/24track tape and digital control surface as a console/daw in school and honestly I love working on analogue stuff. Not crazy about having to swab the tape heads non stop but I love the sound lol
I spent years using whirlwind, hosa, and a few monster cables. I got rid of it all and switched to mogami. There was no question of a difference. My adam a7x pair have always had mogami and they sound amazing, but I've always given all the credit to the monitor, never the cable. I switched my JBL LSR308 pair to mogami and OMG, the cheap 2nd pair monitors that I just thought were ok for the price range, sounded amazingly better with mogami cables. 3-5 db signal to noise ratio increase, better across the whole spectrum and all my cable runs are 20ft, so Warren I agree with you on the cables, but I think sometimes you can tell even in the shorter runs. I got a ridiculous deal on the mogami cable, so it made since to do the entire studio.
For me the mix/ sound is in the persons head they hear the mix and the sonic palette, they then shape the sound as they hear it in their heads and that’s why those top guys can mix on anything. They also capture really well.
I have a slightly out-dated M-Audio interface. Driver software hasn't been updated in over 5 years and it has so many issues. It's a good excuse to buy something that sounds better too ;)
@@ewancunningham Im using the same bro. Left input is gone dodgy and its built in pre amp was always very poor. And of course almost everytime I open Sonar it cant see the m audio. I have to power off / on the M several times. Yeah I think i need a new interface. Focusrite?
Yeah, front end really is the key thing imo. Upgrading to really good preamps alone made mixing a whole lot easier for me. Not so noticable on one track or two, but when you have 30-40 tracks recorded through quality outboard...
What's really refreshing is, your open honesty, you don't push your own personal agenda, you don't just steer people towards brands of equipment or even techniques; but you offer realistic assessments on a broad base of topics while keeping it 'real' for the folks who don't have the professional experience. I know you're being up-front and open-minded. I feel I can trust your appraisals - that's soooo worthy and it needs to be said!
I fully support
Great point Bring MeSunshine. I believe he recognizes there are a million ways to create great music. He has found what works for him but one size definitely does not fit all. I agree, I appreciate the candor and humility.
Wow! That means so much to me Bring MeSunshine! I really appreciate your wonderful comment!!
Thanks ever so much my friend!! You Rock Robert!!
Thanks you ever so much David!!
Warren, that was a awesome quote “less about the gear and more about the EAR”. That was killer! It’s so true.
Thanks ever so much Jason! That's very kind of you to say my friend!!
Factz some people just have bad ears unfortunately
Jason Houdyschell true! but make your ears job easier discerning and getting a good sound straight away trough means of quality gear with a well trained ear
ABSOLUTELY TRUE!
As a gear head I needed this reality check as well. Thank you.
It is because of you guys that we amateurs still do what we do. Music. You give away what you know. That's the sign of a great teacher. God bless you man.
One of the best things I’ve done as a musician/personal project studio guy was invest $40 in a Weller soldering station. I can make the exact cable I need with quality components at a fraction of the cost. Personally, I like Mogami cables and Neutrik connectors. So much more affordable in bulk. Squareplugs are also a nice connector as well. Making your own cables is also a great way to get into soldering. Since I’ve gained experience by making cables, I’ve moved up to repairing and installing components in my guitars. It’s nice being able to quickly fix a problem yourself.
Cool story bro
@@genesisnkaidence8519 I hope he has time to tell it again.
Thanks for your expertise 🏆 I just want to say I use my daw with the SSL6 ($1500.) Mixer via the UA Twin interface and I love the results 🔥
Thanks ever so much for sharing!
I also got the SiX and i'm still learning how to use is, its beautiful 💝
Yes , Hi Warren Yes I still use an analog consoles in my studio and still love the hands on technique process but , to me some of the problems analog had digital fixed them ! So I use the best of both worlds
That's extremely well put Karl!
“It’s less about the gear and more about the ear”
I like that. That’s always been my motto ever since I started making music 8 years ago. I started on Fruity Loops and my friend said “you shouldn’t use fruity loops if you want to make rap instrumentals. Fruity loops is mainly for electronic music.” These were his exact words. Good thing I didn’t take what he said into consideration because I stuck with fruity loops and I learned it well. Now FL is one of the main DAWs in the rap world and I have the whole DAW down.
This same friend also always said that I needed the best gear and equipment, and he always got the best speakers, mixers, mics, etc. while I was here making music with my shitty speakers that were made in the 90s. I made some of my favorite songs on those speakers
The ear will always be more important than the gear
Thanks ever so much!
daw doesn't matter even 0.(0)1%; what matters is how well you know to use that mf daw.
