Just got my Digi pre .....and guess what?

[jflush]

Sort of off topic ...I recently read a Ray Davies interview....Ray believes it is impossible to record music on a computer. I happen to be going for a Kinks 68' sound myself ...in Pro Tools! doh! [img]images/icons/shocked.gif[/img]

[seeds]

Is that the manufacturer bombfactory on that post? I've read a few others and all I can say is, whoever is in charge of their PR needs to shut down their DUCs login and save some face. Digi always seems to give a respectable and (usually:) accurate response at least.

Hey, I know this isn't a bitch session post but speaking of BF, I paid good money for my BF Pultec, but it doesn't run on HD...oh well, I've learned to love my waves RenEQ too.

[bombfactory]

Seeds... we don't have a "minister of PR." The average pro audio or plug-in company has 2-3 people if they're lucky.

Read this thread for a recap, including the latest public opinion on Bomb Factory's "PR Machine" and our other evil ways.

http://duc.digidesign.com/cgi-bin/ub...;f=16;t=013804

--Erik

[digitaltoast]

baaahhhhhh

[ChaplainPC]

Let's get back on subject shall we?

[dcboucher]

Back to the topic at hand...it seems like the Apogee Trak2 addressed this issue best. The relay switching business is audible, but there is a "Gain Ride Mode" you can enable once the nominal level is set. In this mode you only have about +/- 30dB of range in user specified steps as opposed to the 90dB in the normal mode, but that's not an issue if your even close when you enable Gain Ride Mode. And for that moment during the instrumental break when the singer is quiet, you can disable and re-enable Gain Ride Mode and your new nominal level is optimized by the relays. The toggle for this mode is easily accessed. Only drawback is the price tag, but for that mic pre and probably the best DI going and Soft Limit and Soft Saturate and that 96K A/D...you get the picture, the Trak2 is a bargain.

dcb

[bombfactory]

There's no excuse for a DC offset. On a $2000+ piece of gear, it shouldn't click in the audio path when you turn knobs.

Adjusting gain should be audible (of course), but there should be no additional clicking or noise.

It doesn't matter if you use a switch, a stepped pot, relays, a variable pot, or some type of motor control. If it makes funny noises, the circuit is wrong.

It has nothing to do with relays, and it also has nothing to do with transformer or transformerless. If there were a transformer, the DC offset would still be in the feedback path after the transformer, and it would still click.

Dick Swettenham had this figured out forty years ago. Sigh.

--Erik

[Doug Ring]

I don't understand. Why would you want to remove any dynamic from a singer's performance by trying to flatten it with the channel gain pot DURING a recording? Like you're going to get that right 100% of the time...

It justs sounds like living dangerously to me when all you're trying to do is lay the performance down as accurately as possible with plenty of headroom so that you can go in afterwards and do whatever it is you (or even the singer!) want. And you'll have a take that's faithful to the singer's intentions.

This clicking sounds irritating, but it wouldn't bother you if you set your gain BEFORE the take.

[Joris Vincken]

Reminds me of a singer I once recorded on 1 one my first sessions in a bigger studio. He came in, started singing, real LOUD, and after the 1st take said OK that's it, I'm happy, bye!

Fortunatly I did recorded it. Only the first line was too loud on (analog) tape. After that I had adjusted the gain (no clicks) and the recording was OK.

I should have asked the singer to do another take. But he was famous and I was just starting out. And so you learn......

[Brent Hahn]

Doug... you're a classical guy, right? In your world, you're right, you just want to catch what the artist pitches. But when you're recording a pop singer or, in my case, a voiceover, you're doing a delicate little dance with the knee of the limiter. Doing it right is an art, and it often calls for finessing the preamp level (or the input level of the limiter) during the performance.

Brent