R/E/P Community
R/E/P => Recording - Engineering & Production => Topic started by: Sam Bell on March 13, 2011, 12:10:40 PM
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I'm using the Echo AudioFirePre8 http://www.echoaudio.com//Products/FireWire/AudioFirePre8/index.php (http://www.echoaudio.com//Products/FireWire/AudioFirePre8/index.php) as my interface and building the rest of my chain this week:
Acoustic Guitar Mics will be matched pair of NT5's
Vocal Mic TBD (maybe C414)
My questions to forum members:
1.) Is it OK (for a strictly home project situation) to use an external pre (UA610 or the like) plugged into the Mic/Line input of the Echo unit? (vs using a "converter only unit like the Echo AudioFire 12 - http://www.echoaudio.com//Products/FireWire/AudioFire12/index.php (http://www.echoaudio.com//Products/FireWire/AudioFire12/index.php)
2.) Investing in an eq & compressor such as the speck asc and fnr comp will put me over budget, but I may be able to squeeze a few more dollars. Can the processing be done with plugins after the fact, or should it be done via hardware on the way in?
Again, advice is welcome.
Sam
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1) That's what a line input is for - so you can take the line out of something like a pre-amp and connect it to the line input of something like a converter. If something has a "Mic/Line" input that means it can accept either - mic or line - the rest is just a question of gain.
2) There is no right answer. If you can get it "right" when you're recording it makes it easier to mix. I hate plugins... but that's a personal opinion. If you feel they can do the job for you, use them. I'm also of the opinion that you should "always be mixing" when you're recording... making the necessary sonic and musical arrangement decisions as you go along rather than waiting for someone else to make those decisions later. As I'm sure the moderators on this board will agree in principle, the fact of the matter is that I'm quite the fossil and bloody few do it that way anymore [as evidenced by so many sessions being delivered to mix with 60-70-80-90+ tracks of information to be weeded out by "the mixer"].
Hope this is of some assistance.
Peace
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For what it's worth, some consumer interfaces (like the RME Fireface) has variable gain from 10-70+ dB for microphone sources and then a special 0dB setting for line sources.
Kristian
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I've been interested in this as well. I just read an SOS (i think) article where Jaycen Joshua says before he mixed a record he had the drums run though a 1073 and back into protools for punch.
Also heard of taking a 2 track mix out of the box into something like a 1073 to print.
anyone do this is mixing land?
Should there be something inline to match impedence or would a simple line in be fine?
Glad this was brought up.
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It should probably be noted that 1073's are a perfectly good line in equalizer as well as being a mic-pre EQ... they're used in the mix phase of projects on a regular basis... and the uses described in those articles are far from extraordinary.
Peace.
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I'm also of the opinion that you should "always be mixing" when you're recording... making the necessary sonic and musical arrangement decisions as you go along rather than waiting for someone else to make those decisions later.
I agree with this 100%. I am of the personal opinion that when you're working digitally, or even hybrid, it's a good idea to sculpt the sound as you go and on the spot as if you were using outboard the way they did in the old days. Committing is key.
I also find myself aiming to get the sounds I want as soon as I can and moving on so that when it comes to mixing, it's just a matter of balancing and fine tuning. There's no better time than at the beginning to assess the sounds you have gotten and make a decision to go with it or scrap it. Waiting until later always makes things more complicated, especially if it's something like a rhythm instrument that the mix has been built upon.
Cheers :)