Recording hardware.

[DuckJordan]

Darn, now I have to go find some digital performers and get some digital ears.

Humans are analog beings and as long as humans are involved and audio involves more than just an electronic signal or signal path, then it inherently has an analog component.

Don't overlook compact flash or similar media recorders, while this is what most modern portable recorders use there are also rack mount style media recorders.

But the way it is recorded is rapidly evolving from the old vinyl records to now digital recordings that can be summed down to 1's and 0's.

 

[Rhett]

I know recording engineers that have the artistic equivalent of 1s & 0s. Sure can fix a cable though. LOL

 

[museav]

But the way it is recorded is rapidly evolving from the old vinyl records to now digital recordings that can be summed down to 1's and 0's.

I have yet to hear a digital recording that sounded good, all that beeping and buzzing and screeching. However, some digital recordings do sound quite good once properly converted to analog electrical signals and from there to analog variations in sound pressure in the air.

Those latter aspects are part of "audio" and that was my point. Yes, digital transmission, processing and storage of electronic signals is increasingly common in audio. However, saying that "Digital audio IS where audio has found it's future. Analog is nostalgic at best." seems to ignore that the endpoint in an audio chain, as well as many audio sources, is, and may always be, analog. Ignore that or focus on the digital aspect, which is a means to an end, without considering how it affects the analog aspect, which is the result, and it is a future that I'm not sure I want to see.

 

[Rhett]

I gotta jump in here, most of what I do is producing, arranging, and recording. I feel where Brad is coming from. But you guys seem polar in opinion. Never heard a digital recording that sounded good? No consideration to the original analog sound? Granted, this is happening quite a bit for many reasons, but I know many people who are very sensitive to that conversion process. And digital has come a long way. I've heard some great recordings, that offer more clarity than one would achieve with analog. For some applications, that's what is desired. I've also run quite a few rock mixes back thru tape to bring it all together like lasagna over night in a refrigerator. I like that sound too. But I like what's possible with digital as well. And now that its 2010, there are great plugins available that don't mess around. I just see them as different, but with digital catching up. Only a record sounds like a record. Some people will always prefer that sound. But the commercial use of digital products is obviously on the rise. So there's room for both the way I see it.

 

[GreyWyvern]

/rant
Of course then, there are those people who take a good recording and make it sound bad by converting it to an MP3 at 128kbps. 360kbps all the way, FTW!
/end rant

Sorry, had to throw my half a cent in!

 

[museav]

Never heard a digital recording that sounded good?

Obviously, my point was missed, including the humor. Sorry this has gotten so off track, but my comments had nothing to do with digital versus analog recording, processing, etc. They were addressing the use of the term "audio" in comments such as "Digital audio IS where audio has found it's future. Analog is nostalgic at best."

The definitions I find for "audio" reference it regarding a frequency range of clearly audible sound waves and in that sense is apparently relating "audio" to the human perception of sound, which is an analog event. So while digital transmission, processing and storage of audio may be the future, and is likely what was meant, analog is an inherent aspect of "audio", if nothing else than in how your ears convert the sound waves to make them audible, and is neither obsolete nor going away.

Here's a question to ponder, is "digital audio" even audio? A digital audio signal represents audio, but is it itself audio or data? And when you think about it, a DSP or plug-in is really manipulating data rather than actual audio. So might a "digital audio signal" really more correctly be a "data stream representing an audio signal"?

 

[Rhett]

I'd agree with that. Once the stream is interpolated to form a complete waveform, it becomes audio. Interesting thought.

Thinking along the same lines, printed notes on paper would only be musical information. It wouldn't become actual music until its expressed by a human being. Or some automated device that could read it. LOL

 

[WooferHound]

A note about Live Recording . . .
Recording the output from a console does not provide you with an accurate reproduction of what is being heard in the audience. For example: The Bass player may be really loud onstage, as a result you may have the Bass slider turned completely off, while this sounds perfectly fine for you and the audience the board recording will sound really thin on Bass.
I was almost fired from a band that was listening to a Board mix that I had made. As a result I have never let a band hear any recording of themselfs that was a Board mix.
I always use Microphones at the Mix Position to record the bands. You will get audience noise but the reproduction of the band will be a much more accurate representation of what everyone was hearing at the time.

I think the Zoom H2 digital recorder is a good choice for this type of recording. I don't have one but they have great reviews . . .
H2 Handy Recorder

 

[DuckJordan]

A note about Live Recording . . .
Recording the output from a console does not provide you with an accurate reproduction of what is being heard in the audience. For example: The Bass player may be really loud onstage, as a result you may have the Bass slider turned completely off, while this sounds perfectly fine for you and the audience the board recording will sound really thin on Bass.
I was almost fired from a band that was listening to a Board mix that I had made. As a result I have never let a band hear any recording of themselfs that was a Board mix.
I always use Microphones at the Mix Position to record the bands. You will get audience noise but the reproduction of the band will be a much more accurate representation of what everyone was hearing at the time.

I think the Zoom H2 digital recorder is a good choice for this type of recording. I don't have one but they have great reviews . . .
H2 Handy Recorder

What you could also do is set up a couple boundry and condensor mics on stage (out of the way of course) and run those to a seperate board, two in front of speakers, 2 in the house, and two on stage and run those to that seperate board. I find that that mix really sounds amazing and just use both feeds as seperate recordings and use both on the final cut of the mix