Mostly all analogue mix

[derekmoffat]

Hey guys,

This is the first mix with my new analogue console (a&h zed r16) and is definitely my most honest mix yet. Mostly all natural drums, real amps, all analogue eq, compression, mastering, and summing. The only plug ins used were gates, effects, slight saturation, and a touch of sample augmenting. This was more of a challenge for myself, rather than to prove a point or anything like that.



Cheers!
-Derek

 

[AllanD]

Sounds great dude. What compressor were you using?

 

[derekmoffat]

Thanks man!
I used a few.
Blue stripe 1176 on vocals, bass, and the room mic.
Chameleon Labs 7720 on acoustics, lead guitars, shaker, and across the mix.
Dbx 163s on snare and toms.

 

[DanLights]

sounds great, ridiculously punchy.

 

[FIXXXER]

pretty good sounding mix!

music is listenable too, reminds me a bot of city & colour,
well just the instrumental, the voice is more in the mars volta corner

 

[Mashreef]

sounds cool man

 

[mickrich]

Good stuff.
I have said it here many times that the Zed-R16 is a steal.
Made my mixes jump to another level.
Amazing eq, good pres, good convers and inserts on every channel and the master.
I could never go back to mixing ITB.

 

[derekmoffat]

Good stuff.
I have said it here many times that the Zed-R16 is a steal.
Made my mixes jump to another level.
Amazing eq, good pres, good convers and inserts on every channel and the master.
I could never go back to mixing ITB.

You greatly influenced me to buy one actually, many thanks man!

Thank you everyone

 

[MisSigsFan]

This sounds incredible. Great job!

 

[DanLights]

Damn, that Zed thing isn't ridiculously expensive, for what it does (and this sweet sounding mix definitely helps) it seems to be totally worth the money, I want one!

 

[Frak]

Excellent mix and excellent music. Good stuff man.

 

[worldwideweapon]

You greatly influenced me to buy one actually, many thanks man!

Thank you everyone

Sorry for the OT but can you guys describe your workflow and setup with this ZED-R16 a bit. Still confused how to move into the analog realm / summing, when most of my processing and automation obviously would be done ITB still..? Thanks.

 

[mickrich]

Sorry for the OT but can you guys describe your workflow and setup with this ZED-R16 a bit. Still confused how to move into the analog realm / summing, when most of my processing and automation obviously would be done ITB still..? Thanks.

For tracking I run line in to the ZED from my external pres then set up the channels to send to digital post eq and return on the fader so the signal flow is mic pre>Zed line in>insert>eq>Logic DAW>fader. This works great because I can record EQ and any inserts.

For mixing I run 16 groups to the 16 ins on the Zed and mix with the eq and faders.
I use all FX in the box and output to a single stereo pair.
I have no recall unless I take notes but as far as I'm concerned it's worth it.
The eq is so much better than plugins there is no competition.
I can't stand the sound of plugin Eq boosting highs but the Zed's high shelf sounds beautiful.
I can let a singer monitor with ZERO latency too which is great.
If I route properly, I can run a channel from Logic with the pre recorded vocal on it and knock out the digital return to that channel when I hit record so the singer hears the "live" vocal no latency when dropping in.
Headphone mixes are a breeze too. 1 cool feature, which even the SSL 4K I work on sometimes hasn't got, is the ability to set up a headphone mix which is a combination of the mix plus an aux. For tracking vocals this is great because I can send the singer my mix plus push aux 1 on the vocal track so he has the same mix as me but with more vocal. Dedicated talkback is cool too.
I could go on and on about other features......

 

[worldwideweapon]

For tracking I run line in to the ZED from my external pres then set up the channels to send to digital post eq and return on the fader so the signal flow is mic pre>Zed line in>insert>eq>Logic DAW>fader. This works great because I can record EQ and any inserts.

For mixing I run 16 groups to the 16 ins on the Zed and mix with the eq and faders.
I use all FX in the box and output to a single stereo pair.
I have no recall unless I take notes but as far as I'm concerned it's worth it.
The eq is so much better than plugins there is no competition.
I can't stand the sound of plugin Eq boosting highs but the Zed's high shelf sounds beautiful.
I can let a singer monitor with ZERO latency too which is great.
If I route properly, I can run a channel from Logic with the pre recorded vocal on it and knock out the digital return to that channel when I hit record so the singer hears the "live" vocal no latency when dropping in.
Headphone mixes are a breeze too. 1 cool feature, which even the SSL 4K I work on sometimes hasn't got, is the ability to set up a headphone mix which is a combination of the mix plus an aux. For tracking vocals this is great because I can send the singer my mix plus push aux 1 on the vocal track so he has the same mix as me but with more vocal. Dedicated talkback is cool too.
I could go on and on about other features......