I m a record producer from Malaysia, with 42 years experience now....I started with analog, Teac mixing console & tape machine,Tag magnum, Neve, SSL 4000, SSL 9000....ect. Now I am in the box using Studio One 5 & Cubase 11 with Apollo Twin interface. What you hv said in this video, really reminds me of that era......We've been there!!! Well done!!
Thanks ever so much for sharing your experience
@@Producelikeapro Also did a vocal recordings, mixing & mastering in Abbey Road Studios & Capitol Records Studios back in the 80's. I have watched a lot of ur youtube videos just to keep me updated with new approaches that U highlights....Tq
Fauzi whats the best vocal hardware chain for top notch vocal recordings??
@@EM-km8em U just need a good condenser mic, a compressor like 1176 or LA2A and an eq to filter out unwanted frequencies, lastly get a good input level.......it's not that complicated.
@@FauziMarzuki I’m a beginner. I currently use a u87ai, and UAD twin duo. But theres something missing the quality doesn’t sound pure. Idk if i need hardware, something wrong with my EQ or what but the vocals are not coming out clean
As always. Sound advise over brand-commercial. I value his opinions highly, for: do the test. .. And it gets proven. Again: thanks for the good work, and making us all better producers!! Cheers!!!
Dear Warren, you are a God send!
You give all of us invaluable Information on the art that we dearly love.
You explain things so simply, get straight into it and make it all so interesting. What a natural!
You must have improved the recording techniques of thousands.
God bless ya cotton socks pal, please don't stop!!
Much appreciated.
Brian McCarthy. :)
Wow! Thanks ever so much Brian! That's very kind of you!
I went from a Presonus Audiobox USB (muddy recordings through the pre-amps no matter what mic you used) to a Focusrite Clarett USB. Very happy of my new acquisition
Cool story bro
I just upgraded from 3, m-audio delta 1010's to a 10 year old, usb steinberg ur824 with a profire 2626 and an ada8000 via adat. Everything about the setup has improved. Monitor mix is clearer, preamps are cleaner and punchier, less cables, less messing about. Latency is very good. I'm using lots of plugins on my tracking session in reaper and the latency is still under .9 ms. Very happy with my $500 upgrade.
Warren,
I love how thorough you always are. It means the absolute world to me and many others. Appreciate you brotha.
- Bryan
That's incredibly kind of you Mr. Oates!
That's the best thing about RUclips, you get wonderful advice that you wouldn't expect. I'm a saxophonist and for years was told you have to have a Selmer Mark VI. Thanks to RUclips I've learned from many professional sax players the mouthpiece and your talent is more important than type of horn. I believe your analysis can be applied to most creative areas. Thanks for your comments.
I thought I knew what I was doing, until I started watching your video's , extremely helpful and invaluable info, thanks so much!
Rod Johnson you’re too kind my friend! I’m so glad to be able to help! Have a marvellous time recording, many thanks Warren
I have a Digi 002 that I had modified by Black Lion Audio years ago with an upgraded power supply and better preamps. The sound and noise performance was much improved. I recorded many songs on it that still sound good to me today. That said, I upgraded to a Universal Audio Apollo about 4 years ago and the improvement was mind blowing. Pristine audio quality with extremely low latency and fantastic plugins. The Apollo (on sale) was about the same price as the Digi 002. You are absolutely right when you say go for the interface upgrade because greatly improved technology is so much cheaper today. Love your channel Warren.
You took the words out of my mouth. My studio stays cluttered with stands, cables, and blankets.( for covering the drums and building tents around cabinets for recording.) As far as cables go, I would lose my focus or motivation if I had to set everything up before recording each time.
Great video Warren.👍
Also, I Would love to work with a console someday but, the necessities have to come first.
Cables definitely matter. Thank you for stating that. Also, in regards to the audio spaghetti under my C|24 and argosy desk, I've done a great job with hiding the hideous snake den and take great pictures. I used the back door panel of my Argosy 90 series and place it on the two legs below the front end to hide cables pouring from my console. It worked out, lol. Thanks for sharing Warren, I always enjoy your videos. Also, I just finished the build out of my studio here in Los Angeles. Hopefully, we will cross paths one of these days.
Thank you so very much. I put off recording for a long time because I didn't think my gear was good enough but after I found your channel you convinced me to start with what I have. I am having the time of my life recording my music now. Can't say thank you enough. God bless you Warren!
@Jake • ProMusicGo! Thank you!
