LE and TDM sound quality

[Wcutta]

If I was to record with the same gear on an LE setup and a TDM setup would there be any difference in sound or tone quality? I know the TDM can accept more inputs, high sample rates, and support more plug ins but other than that if I had good gear would'nt it benefit me to record at home and then take it to a studio for mixdown and mastering?

[rockrev]

ITB, the quality would be the same when tracking so long as the same word depth and sample rate were used. Of course that's the program itself - I'm not talking about conversion. When it comes to mixing or mastering, TDM would be higher quality as it runs 48-bit fixed, whereas LE runs 32-bit floating. That is my understanding.

rockrev

[Wcutta]

Im gonna run my chain some similar to this U87(rite now I have a Studio Projects C1)--->Avalon 737sp----->Distressor---->Rosetta 200------>Mbox or Digi002 at 24bit/44.1
At tracking stage it makes no difference whether its LE and then take it to a HD system to mix down and master and run plugins and it would all be the same as if I had recorded with the hd system to begin with?

[madrock]

you will suffer with the mbox. i haven't heard the new one yet (and don't really intend to) but as with all USB powered interfaces, the mbox suffers from a lack of headroom and everything has this "glassy" top end.

the rosetta will definitely help you out in this instance but you should consider ditching the avalon in favour of something that sounds a bit tougher. i hate all this new airy sounding crap. on the other hand, the distressor will kick you in the nuts

why 44.1?

[Wcutta]

Well 44.1 because I have an Mbox but if I got a Digi 002r the headroom issue should be resolved, right? With the Digi 002r I could then record at higher sample rates for tracking and dither it later at a studio with hd and there would be no difference between me tracking with le or hd? (As long as I was in a vocal booth and working with the same gear)

[Shan]

ITB, the quality would be the same when tracking so long as the same word depth and sample rate were used. Of course that's the program itself - I'm not talking about conversion. When it comes to mixing or mastering, TDM would be higher quality as it runs 48-bit fixed, whereas LE runs 32-bit floating. That is my understanding.

rockrev

And to add a little more to that comment for all who are curious.

Shane

[Shan]

...if I had good gear would'nt it benefit me to record at home and then take it to a studio for mixdown and mastering?

It depends on one very important and commonly overlooked thing.

I have done a few albums in this manner and it can, and is, done often.

But, you better have really good engineering chops bro, or there will be ALOT of problems and you will end up recording everything again with your newly hard won engineering skills that are still developing.

This is a very big missing link and mistake with people who would like to take this approach.

Hire the best and most succesful engineer you can to teach you proper engineering for the stuff you would like to record. Or, hire the best engineer to help you record and teach you at the same time. You wont regret it. And you'll save yourself ALOT of big headaches.

Trust me.

THIS concept is one of the main reasons Rail Jon Rogut and others are on here so much teaching everyone. Rail even made a post about this himself a few years back. He was basically tired of all the home brew crap we were giving him with our pathetic engineering skills that we got from a music magazine.

Rail would be the perfect guy to chime in more on this post.

Shane

[dividedsci]

As far as engineering for tracking, are you talking more about being able to choose good mic placement? Editing and overdubbing is pretty easy, once you get a hang of the software. I have recorded an album in a top notch studio, and as far as tracking, mic placement, and eliminating bleed, seemed like the only things to worry about. This discussion is exactly what I was thinking about, because i was planning on getting a 002R, good mics, recording at home, and then going to a studio to mix. I know the Mbox has some severe latency, how is it on the 002R? I'm guessing a HD system would have a lot less latency, right?

[Shan]

What perfect timing for this thread.

Read it from top to bottom. It's all about this very topic.

The Art of Record Engineering

"A lot of these bands have really great taste in music, but when they send me their stuff to mix, it often sounds just terrible!"

“A lot of my engineer friends have said over the past few years, ‘Hey, I’m not going to mix these kinds of projects anymore,'"

I attest to those statements! Much of the stuff I get asked to mix gets sent back for 'repair' jobs.

I havent seen Russ longs' DVD but it would probably be a very good investment for you before you start recording. I know of a few more engineering DVDs that are in the works but not done yet. Michael Wagner is one of them. He does have a workshop that everyone raves about. Michael Wagner production workshops.

If you plan to do it yourself and then send it off to a pro studio for mixing, then I strongly advise to get your engineering chops down. Some mixing engineers wont even go near it when they find out you did it yourself at home. And that's no joke.

Shane