Getting a great mix

[Hank5]

I'm a new convert to PT. I'm used to mixing on a console and wanted advice on how to get a decent mix in PT. Do you guys mix internally. Do you bring the outputs of the audio interface back into the board for some analog sweetening or what. To me the sound is extremely thin coming out of the interface and I'd like a little advice from the pros.

Tks
dub [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img]

[joy4u]

He he he...
Every new Pro Tools user, after some nightmare mix come here and ask exactly the same thing...

Hank5, You are not alone

I think there are at least 10000 posts about this.... [img]images/icons/shocked.gif[/img]

[Mark Haliday]

"Do you guys mix internally"
I do and I like it, 100 % 24 bit, 48 kHz, only double resolution eq and comp plugins (sony, McDsp, channelstrip)
Use the right kind of preamp or Di boxes, and get your input impedances right (like not pluging guit or basses directly in a 1622), good monitoring, good ears and a lot of work and experimenting. Generous recording levels but not excessive. Don't overload your preamps trying to record at 0 dbFS into a 888. if it is a 88/24 and you work in 24 bits you can stay confortably at lower level.
That's basically it. Once you are done with all this, there has been plenty of debate on the question but I don't think it will get you anywhere at this stage.

I forgot, get yourself the 24 bit dithered mixer plugin. An absolute must
Good work !

[Renie]

Mark
How do you convert to 44.1kHz?
Ta
Renie

[Mark Haliday]

If you mix by using the PT bounce function, you get a screen where you can choose all the options you want.
I mix through AES/EBU on a PC on which I have all my two track editing & premastering gear. I convert the 48 kHz file to 44.1 with wavelab 3 software.
If you want to mix digitally in a CD recorder that accepts only 44.1 then I admit you have a problem, since realtime converters are expensive.

Another important issue (covered in great depth in several threads of the duc)is the dither process when you go from 24 bits to 16 bits.