What I love about your channel, is that every single video is a gem. Like who does it on that level? Honesty and being open to perspectives of people starting out, advanced, pros... Guitars, bass, Vocals... the list goes on and on. Infinite amount of knowledge. Thanks you for this, you are doing so much for the work wide community.
"It's less about the gear, and more about the ear." *BOOM* =| Takin' that one to my GRAVE, Warren! lol Thanks always!
Thanks ever so much my friend!!
6:25 is exactly what I learned from you, when I first began my journey with PLAPA, and then was multiplied ten fold by hearing Tom Lord-Alge say that at NAMM last year!
Thank you again, Warren, for the amazing content, it's always much appreciated, even though I don't chime in enough!
A Digi-002 Rack was my first multichannel interface! Made a lot of recordings with it, some of them half decent. When I upgraded to a Lynx Aurora, though, the difference in sound quality was immediately noticeable -- the biggest difference is that cymbals sounded MUCH smoother and far more detailed... Just super-clean converters!
Thats going back 20 years though, I strongly doubt there is much of a noticeable difference between budget and high end interfaces today.
About a year ago I heard the raw (unmixed) tracks for the song Killer Queen. I was blown away at how close they sounded to the final song, proving your point about getting it right at the source. Thanks for the Q&A; it is helpful to get your perspective on approaching gear and artistry.
I keep learning so much this is overwhelming SERIOUSLY !!!!!!
Wow! Thanks ever so much Gilbert! That really means a lot my friend!!
I appreciate these videos so much. I’m having such a fun time building my studio and tracking things every night. I’m continuing to solve audio problems and I can’t believe that just that alone has become a source of creativity. Watching this at 4:30am and shall be back in the studio by 11am. Peace and carry on.
I have a neve dpa and prism converters, coles 4038 etc, they mean nothing without room treatments! My phone sounded comparably ok to my neve simply because my high end gear was really telling me what was wrong(no room treatment) and my phone could lie cause it doesnt pick up all the phase details in the room.
A bit extreme but true, I try tell people this a lot.
Thanks Warren your videos are always the best!
different issues really aren't they?
Great advice I craved a console for years while learning but love it in the box now that I know better
The first revisions of the Digi 001 were very good sounding boxes. I think they sounded as good as anything you can get today and who can deny what a revolutionary system it was for home studios for the money. I made as good of recordings on it as I did on my TDM mix plus system.
Thanks ever so much my friend!! I loved my Digi 001! I made some great records on it! Yes, then my MixPlus TDM rig, then of course HD! Loved it all!
Warren awhile ago I was wondering how you had your I/o setup now I finally know!!!! I've seen this video before but I always go back to watch
!!!!
When I buy a new cable, especially for touring, before I even used it I’d screw back the connecting shield, hot-glue the soldered section) then immediately screw back the connector (before the glue cools). Bulletproof connection that shouldn’t ever fail. Works for me, could work for someone else
DRILL your my kinda guy … be ready for ANYTHING cause MURPHY’S LAW always applies in my studio if it can go wrong it WILL .. great idea super protecting the cable ends before they leave the studio 👍👍👍
I’m still of the old school where I love using analog consoles to record and mix. I enjoyed your segment on whether or not to get a console or to record in the box but I feel like an important element was overlooked. When considering a console one needs to consider condition and future maintenance. Faders, pots and caps. If the buyer doesn’t have decent analog electronics skills to DIY the cost of maintenance can be breathtaking. Just take a look at any one channel strip and count up the number of caps, pots, etc and then multiply that by the number of channels in the board and then number can be staggering. Not good for someone with a thin pocketbook. Having said all this however I still like working on an analog board when I can. Thanks for the Q and A session.
that quote is amazing, "less about the gear, more about the ear" you should put that on a tshirt :)
Totally!
Thanks ever so much Yantho!! Haha Indeed T-Shirt coming!!
Thanks New Falconer Records!!
Coherence. Ahhhhh!!!! Lovely to hear a really bright bloke with a passion for what he's doing explain things that are potentially complex in a really straightforward coherent manner, with humility. It is one of your gifts. Thanks for sharing in this way Warren.
Hey Warren, with all the clients you work with, companies you work with, all the deadlines you have to meet and running the academy how do you keep it all organized as to what to get done day to day ? Do you have your assistants remind you ? Do you use an app on your phone ? Old school appointment book ? I'm really curious about it thanks !!
