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21. 

    Tsarik
    

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    WILL PROBABLY PISS YOU OFF.

    oh she knows.. i keep my gear lust in check though because i'd really like to do a lot of traveling... so early retirement and all. i think i'm pretty sensible and don't just spend spend spend because i can... and i always look for a deal. and when it comes to getting audio into my computer i knew there was a cheaper way than what was being suggested.

    i didn't need converters, pre-amps, a ton of ins and outs, dsp powered software mixing or any of that other shit... i already got some shit and just wanted to get some audio shit into my recording shit

    i'm gonna get the rack version of the Filterbank2 and put it in the rack above my FR XS... that way both of their jacks are right by each other for super easy patching... gonna have to get another rack for the other shit now though... i need more space bad

    Posted 1 year ago #
22. 

    soillodge
    

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    "i already got some shit and just wanted to get some audio shit into my recording shit"

    You should write a technical blog :P

    lol, I get what you mean though. A lot of what people "prefer", is unnecessary. My mixes do not sound like shit- I like them. And I have a pretty budget set-up. No reason to have a 10k studio unless you are making 10k records. I am just like you, I just want to make some fucked up sounds.

    `michael

    Posted 1 year ago #
23. 

    Modulate
    

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    Yup, you can get very good quality these days on a laptop only. I mean, hell, a lot of old industrial was recorded in low budget studios with a couple of synths. Lo-Fi is part of the sound.

    Admittedly I'd love to mix my next album through an old Neve I've just discovered a local studio has though. Same place the Ting Tings and Elbow record.

    Posted 1 year ago #
24. 

    heretic909
    

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    "I showed off the Noise Swash to Dracos yesterday"

    Jeezus effin christ, that lil' box can come up with some fucked up sounds. Like Michael said, I have this acoustic guitar with a little battery powered internal pickup, and we plugged that shit through the Noise Swash. So I'm playing Slayer on an acoustic guitar while Michael is tweaking the signal all to hell... Then he's running my JP-8000 through the Noise Swash and playing that while I've got a distorted drum loop going on the puter and I'm improvising some lead lines on my Xio... It must have sounded like Robot Fight Club to people on the sidewalk.

    Question: What's the deal with preamps? Are they really necessary? I saw Geoff mentioning them here but I've never used one, so I don't know. I've always recorded vocals with a condenser mic, and on my mixer I just turn on the phantom power and that's it. Just dry vocals that I'll add effects to later on in the mix. What kind of benefit would I get with a preamp?

    Posted 1 year ago #
25. 

    soillodge
    

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    Necessary-not really. The purpose of a pre-amp is to facilitate your audio signal from your instrument to your recorder. It does the same thing your mixer will do-however mixers generally do not have the greatest pre-amps, they are built to be affordable-unless your talking a massive console of course. Which is overkill for most electronic music applications. We are generally not recording multiple musicians at once and it makes more sense to just drop your money into a great pre-amp for recording and use the budget mixer for auditioning within the writing process.

    Pre-amps are very desirable though. They can colour your sound and make things appear much warmer. They accurately send your audio signal to be recorded with no cross-talk or unwanted cheap circuitry issues. And they allow you much more room for control of your individual sound BEFORE it gets to the digital realm for EQing and processing.

    `michael

    Posted 1 year ago #
26. 

    metaball
    

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    the more clean to properly colored gain you have via the preamp the more signal boost, better tone quality & less noise floor you're going to capture when you hit record. the gain knob on whatever channel of your mixer is a preamp. the variety of tonal colors & price of outboard pre's is vast. for most home studios & electronic acts a decent vocal pre is sufficient since it's typically the only air moving "instrument" in the mix.

    here's some good links on pre's
    http://www.thelisteningsessions.com/micpregraph.htm
    http://mixonline.com/products/buyersguides/audio_microphone_preamplifier_technology/

    ultimately it's all about gain staging.

    Posted 1 year ago #
27. 