Cheers. I think I got most of the shit covered with routing etc; even though the user guide on A&H site is pretty confusing. Very interested to get this thing asap.

One question still pops to my mind and that is; how would you monitor plugins on mixbuss if your listening the stereo sum (via main monitor outs) that's going to DAW and you of course apply the plugins to incoming signal in DAW which is not monitored any more?

 

[mickrich]

You don't
Treat it as an analog board with digital in/out.
You mixbus, as you point out, is the stereo master on the board.
If you get the Zed, get a decent compressor to insert across the mix.
I use a Drawmer 1968me, but most hardware compressors will give more punch than software. The ART VLA is supposed to be great and is pretty cheap.

Leave any mastering plugins for mastering.
Worry about master effects once you have recorded the stereo mix back in and treat it as the next stage rather than part of the mixing process.

 

[worldwideweapon]

You don't
Treat it as an analog board with digital in/out.
You mixbus, as you point out, is the stereo master on the board.
If you get the Zed, get a decent compressor to insert across the mix.
I use a Drawmer 1968me, but most hardware compressors will give more punch than software. The ART VLA is supposed to be great and is pretty cheap.

Leave any mastering plugins for mastering.
Worry about master effects once you have recorded the stereo mix back in and treat it as the next stage rather than part of the mixing process.

Yep. That's what I thought. Never been mastering really. Just a slight compression and eq usually with slate VTM at the end of the mixbuss chain. As you said, have to maybe dive into HW compressor at mix insert point and change the way of thinking a bit. I think the summing alone, let alone the eq point is worth the change.

 

[mickrich]

Yep. That's what I thought. Never been mastering really. Just a slight compression and eq usually with slate VTM at the end of the mixbuss chain. As you said, have to maybe dive into HW compressor at mix insert point and change the way of thinking a bit. I think the summing alone, let alone the eq point is worth the change.

You might think that until you hear the EQ.
I was completely stunned when I started EQing my first mix on the ZED.
Don't forget you get 16 kick ass mic pres too. Not in the same league as boutique rack stuff, but far better than most audio interfaces or comparably priced consoles.
It really was the missing link for me. I always struggled to get that extra few percent that made my mixes sound like a "record" rather than a demo.
First mix on the ZED was the best mix I ever did to that point by miles.
As I've got to know the rig better my mixes have got better.
Just make sure you gain stage properly with it if you get one. Treat -12 on your DAW meters as zero at every stage (inputs, busses, outputs) and make sure your mix peaks at zero on the Zed's master meter and you will be ok.

 

[worldwideweapon]

You might think that until you hear the EQ.
I was completely stunned when I started EQing my first mix on the ZED.
Don't forget you get 16 kick ass mic pres too. Not in the same league as boutique rack stuff, but far better than most audio interfaces or comparably priced consoles.
It really was the missing link for me. I always struggled to get that extra few percent that made my mixes sound like a "record" rather than a demo.
First mix on the ZED was the best mix I ever did to that point by miles.
As I've got to know the rig better my mixes have got better.
Just make sure you gain stage properly with it if you get one. Treat -12 on your DAW meters as zero at every stage (inputs, busses, outputs) and make sure your mix peaks at zero on the Zed's master meter and you will be ok.

How's that drawmer on more extreme/fast metal stuff. I've thought of it as a more of a rock comp always?

 

[mickrich]

I love the Drawmer.
works great on any mix.
Here is the Drawmer on Attack:5 (can't remember what ms that is), Release fast auto (setting 5), Big on (internal hi pass side chain) and Threshold set so gain reduction is hovering around 4db. Output level set so its not clipping the output valves.
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/2133088/Trans_MK4.mp3

I also use it as a dual mono tracking compressor and it excels in this role too.

 

[worldwideweapon]

Sorry for hijacking the thread Btw. Love the mix and feel, aint helping the gas for sure..