I do both. I mix "in the box", for my TV, animation, and commercial projects, but still prefer to use an analog signal chain, and my console, to record and mix bands. I even still love to use my multitrack tape machine, when the project can afford it. Also had a chance to hang out with Glenn for a few hours, at the Hollywood studio (I was programming a laser show at the El Capitan theater for 10 days). Nice room! Great gear! Hope you guys bring in some great talent!! Keep up the great work!
20:24 interface improvement spot
Wow...what a straightforwardly video... I never expected that on RUclips! Thanks for that...!
Still rockin’ my presonus firestudio project and 2011 mac pro!
I have been using a Behringer uphoria interface, which I know is regarded as 'budget', but I have to say it is very good, it has got me started, it is enabling
I love that he mentioned CV gate like it was Sanskrit, meanwhile more and more brand new synths are incorporating CV these days so that they can interact with Eurorack. CV is probably bigger right now than it ever was back when it was the ONLY standard!
I went from 4 m-audio delta 44's that I bought in 2003...which gave me 16in 16 out to a RME Fireface UCX and the difference was night and day.. HUGE difference in sound.
6:21 “... it's less about the gear - and more about the ear”
Phenomenal quote, Warren!
Yes, the 1040 ST (nicknamed "Stacey") was a midi sequencer, but years before that, I used an IBM PC 5150 with twelve-tone Cakewalk v1.0, through an Roland MP-401 UART Midi interface, while most others were using a Roland MC 500. The MC 500, while far more portable, was seriously limited in the amount of midi information, (You'd be surprised how quickly a mod wheel would chew through the MC 500's 50,000-note limit!) while the PC rig had no such limitation. We recorded a time code track to track 24 of our 2 inch Ampex reel, which kept everything pretty much in sync for recording vocals and other acoustic instruments, recording midi instrument volume levels in the PC, and only bounced everything to 1/4-inch after all levels were agreed upon. Yes I'm that old. Before there were "sound card" audio interfaces, I used to experiment with down-clocked Burr-Brown LABDACs, and used them to record 16-bit sound. Wish to heck I'd patented that!
Control voltage (CV) is still widely used in analog synths... It really hasn't gone anywhere, especially with the very big resurgence we've seen in modular synthesis. With USB Midi as well it's a great time to be into synthesis wiring all of them together in all kinds of ways.
As for interfaces... Damn does it help with quality. But that's not the only thing. It's also about ease of recording! For a long time you seemed to always have to do minor troubleshooting every time you wanted to get a signal in. Nothing huge, but sometimes enough to ruin the creative flow. And if you aren't technically inclined it could really put a person off of bothering (i am technically inclined, so that wasn't my issue). I recently got an SPL Crimson 3, and it works easily with everything (computers and iOS) with very good quality. It makes it so having any kind of inspiration is something you can take advantage of in under a minute. That's rad!
I need to stop buying cheap cables though. At least have a couple since most often you are only recording one thing at a time.
Wow! Thanks ever Sio much Glen for that amazing comment! I agree 100% and I love learning about the CV gate! I wasn't aware that it was still around!
Hey Warren, unless it was used for other things, then yes, it's still a standard in that world! Could be that you are referring to its use otherwise and that probably did fall off.
Thanks!
Actually, the Moog synth i bought is a version of the Sub 37 called the Subsequent 37 CV... Moogs still use CV in all of their synths, but this limited iteration of the Subsequent 37 not only has the usual CV Gate in for controlling the synth, but an addition of CV patch points out for a few different things. Their whole mother line is full of CV patches!
Thank you for this on cables. When I started announcing, I made my own Canare Star Quad mic cables. Sometimes 50 feet. Yes, you can hear the difference to the positive. Also, running 100 feet to mic a bass cabinet, I made Monster speaker cables. HUGE difference.
Very timely FAQ for me! I have been looking to pick up a console and a large converter rig for recording drums/mix down.
Great to hear Alexander!!
Interesting themes and questions Warren.
I use a 32ch inline Soundtracs Topaz Project 8 in my studio. Just the other day connected my second ECHO AudioFire12. Subgroups and master out from the mixer to one interface, 24ch return from both interfaces to 24 B-inputs from the mixer. I am very happy with my hybrid setup (using Cubase Pro as DAW) and I can work very well with it. And no more channels left free on the mixer. 32 main inputs all in use and besides the 24ch return from the ECHO's, also 8ch return from different cassette recorders/players (2ch, 4ch, 8ch).
Your video productions are also very inspiring to me, just finishing my own home studio.
