Post by: bushwick on January 25, 2009, 06:04:55 PM
Been doing some mixing lately to 1/2". I have an ATR-102 thats in pretty good shape. If you've been following the EMT plate thread in the Whatever Works you'll know that I'm currently mixing a retro country record. Up til now I had been using RMGI 900 but for this project I am trying ATR's 1/2". They only make one version so this is that.
I will say that I like RMGI. It sounded very nice to my ears, and comparing it to GP9, I liked it better. Maybe I'm crazy but GP9 has a sheen to it that I am not crazy about. I used to like it but think i was hearing obliquely that day I compared or I just hear now what I didn't then. I'll say that the ATR tape seems to be less colored than the RMGI - again, to my ears. Please don't flame me because i didn't do a head to head comparison. I am running it at 15 ips and not slamming the tape hard at all. Biased for +9 but I am rarely peaking at zero, usually peaking at -2 or -3.
So for the review, I am very happy. It sounds like what is going in only better. Smoother, more glued up with all of the instruments more in the same field than without and more inviting. Its more expensive, about $20 more than RMGI, but it sounds very, very nice.
15 ips baby.
josh
Post by: wwittman on January 26, 2009, 07:58:33 PM
| bushwick wrote on Sun, 25 January 2009 18:04 |
... Biased for +9 ... |
what does that mean?
Post by: kats on January 26, 2009, 08:12:12 PM
Hmm I missed the "biased" part...
Post by: bushwick on January 26, 2009, 09:19:49 PM
Post by: wwittman on January 26, 2009, 11:20:58 PM
so you meant ALIGNED to +9 (over 185).
not BIASED at 9 over (which seemed high to me, even at 10k)
Post by: J.J. Blair on January 29, 2009, 03:55:05 PM
Personally, for full program material like a mix, I calibrate for +6 on my ATR. I do my mixes at 30ips, too. Josh, why don't you try backing off your calibration to at least +6?
You're doing 15ips? Are you using CCIR or NAB?
Post by: bushwick on January 29, 2009, 11:11:48 PM
How things? Um, well I used to use GP9 and liked it fine. Certainly better than going back in to PT for, well I think everything that I ever checked it out on. Had a half a reel of GP9 layin around and wanted to see how the new RMGI sounded compared to it. I did my lil quick shootout and thought I like the RMGI 900 better, not mind blowingly so but worth noting I thought.
As for caling the machine. I like to use +9 for 30 IPS - which I generally use for things I want the extra clarity in. For my current project, where smoothness is the most keyed in thing for the artist and he is going for retro, 15 IPS was a no brainer. It just sounds plain wonderful. There are some folks who hit the tape super hard and I am not one of them, not on a 1/2" machine. Typically I used to use +6 for 15 IPS but occasionally there are times when I want to see what I get off the tape if I push it and having the meter headroom of a +9 cal is just fine for me. Otherwise I just mix where I want the meters to hit the tape. I have found no sweet spot for my mix bus so that doesn't matter and my board is so quiet that any noise difference is negligible.
These days I am using NAB for 15 IPS. For a couple of years I switched the machine over to use CCIR but I felt like it lacked some of the tape qualities I had grown to love. The noise doesn't bother me. And more than once the deck at a mastering house wasn't switched for the EQ change and that makes things funky for sure. That really had nothing to do with the reason. I am a fool and like the noise. I think on a 2" it makes more of a difference. I sadly, don't have one of those anymore. . .my lil 800. Miss her I do.
Be well bud.
j
Post by: Sean Eldon Qualls on January 29, 2009, 11:19:44 PM
| bushwick wrote on Thu, 29 January 2009 23:11 |
I think on a 2" it makes more of a difference. I sadly, don't have one of those anymore. . .my lil 800. Miss her I do. Be well bud. j |
I remember her being short and wide, no? However, she received no spanking when I was there...
15ips on 1/2" (more specifically, on an ATR-102) can give a dirty mix polish, and a polished mix dirt. It's a wonderful thing, one I wish I had available to me on a regular basis.
Post by: bushwick on January 30, 2009, 11:30:58 AM
Yes, short and wide. And that is just fine as long as she is sweet. To clarify the above post, we are talking about high output tapes. I did love the sound of 456 and of course cal'd for +6 when i used that.
Best,
josh