    Tsarik
    

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    WILL PROBABLY PISS YOU OFF.

    its funny and encouraging that a successful and audibly talented musician (Dracos) knows next to nothing about pre-amps. and i'm not laughing at him... i'm using him as an example to laugh at everyone else

    and it adds fuel to my belief that most home "producers" or whatever the fuck they're trying to pass themselves off as are really just blowing smoke up everyone's ass because their studios are really just their insecurities projected onto their interests. its like some people have to have what everyone else think is the "best." that is all you see on the forums are threads of people asking how others feel about a particular piece of gear.... because what is the point of owning something if your peers also wish to own said piece of kit.

    well i've used a $500 pre-amp.. and it was nice.. not sure if it sounded much different from the pre-amp that came with my $50 mixer though

    i think Kool-Aid changes water more than ANY pre-amp colors sound... this isn't to say they don't add to a synthesizer's sound... maybe i just need to come across the right pre-amp.... and i'm sure they make some difference for traditional uses like vocals... but how much? i'm not sure... i am sure that gear is one big dick measuring contest for a lot of people though

    people desire too much... and then waste too much time worrying about what others think. maybe they should shut the fuck up and just make some fucking noise... seems to work for the actual musicians making music

    Posted 1 year ago #
28. 

    wormsoftheearth
    

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    "its like some people have to have what everyone else think is the "best." that is all you see on the forums are threads of people asking how others feel about a particular piece of gear.... because what is the point of owning something if your peers also wish to own said piece of kit."

    yeah man...because certainly no one is ever interested in finding out about how a piece of gear works, the features of it, or the sound quality or reliability, among other things.

    "i am sure that gear is one big dick measuring contest for a lot of people though"

    No one ever actually uses any gear either. We're all so rich and jaded that we just buy loads and loads of useless gear to tout about for no reason except feeling insecure (because having music gear totally impresses chicks...oh wait). man you got some real acumen, how did the rest of us not see this?

    "well i've used a $500 pre-amp"

    whoa ho make way for the lord and master of preamps cause he used one...once...

    "people desire too much... and then waste too much time worrying about what others think. maybe they should shut the fuck up and just make some fucking noise..."

    um, remind me why youre posting on a forum again? wouldnt those 150hrs youve spent on sideline be better spent "making some fucking noise"?

    Posted 1 year ago #
29. 

    KryonikMessiah23
    

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    Woah people. I don't think anybody meant any offense here at all.

    Tsarik, most people who post on the side-line tech forum, myself included, like to use whatever we can afford and occasionally pick up a really good piece with finances can be pushed that way. That being said, I don't care what gear anyone uses as long as I enjoy their music.

    Fact of the matter is that a lot of people DO get just as much joy in collecting cool pieces of equipment as they do from writing with it, though. I don't think equipment should ever hold anyone up from making music.

    Posted 1 year ago #
30. 

    Tsarik
    

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    WILL PROBABLY PISS YOU OFF.

    the keyword was "some"

    you even quoted it

    another keyword was "a lot"

    come on man. its obvious i was stating an opinion and my reasoning behind it and that it didn't apply to all.

    many are interested in how something works, and i have replied and participated in such threads when there is a genuine interest, but honestly i still feel that there are lots of threads and the only thing that gets talked about as if it has any worth are the most expensive pieces of gear.

    ..fuck man.. its too early to reply to each of the sings i said that you're quoting.

    "gear dick measuring thing"
    dude, i have a lot of gear and the amount is growing almost exponentially...

    seems like people take the things i say as absolutes... i thought it was obvious that they weren't

    what are you so worked up about any way? your gear list isn't any where near anything that i'm talking about... not even on the radar.

    i've never stated or acted like a master of anything... where do you see that i used a pre-amp "once"... i owned the FMR RNP. and sold because it didn't do much for my synthesizers and i don't sing.

    and i post here because i enjoy talking to people here... i guess i even enjoy explaining myself to you because... i'm doing it.

    i spend a lot of time making lots of fucking noise. why am i not doing it right now? its early, my fiancee is asleep... and i'm drinking coffee and reading my favorite forums.

    new audio interface should be here this afternoon too... so i'll be able to record some shit again too!

    Posted 1 year ago #
31. 

    wormsoftheearth
    

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    i'm not worked up, you just made a stupid ass nonsensical post so I figured I'd make fun of you a bit for it. Seriously though why did you even post that here? No one is dick waving their gear. No one is bringing up gear that is way out of everyone's price range expensive (you brought up the filterbank which is the most expensive thing being mentioned here). The rest of the stuff in your post just made no sense ("it adds fuel to my belief that most home "producers" or whatever the fuck they're trying to pass themselves off as are really just blowing smoke up everyone's ass because their studios are really just their insecurities projected onto their interests")

    Posted 1 year ago #
32. 

    soillodge
    

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    @Josh-you kinda got us confused with Gear Slutz. In comparison, S-L is downright friendly and outgoing ;)

    But really, using Dracos as an example on people not knowing certain things about making music is unnecessary and inaccurate. Most of these recording devices were created decades ago to solve problems that they had in the recording studios. I have recorded music in a professional by-the-hour studio, and of course I have recorded music at home on my own set up. The studio is completely full of hundreds of different options for doing things. 99% of which were useless in my recording application. Making and recording music has always been a dick-waving contest, there is no point of accusing people here of this. For the longest time people have hunted out producers or specific studios or just the gear that those individuals use so they can attain a certain sound. I have always been of the mind that creativity rules out over attaining someone else's idea of gear. Most people just think the easiest method is to copy a technique from someone else. Who is right? Everyone, as long as you are making the sound you hear in your head and you are happy.