6:25 #gem "Less about the gear and more about the ear" 💯 #facts #blessup
Thanks ever so much my friend!!
both together as one,even better ...how do you paint without paint..or better paint
First studio computer I ever saw was a COMMODORE 64 in the corning playing Racing Destruction Set. It was there to keep the kids from bothering dad on the weekends dad and keep the Pros at work on the console. :-). Great channel and thank you for all your shared wisdom.
I recently upgraded from Focusrite Scarlet to Apogee Duet. I would never go back. What a difference!
Yes, the sound of $$$!
I'm quite skeptical, George. Classical musicians used to swear Stradivarious violins sounded better than top notch modern violins until someone ran a double bind test. Guess who won. Since you paid more for Apogee (or UAD), it's bound to sound better. Isn't it?
@@rossminet nothing wrong with upgrading your gear. Let the man enjoy his new interface. Jeez.
Most definitely! I upgraded from a tascam 16x08 interface to the Behringer X32. Just the digital to analog converter is more than just a difference. I've never heard my monitors wake up and be super sensitive to eq changes before. Also the usb asio drivers shake hands very well with my DAW and computer. Concerning quality of recorded tracks? Much better than the pre amps in the tascam by far. This unit fell within my budget. Next time around I will not hesitate to go for the Midas console. So yes!! Upgrading your interface to whatever brand or budget tickles your fancy, will speed up workflow and processing sound much better quality.
To some degree, CV/Gate is back, actually. The whole modular synth revival works with it.
McMxxCiV that’s amazing to hear!
@@Producelikeapro It sure is. And to close the circle: I was looking for a way to record multiple tracks of my modular synth to my PC, started researching mixers and interfaces, and ended up watching six or seven of your videos.
Warren talked about spending money on your front end, with a brilliant mic pre. I agree! But, one thing I've learned is that brilliant doesn't necessarily mean expensive. Listen to the equipment, not the price tag, and certainly not the spec sheet!
Upgrading your interface will definitely help with the quality. I was on a USB M-Audio Profire 2626 for many years. I upgraded to a focusrite clarett thunderbolt and wow....The mic pres were a million times better and my latency is 0 with the thunderbolt. And I didn't even have to spend a huge load of cash.
Couldn't agree more. I upgraded from a line 6 ux2 to uad Apollo and the difference is crazy. I wasn't expecting it.
Agreed, updated to an Apollo twin duo and now I route the Profire 2626 via adat into the apollo and have 10 channels now
@@jamesdoctor8079 oh wow that's a great idea! I actually have the profire 2626. I couldn't use it for the longest time since there are no updated drivers. Is it hard to setup to use it as a slave to the main interface?
Last Summer, I bought a Soundcraft MTK 24, which is a multitrack mixing desk using just ONE USB cable. It is absolutely sensational, and I cannot recommend it highly enough. It has Lexicon reverb built-in, and the analog sounds are truly remarkable. There’s also a plug-in which remembers your settings so when you revisit a recording from the past, the analog mix / sound is still there. It’s a beautiful machine, and the best part about it, it retails for £670. Forget your Focusrite mini-devices et al, the Soundcraft MTK 24 is without question a world leader for home studios. Groundbreaking isn’t the word...
hi Warren I work in the Box and have Faderport 8 and I love it work s you put me on the saffire pro 40 big thank you Warren
Thanks for sharing Dan! You Rock!
It's very relieving to hear that good cables matters. And not just in hi-fi gear, but in studios and in live PA as well. And it is interesting that cables actually might be more important than the price of the interfaces and mixers.
If you've to start all over again, what microphone/preamp/comp would you buy?
That's marvellous question! My question would be what's my budget? There are many mics, preamps, compressors and interfaces I love!!
What if I give you 3 options: Budget friendly, Semi Pro & Pro.
f
From watching many of Warren's videos, I'd say there are too many inexpensive mics to choose from that will provide excellent results. So your preamp would be the main concern. High budget would be a BAE1073 mic pre. The UK Sound 1173 (as Warren talked about early in this video) is less expensive and gives you a mic pre and compressor for mid-budget. I bought a UA610 and love it (with an AT450 mic). For low budget, I've heard good things about PreSonus pre's. I personally would only compress after recording because once your signal is printed, you can't change it. Using a comp on the way in is for the pros, like Warren.
@@MrLiveWest
Lol
My first multichannel interface was a Digi-002R. It was great in that it got me going! I've since upgraded to a Lynx Aurora (sadly not the n version). The most immediate difference I noticed when I first used it was my drum overheads sounded so much cleaner... No harshness on top at all!
