Once the analogue mix was printed to tape and transferred back to the digital realm, I set about matching the levels of that mix ITB. I imported the analogue mix so it was easy to reference to what I was working on. First thing I noted was how clear the digital stuff was – no haze or halo around the sounds, just a more direct sound. As unscientific as that might be, the digital stuff just seemed to have an unadulterated clarity that was missing off tape, not to mention the absence of mild distortion and tape hiss that was present on every analogue track. I also thought this hiss and distortion might constitute most of the ‘warmth’ everyone bangs on about. I attempted to match as closely as possible the analogue mix settings, at least as a starting point for the mix, figuring that I would then tweak further depending on how it all fitted together. Something that immediately jumped out at me was how that ‘clarity’ I was enjoying so much when I first brought the mix up was making everything feel more disparate – like I was trying to mix oil and water together – whereas the analogue stuff felt like it fitted together more cohesively and effortlessly, like mixing ice cream into a milkshake. The next thing that stuck in my mind on mixing ITB was the narrower ‘sweet spot’ that the elements of the mix appeared to have – getting the vocal to sit right was just a little trickier and it felt like there was a very fine line between it sticking out like dogs’ balls, and being too quiet. I remember thinking on the analogue mix that I could move the fader a good centimetre or two either side of ‘good’ and it still sounded acceptable. Maybe this has something to do with the resolution of the physical faders vs digital faders, or maybe it’s the extra depth of analogue mixes… While I know we’re entering subjective territory, I did get the sense that the placement of the tracks seemed to ‘sit’ more easily through real faders – but on the flipside, the digital mix felt much more precise. On the analogue console everything feels roughly ‘around-about’ near where it should, but you’re never sure until you run some tone out again and check it with a goniometer. The other thing I noticed (and I only noticed when comparing the two) was that using the analogue pan controls gave an around-about movement of the image in the stereo field – but it was less than perfect. It’s more noticeable on an AWA console because you have to press a Pan button if you want to use a stereo pot, otherwise it’s only Left, Right or Centre – engage the pot, hear the scratchiness and
the image goes slightly broader and less focussed! Ahh, vintage electronics. As a former analogue diehard I will have to confess to being surprised at how close the two mixes were. In fact, I was hard pressed initially to prefer one over the other, as they both had their qualities. The digital mix had clarity and definition, although I didn’t think the drums sounded nearly as good as they did off tape. The analogue mix sounded more inviting and a little ‘bigger’ but suffered to my ears from a bit of smearing, where everything sounded a little more mushy in the bottom end (no doubt thanks to phase-smearing inductors, capacitors and transformers). One more thing that also stuck in my mind was how I couldn’t get the ‘power’ out of the snare or kick – in the digital mix they just sounded a bit papery and flappy without sounding like they had any sort of punch and thump. It’s almost like I could hear the voltage swing in the analogue version whereas digitally the signal was almost too accurately reproducing the air pressure flapping off the drum heads for it to sound exciting. To my ears vocals and guitars are probably clearer in the digital mix – the guitar amp sound is reproduced accurately with minimal artefacts and the amps manage to maintain their power and front, which really push through in the mix. Cymbals, however, don’t fare as well – the analogue mix cymbals have a sparkle and depth that the digital mix misses out on completely. Listen to the digital-to-analogue moment at pip 2:17 in particular – in my opinion the watershed moment. The difference when Mal starts smashing his cymbals in the solo is night and day. The same applies for the guitars too. Despite the fact that they are hardpanned in both mixes, they feel wider and bigger in the analogue domain. I would have to say that those artefacts are almost certainly the tape machine response as they didn’t sound that good when they were going down (tape machines are definitely in the business of flattery!). THE LONG & THE SHORT OF IT In many ways this experiment merely confirmed many of the suspicions I already had – that digital had come a very long way since the time I had made up my mind to hate it, but it’s not there yet. Considering the digital mix was done with a stock-standard version of Logic Pro V8 and a Macbook Pro, the results were nothing short of amazing.
To sum up, surprise surprise, I prefer the analogue mix. In fact, on further and deeper listening, I think it smokes the digital mix in emotion and attachment. It just feels better, sits better, has far more dimension and depth, the drums sound bigger and more exciting – with the digital mix feeling flatter, harder and colder. I do, however, prefer the snap and front of the snare in the digital mix, and the guitars and bass sound more present/immediate too although this is not necessarily a good thing. One more thing I thought I’d mention before I wrap this up – I level matched the two versions just by ear, and in the concatenated file, switching between the two, the level change is relatively imperceptible. However, when scanning each file for headroom, the analogue file has 4.45dB before clipping whereas the digital file has a mere 1.83dB – but to my ears the analogue version sounds louder. Hurray for tape machine response and soft limiting. If you have the means, something that might be enlightening is to let a non-techy friend or loved one listen to the mixes – explain briefly the concept but then leave the rest to them. You could well be amazed by what they can hear, probably because their perspective is less clouded by technicalities than those who read this magazine. In fact, people who don’t know the details of the experiment (and the whole analogue/digital debate) will probably go more on gut and emotion rather than the differences that you or I might perceive. This experiment has left no doubt in my mind that although analogue is the tried, tested and proven method, digital technology is here front-and-centre and the gap between the two mediums is narrower than ever. It just makes me wonder if we’ll ever be doing this comparison in the future, and if we did, would we have a clear-cut winner?
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Kieran Day
Matt Edge
Ben Hassell Mal Page
Chris Vallejo
Nevertheless, I’m not planning to sell my console, outboard and tape machines just yet. I find it eminently easier to mix using outboard and faders, and feel that the colouration you can achieve from all these different outboard topologies can’t be matched by a computer, no matter how advanced the modelling. The differences may be subtle, but maybe they’re too subtle for our conscious minds to really pinpoint – music appreciation involves a subconscious emotional response that is impossible to quantify with a mere black and white comparison.
You can download the mixes here: audiotechnology.com.au There is an analogue version, a digital version, and a composite version that swaps between analogue and digital every 15 bars (separated by a 1kHz pip), starting with the analogue. Do you think you can do a better digital mix ITB? Download the individual files from the AT site – and be sure to let us know what you think!
audiotechnology.com.au AT 15