Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Eliott James]

I've read where some are using the new ADL 600 line ins and outs for bringing color to a mix.

Haven't tried it yet myself, giving it some thought.

Anyone experiment with this on any other pres?

thanks

Eliott

[Adam Dempsey]

Yep, prior to having access to any decent tube EQ I even tried an old Leak (British) tube pre - it had crude treble/bass stepped EQ and various phono EQ curves. Sep power supply and quite clean sound but v difficult to channel match.
But really, something like the Massive Passive could more than suffice, EQ bands switched out. Or an active box.

[masterhse]

Yep, same here with the Fearn VT-4 when needed.

[TotalSonic]

I'd like to propose a strange idea that input and output transformers might impart in many circuit designs a "pleasing coloration" sometimes more than having tubes in a signal path.

Best regards,
Steve Berson

[bblackwood]

Honestly, I've worked for years to have a chain that is as transparant as possible, with the little bit of coloration being as euphonic as possible. I've never run a mix through a box for color, though I do have some slight coloration options available in the Crane Song stuff I own.

I would suggest that while coloration may seem cool at first brush, there's very little color that can be added in the mastering stage that isn't quite obvious once you learn the sound of the coloration device. IOW, coloration in mastering is a band-aid at best, and not a very good one, imo...

[Mark Wilder]

TotalSonic wrote on Mon, 30 April 2007 21:13

I'd like to propose a strange idea that input and output transformers might impart in many circuit designs a "pleasing coloration" sometimes more than having tubes in a signal path. Best regards, Steve Berson

I have a pair of Mastering Lab Tube Line amps which are "top shelf" .  But I recently had an Elysia Alpha Compressor and it has a switchable transformer output.  This was, at times, very impressive .  Your idea is not strange.

[Greg Youngman]

I have a feeling I'm at Gearslutz

[Bob Boyd]

I have my 3 most 'colorful' pieces - the API 550m, Manley Massive Passive, and Chandler LTD-2 - on the 3 insert switches on my Dangerous Master.  All three impart a very different color simply by being in the chain.  At times, I will simply run through the Chandler pieces and add a dB or so with the gain makeup for the tone it imparts.  Every click changes the sound on that unit.  Simply passing through the Massive Passive will add a slight presence to the sound.

Adding analog color is not always appropriate and when that's the case, I can work transparently with the Weiss stuff and the 6000.  On the other hand, sometimes it's very appropriate.

Most often though, it seems to be a combination of analog color and digital flexibility.

[Patrik T]

TotalSonic wrote on Tue, 01 May 2007 03:13

I'd like to propose a strange idea that input and output transformers might impart in many circuit designs a "pleasing coloration" sometimes more than having tubes in a signal path.

Nothing strange about this idea. Ask Rupert Neve about further details.

/patrik

[jfrigo]

Sometimes the Manley Vari-Mu goes in the chain with barely a wisp of gain reduction, mainly for the color. Not exactly the same thing, but same idea. I know many guys who from time to time use comps with hardly any reduction for more of the sound character than dynamic control. It's not uncommon. I also know somebody who keeps a bunch of different transformers around to use as color machines. However, that's a little more involved and uncommon...

[aivoryuk]

bblackwood wrote on Tue, 01 May 2007 02:26

Honestly, I've worked for years to have a chain that is as transparant as possible, with the little bit of coloration being as euphonic as possible. I've never run a mix through a box for color, though I do have some slight coloration options available in the Crane Song stuff I own. I would suggest that while coloration may seem cool at first brush, there's very little color that can be added in the mastering stage that isn't quite obvious once you learn the sound of the coloration device. IOW, coloration in mastering is a band-aid at best, and not a very good one, imo...

Brad, I've always been intrigued by your chain it seems so simple (not in a bad way), i found that 'your chain' thread facsinating i wasn't able to particpate in it at the time.

is there a reason why you like your chain to be as transparent as possible?? how does the Sontec fit within the sound of the chain (is it transparent, coloured???)

[bblackwood]

aivoryuk wrote on Tue, 01 May 2007 05:20

is there a reason why you like your chain to be as transparent as possible?? how does the Sontec fit within the sound of the chain (is it transparent, coloured???)

Well, I initially started building my chain as transparently as possible after looking around and realizing that all the great records I enjoyed were cut at places that worked really hard to achieve the same thing (The Mastering Lab, for example). Back when all the 'classic' records we re cut, transparency was always the goal in mastering. The fact is, I think being able to pass a mix through your (rhetorical) entire chain without changing the character is the basic starting point for a mastering engineer - I'm not sure where the whole 'color in mastering' idea came from, but it's a fairly recent (last 10-15 years) phenomenon as best I can tell. You may find examples of someone using more colored boxes in the past, but for the most part, mastering has always been about correcting without changing whenever possible.

The funny part is that if you have a nice, simple chain and really learn it well, you can accomplish all sorts of things without having to patch in color boxes.

As for the Sontec, it's not really very colored, imo. It can make itself apparent with outrageous setting, but in normal use I find it to be quite mellow...

[Ged Leitch]

bblackwood wrote on Tue, 01 May 2007 11:56

aivoryuk wrote on Tue, 01 May 2007 05:20 is there a reason why you like your chain to be as transparent as possible?? how does the Sontec fit within the sound of the chain (is it transparent, coloured???) Well, I initially started building my chain as transparently as possible after looking around and realizing that all the great records I enjoyed were cut at places that worked really hard to achieve the same thing (The Mastering Lab, for example). Back when all the 'classic' records we re cut, transparency was always the goal in mastering. The fact is, I think being able to pass a mix through your (rhetorical) entire chain without changing the character is the basic starting point for a mastering engineer - I'm not sure where the whole 'color in mastering' idea came from, but it's a fairly recent (last 10-15 years) phenomenon as best I can tell. You may find examples of someone using more colored boxes in the past, but for the most part, mastering has always been about correcting without changing whenever possible. The funny part is that if you have a nice, simple chain and really learn it well, you can accomplish all sorts of things without having to patch in color boxes. As for the Sontec, it's not really very colored, imo. It can make itself apparent with outrageous setting, but in normal use I find it to be quite mellow...

Well what with all the marketing hype with "analog modelled" plugins etc "Get that warm tube sound in your DAW" etc
 Its refreshing to read what you stated above Brad.

I always thought the main thing about mastering was the clean signal path for starters.

theres a heck of a lot of mis information out there sheesh!!

[compasspnt]

Indigo.

Now there's a colour.

[Greg Reierson]

TotalSonic wrote on Mon, 30 April 2007 20:13

I'd like to propose a strange idea that input and output transformers might impart in many circuit designs a "pleasing coloration" sometimes more than having tubes in a signal path.

Hutch says the sound of Manley gear is as much about their transformers as anything else in the circuit.


GR