Hi Warren, Please take a look at the SSl Six desktop mixer, do a review. Thanx.
I just updated to the new Apollo X6. I've had an Apollo since they were first introduced. The converters and clocking were always weak points, and I lusted for something like a Burl or Dangerous Music conversion. UAD finally got the message, and the new Apollo is on par with those. So yes, an upgraded interface can improve sound quality. Now, it's up to my skills to create good sounding recordings, it's not my interface. I have to say I think a great mic that fits your style is the most important ingredient because most interfaces have OK converters and preamps anyway. My personal benchmarks are set pretty high, so I need to get the closest I could to the kind of sounds I was used to getting in great studios at home.
Guitar cables will have way more effect on the sound than a low impedance balanced connection at a distance.
With those kilo-ohms of source impedance, all that capacitance is a killer. I just measured a 3m (10ft) Cordial guitar cable with my LCR-meter, and it said 390pF; a cheapo 5m (45ft) "Thomann" one measures around 670pF.
Agreed 100% my friend!!
Wow! Khron's Cave that is very useful data indeed!
@@Producelikeapro That was just a quick "for the hell of it" measurement of two random "instrument" cables i had lying around.
@degrande707 [evil laugh] Vengeance against (some of) my detractors!... >;D
AWESOME questions and answers!!!
Thanks ever so much for sharing!
what a great faq friday!
Thanks ever so much my friend!!
Brilliant advice as always ("less about the gear, more about the ear".... priceless), also glad that you're back to a simple single camera shot rather than all that jagged jumping about that you were doing briefly a few weeks ago. Your channel is the schnizzle Warren!
mic preamps have huge diff
outputs have small diff
overall answer is yes
HI Alexander, yes, indeed, the question was specially about 20 year old Interfaces and I have to agree that even some of the cheapest ones now sound so much better than the 15-20 year old ones!
I just switched to Kirlin Cables, a Canadian Pro Audio Company... I was skeptical but had to find out for myself. I now highly recommend them! Wireworld cables are next on my list- Cheers!
Fantastic! Thanks ever so much Carlo! You Rock my friend!!
As far as sound... I hear no difference between my focus right scarlett solo and my apollo twin...performance is better with twin..
One of the best faq fridays videos ever. Amazing questions, marvelous answers. Cheers from Buenos Aires!
I'm so glad to be able to help! Have a marvellous time recording, many thanks Warren
9:07 "That's what she said!!!"
Warren,
Firstly, don’t kno if U had ever done this, but I would love a blooper post ;)
However, a serious thank you for your frank answers plus your analogous of why we buy what we do, which are all, as I know, to be true and valid.
As far as WHY WE PURCHASE ANYTHING, at the most basic, fundamental level, whether it is a car or box of cereal, is THE WAY WE BELIEVE WE WILL FEEL BY OWNING it!
Worth reading again,
The reason we buy ANYTHING, is because of the way we believe we will feel by owning it!
Now, some may question, what about a necessity, like a bandage for an injury -well, it makes you feel like you filled the need to protect your body; did the right thing for yourself
Your explanation reinforced this and, I’m sure it rang true with all.
Thanks for your honesty - I believe this vid stopped many who now think wiser about needing a console, but not being able to afford one. Those who simply want it will still get one, perhaps with some buyers remorse when the credit card bill comes through, buy maybe not, for it does fill need(s).
You have done a good and ethical service for your viewers.
The only thing you left out imo is, GUYS NEED BUTTONS. many of us become plugin junkies, at least in part, for that very reason!.
Many thanks,
Jeff Marc
i use the digi003, looking to upgrade soon.
I do as well, and can't wait to upgrade. :)
@@davidallenhammond2777 i think mine is about gone. it works but i just can't seem to get a good vocal, or acoustic sound. i have a pretty good mic for recording..something is just not quite right..i'm 99.9% sure it's my interface!
@@davidallenhammond2777 seem's like i alway's hear something from PLP, that move's me in the right direction. Thanks Warren!
Thanks for sharing Mike!!
Great stuff David!!
Re 17:56 I used the Acorn Electron which had built in midi, with C-lab Creator back in 1991. used to stripe the tape (Fostex R8) with SMPTE code to sync it all up.. Awesome bit of kit at the time. I purchased the R8 and the Fostex midi mixer all from Kingfishers :-)
For me in genearl Mastering engineeers are necesarily but also HIGHLY overrated, they are doing their job as many others in the music production chain....they are not the Gods...