    Dracos doesn't know about pre-amps because they have never been necessary for his recording process, and as you can hear, he did not miss anything. The last thing FGFC needs is more presence or a warm hard hitting tone. FGFC is brutal! lol

    So you are right, in your experience as well, you have used a pre-amp and did not notice a difference. I can guarantee you that there was an actual difference, likely the only way you could tell is to look at the sound waves that were recorded. And you used a solid state pre-amp. Generally used for more transparent results. Tuck your synth into a tube [valve] pre-amp and you will definitely notice some new colour to your tone.

    but do you NEED it? No, not really. But some people love what it does and do not mind spending 1000$ to get that result. You cannot fault them for it, they are also just being creative and following a different path.

    `michael

    Posted 1 year ago #
33. 

    heretic909
    

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    I brought it up cause I don't even remember using them in school. I think we just used the phantom power on the SSL boards we were using.

    ah well. Like my Grandpa used to say, "If you can't afford it, you don't need it".

    Posted 1 year ago #
34. 

    Tsarik
    

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    WILL PROBABLY PISS YOU OFF.

    i wasn't accusing anyone or being incendiary. i thought i was complimenting Dracos, yourself and everyone else here of not blindly following the "best" of attitude and just making music their own way.

    i believe my ramblings are often stupid ass nonsensical musings, deserving of ridicule. have at it, i can laugh at myself.

    Posted 1 year ago #
35. 

    soillodge
    

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    oh..lol It totally did not come out that way :P

    `michael

    Posted 1 year ago #
36. 

    Tsarik
    

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    WILL PROBABLY PISS YOU OFF.

    i probably sounded like an ass because i thought pre-amps weren't all they were cracked up to be?

    i've zero experience with tubes... all the metasonix stuff i hear sounds interesting but while i like the aesthetic; i'm too much of a klutz to be near exposed tubes. Thermonic Culture's stuff looks fucking awesome but I'm not willing to spend that kinda money without some hands on experience.

    so i'm sorry if i offended anyone. wasn't trying to be offensive. if i was stupid, then that just happens sometimes.. often even.

    Posted 1 year ago #
37. 

    wormsoftheearth
    

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    "i thought i was complimenting Dracos, yourself and everyone else here of not blindly following the "best" of attitude and just making music their own way."

    you shouldve just said it like that lol. much easier to follow

    Posted 1 year ago #
38. 

    soillodge
    

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    @Josh-lets just say, in reference to pre-amps, when you are in the sound design stage of making music, there really is not much purpose. When you are in the final recording and mixing stages, they can be an amazing advantage.

    `michael

    Posted 1 year ago #
39. 

    metaball
    

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    most electronic bands tend to work out mix issues at the sound design phase, instruments are recorded line in, or in the box, the sound is a few molecules moving in a wire or an algorithm in your DAW, no preamps necessarily need to be involved in the production of a contemporary electronic album.

    the traditional recording studio is about capturing moving air in an acoustically correct space. mic up the drums, mic up the amps, mic up the Leslie on the Hammond b3. with this type of recording, many engineers live & die by their preamps, they're going to determine the quality of sound captured & impart a desired tone on each instrument which has a cumulative effect over all tracks recorded.

    as electronic artists start to look at recording vocals, guitars, using methods of guitar distortion on other instruments, they venture away from their purely electronic productions & into the world of traditional recording where there are many laws of diminishing returns. weather $1000+ pre's are a value to you is a matter of taste & what sound you are chasing after. with each level of gain staging you have an opportunity to improve, alter or degrade the tone of an individual track. the less tracks involved in this process the less noticeable the effect on the overall mix. someone with a distorted oontZ beat & a vocal track is not going to see the same effect as a guy recording a symphony orchestra with hundreds of mic's to babysit.
    your studio is a beautiful & unique snowflake, just like everyone else.

    Posted 1 year ago #

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