Black Lion Audio Mod Comparison Experiment

[O.G. Killa]

Originally Posted by getz76

I agreed with everything except the above; usually, it is a guitarist that notices "fidelity" is one with bad technique or time that picks on tone or blames the bass player or drummer. Just my experiences (on both sides of the glass).

Really? When I've worked with guys like Michael Thompson, Carl Verheyen, Randy Jacobs, Tim Pierce, Bruce Watson, John Goux, Grant Geissman, etc they will literally ask to redo a take because they weren't happy with their tone and they'll tweak a few little things and then say, "ok let's do it again..."

I think the guy pointing the finger at the other band members to hide his own problems is a totally different story... They aren't really noticing "fidelity", they are just using it as a scapegoat to hide their own inadequacies. Same thing with singers who want more verb and delay in the cans and "can't sing the song" because the headphone mix sucks. LOL They aren't really noticing the fidelity, they are just using it as a distraction from the fact that they can't perform.

[getz76]

I agree with your theory. I just think the number of scapegoaters outweigh class pickers, especially when PTLE is being used (i.e. lower budget). Even though the last two projects where this happened to me (playing bass) were both in high end studios (studio class != performer class). The first involved a dozen cabinet and mic changes even though it was clearly a left hand technique problem (death grip screwing chord intonation) and the second was to blame the rhythm section even though the guitar was clearly rushed.

I get the nuance and people who care for, especially in context of the mix.

[Neale]

All of this is why I was arguing earlier that you have to decide if the change in the sound works for YOU. No one, not even me, can tell you its sounds better FOR YOU. I can't wait until the specs, though - then we can argue about what the specs mean to the "sound".
Are you going to tell a guitar player that putting Seymour Duncans in (or Seth Lovers, whatever) is NOT going to make him/her sound better? Well, it's going to change the sound of the guitar, that's for sure - and maybe for the better according to their ears and playing technique, maybe not.
Same way you can't tell me the BLA mod is NOT worth it, and SHOULDN'T be worth it FOR ME. It's helped me record faster and mix faster, and easier, AND (I think) better. I hear a great difference on the D/A when I mix now and the mic pres, while I still use my other pres first, are at least USABLE now.
So you have to ask yourself - is it going to make the instruments SOUND better? No. As it's been stated, it's the musicians and the room that sound good or bad. It's the engineer's job to capture that accurately, at which point mic selection and placement is paramount. Still, having an improvement in the box is helpful, but at what value is up to the individual. If you can't hear enough difference to think there is one, I humbly suggest that your chain is an issue. If you hear the difference (and you SHOULD), it's up to you do decide what's "better". In some other chain someone brought up (again) the fact that 1073's are nowhere near spec "perfect", and I will repeat that Neve himself thinks his newer stuff is better than the old stuff - yet people will still want the 1073's because THEY think they sound better.
Could I hear the difference between those two acoustic guitar samples? Yes.
Would it sell me on the mod? No.
Am I sold on the mod, having exercised my right to try it for 30 days? Yes.
Did I ask lots of questions about each mod they did BEFORE sending it off? Yes, and the answers came quickly and with great detail, never once coming off as salesmanship or BS - thanks Jim and Matt!
Am I happy I have the mod? Thrilled. Unequivocally an "improvement", not just different.

[peppertree]

Where were you Neale when you could have "Unequivocally" listed the modded vs. unmodded samples?

I think the better analogy here is swapping cables on a guitar.

[DrFord]

Kanye West walks in...

"Guys, I'm gunna let you continue, but the thread on ITB Mixing vs. Analog Summing is one of the greatest threads of all time."

[BRH]

Originally Posted by Neale

So you have to ask yourself - is it going to make the instruments SOUND better?

Well...do you feel lucky?..... well, do you p***?

Sorry, but that just MAKES MY DAY!

[Neale]

Wow. Mr. Peppertree, if you don't like the ol' personal insults, maybe you should stay away from them yourself. If you care to know, I was busy not graphing how much easier it is to engineer with my modded 002r. If you had a moment to read, you'd see that I did the test with the acoustic guitar one - all I have time for because I spend my days working, not trying to convince myself I did the right thing, not staring at spec sheets that tell me one thing is better than the other.

rant
If you think swapping cables on a guitar does nothing, then you ARE truly ignorant. Unless you have a buffer circuit of some sort or active p/ups, switching between a hi-capacitance cable like the Planet Waves stuff (I used to have some) and something low-capacitance will MOST DEFINITELY affect the sound of your guitar. Again, better or worse sound out of the conductors, who's to say, never mind the insulation of the cable, handling noise, etc. Let's not highjack the thread on this topic, but let's not let anyone who might not know better think that cables DON'T affect the sound of your guitar.
/rant

[fingerz88d]

Originally Posted by basslik

I once read an article with an interview with George Martin ( 5th beatle )

After listening to the 3 different sets of the Beatles Anthology Cds, it's become clear to me that Mr. Martin was actually the 1st Beatle (the other 4 were 2-5 respectfully).

[humpback]

I had sort of forgotten this thread... have the promised specs ever been posted?

Nathan