My first teacher in studio work tought me very early, that the price of proper cables in a studio system would cost about 50% of the price of the equipment. So when I bought my mixer and connection bays, I was properly prepared and I was able to get very nice quality multi-cables and Neutrix connectors and proper patchbays. There are running 3 huge cables from the back of my mixer, to my patchbay rack and with the power cable from the mixer, that's all you can see. Well, you can probably imagine what the back of a rack with 240 patchbay connections looks like, but still its all very cleanly organised. To make my point, being properly prepared when designing/building your system, can seriously decrease the mess of cables in your studio.
I would really recommend a digital console rather than an analog one in 2019. The one I'm eyeballing is the Allen & Heath SQ-6
VoyageOne1 does something like that provide “a sound” or is that just a workflow preference?
I guess it's more about workflow ease, routing options and the added feature of most digital consoles doubling up as audio interfaces too. The cheaper ones will give u a stereo link but some of the more pricy ones will give you multitrack options!
Just to comment, I’d love a console. For me it would be about having EQ and possibly compression on each channel without worrying about running out of CPU power or DSP, especially with the recall of modern consoles. I also love the analogue vibe you get even when running signal through “cleaner” consoles. My friends all laugh at me since my DAW sessions basically look like a console layout. Lol.
A great interface is extremely important, but a great computer with a Solid State Drive (and extra external SSDs) is essential.
one of the upgrades i will do eventually. am using a seagate barracuda drive to record onto currently
@@steverakas3573 You will see a massive improvement with a SSD in your computer, it is a night and day comparison. Even your DAW will run better.
@@Matthew-ez4ze would you swap out the drive for your os or the drive you record to with the ssd first?
@@steverakas3573 Swap out the internal drive that runs the OS and ask the technician to mirror (copy) your drive - it's usually not much more of a fee, and it makes for a seamless transition when you get your computer back. I have both my OS and Pro Tools on my internal SSD, and 3 external SSDs hooked up for redundantly saving PT tracks, MIDI files, and various backups.
Really enjoyed this. I started as a recording engineer in 1966 at Criteria Recording in Miami when 3 track half inch was the standard.
Wow! Thanks ever so much!
First choice: Lynx, Apogee or Avid
Second Choice: RME, Antelope or Universal Audio
Third Choice: Doesn't really matter at this point
Prism sound?
I started sequencing with the Atari 1040ST running C-Labs Creator (which evolved to Logic on the Mac) and used MTC to sync it with cassette at first, and then later the ADAT. Man I thought I was in heaven with that setup. The immediacy of the midi sequencing on the Atari was great.... probably my imagination, but I still feel it was tighter than what I'm running today.
Would of loved to see Warren's cable "rat" nest :-P
Haha it's in other videos!! Haha
Hey Warren, really cool to hear the actual workflow you use when doing hybrid mixing as I always wondered how you fit everything you needed into the console as such. Great stuff, though, i'm pretty comfortable knowing I'll probably never use or have a need for a console myself. But still they are from a gear perspective awe inspiring!
Wow wow wow... Intro without: "i hope your'e doing marvelously well"??
Oh no! What happened! Oops!! Haha
I can relate to your PT LE 001 story. 2001 is when I built a pc and bought PT LE 001 on which we dumped the tracks we recorded into it and continued recording the rest of the tracks. I was figuring out how to use it as the album progressed, as well as how to record in general, and eventually produced the final product. It sounded so much bigger than our previous album. As I listen back, as it was the last album I played guitar on, there are things I would do differently to clean it up, as well as re-record the drums directly into the interface, (we used an 8 track minidisc until I had the PT system requiring us to mix to 2-track) but the rest of the band is still happy with the final product. I have one song I uploaded to youtube, sounds a bit punkish, but never knew how to describe the music we wrote other than rock. Nothing else is available for digital download, however, I'm thinking I maybe should change that. 20 years later, we may record again, as I have a low budget studio that I haven't had time to work in much but I'm starting to play again. My main interface is a Midas M32R as I also do live sound occasionally and I needed a swiss army knife for this piece, however, I'm working toward a dedicated interface. I definitely use the knowledge you share to help me in the studio, so thanks for the time you've taken to share such a wealth of knowledge!
nobody:
my German mom at 3 am: 10:51
rofl xD
Cable management: Everything I needed to learn as a complete noob about cable management was covered in your tour of Simon Phillips' studio. WOW! He even makes his own cables! So, I quickly studied to see how to make a cable, realized that a new soldering iron would cost more than one quality cable, so I bought one instead of making one. But when I went to buy one, I got the best, most expensive one the store had and I had an idea of what constitutes a good vs. mediocre cable from studying making cables. It didn't make any sense to me to have just bought my first large condenser mic (Shure KLM 27) and then go cheap on the cable.
