Very interesting article with actual comparative audio samples.  The difference for the bass is astounding!

http://recordinghacks.com...nalog-tape-vs-digital/

Of course for a real comparison for most of the people who will read it, it would have required skipping the nice console for the digital side of it, since most folks aren't getting the benefits of one of those either in their digital setups.

Or a room as nice as Ocean Way.

yea, it aint' apples and oranges

Are we really supposed to listen to streaming mp3s and appreciate the difference?

They should have 24/96 downloads if they want to make the article worth taking the time to read. I gave up half way through.


I thought the U47 Fet on the stand up bass sounded fantastic... a darn good player with an ideal capture chain. Yikes!


best regards,
mike

so basically, he said it was only worth it to hit tape for the drums and the bass, and on that matter, the same could be had digitally 'with a little bit of processing'.

I think the reason I like tape is because it sounds so bad. Really.

batsbrew


so basically, he said it was only worth it to hit tape for the drums and the bass, and on that matter, the same could be had digitally 'with a little bit of processing'.

I seem to recall reading or hearing "back in the early day of digital recording" that Quicy Jones would record all of MJs drums to tape, transfer them once to digital, use the digital for tracking and pre-mixing, then an only then would he sync up the tape to digital for final mix so as to keep the tape pristine (no constant rewinds and playing to wear down the signal). 


Probably a lie but it sounds good, roight?
(see what I did there?)

Actually bapu I think I might have read that they cloned the 24 track with the drums on it after doing all the drums to another 24 track in sync and put the first fresh original one away. Then they did all the overdubbing and stuff and for the mix they may have synced up the original 24 track with the pristine drums on it and ran that into the mixing console along with the overdubs from the other tape which would have had more of a workout. The drums tended to suffer first though with repeated shuffling around of the transport. The other stuff survived much better.

I think too with Fleetwood Mac 'Rumours' at one point the multi was really starting to show signs of wear and they had to clone it onto a new tape before finishing the overdubs.

You do not need tape machines now to get that sound. I have still got them here so I know how they sound. (I only have them because I still have a huge analog tape library I have to transfer to digital yet!) There are some fantastic plugs out there that can do that. I have got some plugs that are very very similar to the machines I have and they sound stellar. What I like is that you can now selectively put the tape sound just here and there on tracks or the odd buss, not everything as you were forced to do earlier. From that standpoint alone digital is far superior.

Same thing applies to console emulation. It has reached new levels now too. Don't put it on everything though, that is silly because then you don't have any digital sound left do you! Some things just sound better digitally. Drums actually being one of them.

Who says analog is the perfect sound and the level to achieve. Put digital in its place and make that the reference instead. Listen to it, get used to the sound and learn to love it. Then you start to see analog in a different light instead of this revered thing to look up to. You start to hear how inferior analog can sound in some situations.

Some things just sound better digitally. Drums actually being one of them. Who says analog is the perfect sound and the level to achieve. Put digital in its place and make that the reference instead. Listen to it, get used to the sound and learn to love it. Then you start to see analog in a different light instead of this revered thing to look up to. You start to hear how inferior analog can sound in some situations.

 
Man Jeff, what a huge, impressively true statement! I can't agree more with what you said there. What's even more impressive is, you and I were both raised on tape, yet feel the same way about this digital stuff.
 
The only thing I can say I like tape for is guitar sounds. I find that if I use my 24 track 2 inch machines via SMPTE and print guitars, the difference is I don't have to low pass as much and get a little tape saturation. Though that's cool to have, it's not something I need for every guitar I print. I'm really starting to like the digital sizzle as long as it doesn't cut like a razor.
 
For drums...man, snares and cymbals have never sounded better than in the digital realm. Bass guitar...same thing...all the mud is gone. I guess my whole problem with analog and tape is, it just doesn't sound as exciting to me. I like the additional top end we get with digital as well as the sub lows that would normally sound bad on tape. Sub lows + tape saturation = mud in my realm and a very un-exciting piece. Granted, when controlled analog can be really cool too...I just don't see a need for it nor is it a necessity in my world.
 
The greatest day of my recording life (other than when I learned how to mix lol) was when my good friend Mike Pincosi demanded I stop using my tape machine and start using Sonar due to all the power and automation I could have. I said "Fine, you teach me how to use it and I'll try it" and he did. I don't miss a single thing with tape. Especially now that I have that Studer tape sim from UAD....it's so spot on to what tape does and you have full control over how it can sound with bias and tape brand etc.
 
As for console emulation, I'm still not sold on it other than the Waves stuff. However, the Waves CE's are a bit too dramatic. The channels they offer sometimes sound so different, if I had a NEVE or and SSL with that much of a difference in channel sounds, I'd get it repaired. So I'm still not buying into any of these things. Most of them add sizzle and drive more so than actual character.
 
Rest assured, if you went through a real NEVE or an SSL without using anything on the channel other than a little pre to get to the right signal to push to disc, I'd be willing to bet you'd not even hear a difference. I hold true to my original statements about CE's...all CE's are hype and a total waste of time to me. They do absolutely nothing to enhance tone and are the furthest from what a real console sounds like.
 
-Danny