+1 for Refined audiometrics CLAS here.

Works very well, but you need to be gentle with it.

Kind regards

Dave Rich

ORIGINAL: CJaysMusic

I couldn't agree with Steve more. Knowing how to use your gear only flies UP TO A POINT. After which, to get a modern production CD sound it requires extra spit-n-polish that most gear (even very high-end stuff) is not going to yield during the natural recording process. So while it's true no amount of polish is going to shine a turd, polish is needed at some areas of just about every mix to get it brightened up and sparkling. And sometimes even more of that spit-n-polish is applied at mastering time.

I dont know about that. Gear isnt going to save you, most music producers get a polished sound before the audio hits the tape or a sequiencer like PT or sonar. If it isnt recorded right, then it will never sound right.

Producers and engineers dont depend on equipment to get a good sound, they rely on there ears and the performance of who ever is recording the instrument. No gear will give you a polished sound, theres no majic button or pixie dust. If you went out and got a $10,,000 pre amp and a $5,000 mic and a 6,000 compressor, its a waste of money ion the wrong hands. It needs to get recorded the right way first and if its recorded the right way first, then you dont need to mess with it and maybe add some complemetary EQ to it
your falling down this trap of thinking gear will make you mix sound better, No it wont. You can make your mix sound better
Cj

Years ago I used to get SO frustrated when I would record directly from my main synth (Kurzweil K-2000) at the time and it would come up lacking when compared to commercial recordings, being under the assumption that I just needed the right gear to get it right. It didn't really lack the bottom, but it definitely lacked the sheen and sparkly crispness on a CD. I learned that having great gear can help getting to a great sounding endpoint quicker, but it certainly does not guarantee it.

It took a long time for me to realize that even with the best quality starting points, they are still just starting points that may require various levels of adjustment (preferably as little as possibly) to achieve a desired end point. I think it's important to have as good of gear as you can get, but that you MUST also develop and use your ears to know what and how much adjustments to make. Between those two factors, the second is certainly the most important.