Now. Time to replace the old MBox2 interface that will no longer talk to my laptop. I went to record the other night, hit the red button, and nothing happened. I couldn't figure it out. I had not changed anything (I thought). But, it appears as though my MacBook Pro decided to upgrade one night when I wasn't paying attention and now its running Sierra instead of Yosemite and there are no drivers available. Oh well. Looks like payday I will be getting a cute little red box that says Gen 3 on it.
less about the gear and more about the ear
Yes Sir!! Thanks ever so much my friend!!
lol i used to say that too until i bought better gear
What??? I had an Atari 1040st back in the day--and you just reminded me!!! I totally forgot about it; at the time I loved that computer. On the issue of interfaces--I upgraded to a higher end UA interface and noticed the improvement immediately. I had a $300 interface before and it was "OK," but it was like trying to win the Indy 500 with your street vehicle. I have a ton of software instruments, but without high end AD/DA converters, they won't shine...IMHO. Love the depth of knowledge and experience. Found you by accident!
The sound quality is improving but the songs are getting worse.
For long guitar cable runs, simply plug a short run from the guitar to a guitar pedal first. E.g. Boss SD1, and leave the pedal in bypass. It buffers the signal to provide a low impedance output capable driving a long cable run. I run through a 100ft snake this way so I can play from the control room. Ground loops can be a issue, but battery powered pedal solves that.
Hey Warren, glad you’re having fun and making these! When I track a guitar I di into balanced cable , then use an impedance conv at amp end -all good for top end diminishes.
For those who have time Making cables is a good way to save money and do some good housekeeping .x
Thank you for touching upon cable quality! As you mentioned, when dealing with short runs, it doesn't make much of a difference but, other than that, cable quality is key. I used to believe that it wasn't really an issue until I'd start setting up for a recording session and I'd have to waste 30mins. trying to figure out WHY i wasn't getting a signal from 2 or 3 of the mics set up to record a drum kit (room mics included, of course). Also, interference and losing the HF on mediocre 1/4" guitar cables running over 50ft was always a surefire way to kill the vibe of a session. I always took the time to wrap-up all my cables with meticulous care - even the mediocre ones - after every session and I still ran into problems for years. Eventually, after doing some research, I bit the bullet and started spending my money on high quality cables. They're not cheap, however, they will save you a ton of headaches in the end and provide you with the best signals to work with.
I owe all my recording and mixing knowledge to you Warren, love the academy, thank you!
Could I ask you to do a session on how to best prepare and export stems to send to a mixing engineer please?
Thanks ever so much Joe! I'm glad you're enjoying the Academy!
I used a console/daw, console/24track tape and digital control surface as a console/daw in school and honestly I love working on analogue stuff. Not crazy about having to swab the tape heads non stop but I love the sound lol
I spent years using whirlwind, hosa, and a few monster cables. I got rid of it all and switched to mogami. There was no question of a difference. My adam a7x pair have always had mogami and they sound amazing, but I've always given all the credit to the monitor, never the cable. I switched my JBL LSR308 pair to mogami and OMG, the cheap 2nd pair monitors that I just thought were ok for the price range, sounded amazingly better with mogami cables. 3-5 db signal to noise ratio increase, better across the whole spectrum and all my cable runs are 20ft, so Warren I agree with you on the cables, but I think sometimes you can tell even in the shorter runs. I got a ridiculous deal on the mogami cable, so it made since to do the entire studio.
For me the mix/ sound is in the persons head they hear the mix and the sonic palette, they then shape the sound as they hear it in their heads and that’s why those top guys can mix on anything. They also capture really well.
I was just looking to upgrade my interface... again your video answers my current questions! Thanks!
I have a slightly out-dated M-Audio interface. Driver software hasn't been updated in over 5 years and it has so many issues. It's a good excuse to buy something that sounds better too ;)
@@ewancunningham Im using the same bro. Left input is gone dodgy and its built in pre amp was always very poor. And of course almost everytime I open Sonar it cant see the m audio. I have to power off / on the M several times. Yeah I think i need a new interface. Focusrite?
Yeah, front end really is the key thing imo.
Upgrading to really good preamps alone made mixing a whole lot easier for me.
Not so noticable on one track or two, but when you have 30-40 tracks recorded through quality outboard...
Thanks ever so much Kenneth! Thanks for your wonderful comment!