[DigiTechSupt]

I'm not sure if this has been said yet or not in this string because I didn't read every post but this is an important thing to consider in this debate.

Though the concepts of digital and analog audio have many parallels (i.e. recording a hot signal with out clipping) they are also two very different beasts. No argument there, I'm sure.

The point is this, since all of mankind has been using analog audio since recording's inception, they/we have developed a "bag of tricks" for the analog world that many of us take for granted. This "bag of tricks", that has been growing for how long now, may or may not apply or translate to the digital realm.

The digital world has it's own bag of tricks and considering the length of time digital audio has been around, it's bag of tricks has a lot of room for growth. For example, it's a common practice, when recording drums, to hit analog tape with an extremely hot signal to the point of tape saturation to get a naturally compressed (and/or "warm", sorry I had to throw that in) sound. This particular technique may or may not necessarily translate to a digital audio workstation very well.

I'm not sure that we have yet found the "Les Paul" of the digital audio world, at the same time I'm not making any apologies for digital audio, Pro Tools in particular. In my opinion, (and who am I?) a digital audio project (Pro Tools especially) can sound as good as anything, period.


Another thing to consider is what someone is used to listening to. No doubt, if you rip an analog 2" machine out of your studio today and tomorrow replace it with a Pro Tools system, you will notice the difference for better or worse.

It will take some time to adjust to that change and more importantly longer time to develop your own digital bag of tricks.

Also, and this is very debatable but consider that many analog components that have become classics over the years have done so because of their own particular "flavor" that they bring to audio (be it good or bad). I think that (quality) digital audio has a better chance of faithfully reproducing what was recorded without adding that flavor. This could be a good thing or a bad thing.

Therefore, what goes in front of the digital system in the form of mic's, mic pre's, mic placement and engineering in general not to mention who's tweaking all the faders/knobs once the audio does make it to the disk possibly has more impact than on an "analog" system.

I don't know, just my two cents...

Jon Connolly
Digidesign Product Specialist