John
soens
Interesting question though I don't see how it could as cross talk is a physical phenominom caused by electric circuitry and has always been undesirable. Though I'm speaking out of sheer ignorance of the CE plug I do know engineers have spent decades and mega $$$ trying to get rid of it... and now you want it back?
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I am happy with digital yet for some unknown reason people want all the distortion and noise of analog. I'm not sure I will ever understand that.
Now we have people paying big bucks for analog sounding plugins. So your point is very well taken indeed.
Funny you mentioned this, John. I posted something on another forum that's pretty close to what you're talking about here when someone made a comment about "vintage gear". Here's what I said:
I never quite got the whole vintage thing. You set up a sound....you record it....it's either good or it isn't. This whole "vintage" thing is just a darkness of sorts with saturation really. I think a lot of the problem is people give digital a bad name when in reality, analog was assisting them in getting better tones. Digital is unforgiving. If you don't pay attention to what you're recording, you fail. To me, digital is so much easier, I don't have a problem doing a vintage sound if I need to. It starts with the print, ya know?
You want vintage tones, you use vintage gear for your instruments. Gimme a an old Fender amp and a strat or tele and I'll give you vintage without any plugs. You have to know what the sound of "vintage" is before you attempt to replicate it. Want vintage drums in a room, you mic up a set of Gretsch or old Ludwigs using more room, less compression, 0 limiting and no specials on any of the drums. Don't layer instruments...leave things big, open, breathy and with room in between. Don't use the pricey mics that were made for "today's times" that make things so clean and clear.
That's all vintage is to me. Breathing room where the instruments can sing and be themselves without synthetic artifacts or insane triple tracking/hybridding or exciters. Vintage is raw, real instrument recording at its best to where you take the time to get it right or you don't print it. It can't be duplicated with a sim like it can the real thing. I just have never needed outboard gear to get that sound other than the outboard gear musicians use to cop their tones. The key is "copping their tones" if they are indeed "vintage."
Compare an old classic rock album to what we have today. Besides loudness in the modern album, what do you hear? More sub lows...more high end sizzle. Take away the subs below 45-50 Hz on a modern recording, take away the excessive tracking, remove 12 k and above just right, increase mids and instant vintage tone. Sure, you may want to use some sort of saturator or tape sim if you need to, but honest, this whole "vintage" thing in my opinion is more hype and a lack of understanding really. I'm like you, John. Happy right where I am. However, if someone goes on an analog crusade and it works for them, it's all good. I'll never go back and don't miss any of it. But when I get a band in here that wants that sound, I've never had a problem giving it to them. It's all in the tracking anyway and the players of course. :)
-Danny