Re-amping signals to processors

[Line Level Recordings]

So, this might sound dumb (dont try it if you think its dumb)
and i dont know if people have tried this yet.
so im sorry if im just wasting thread space

but alot of people are worried about using their compressors on the way in.
and most hardware compressors are better then plug ins, SO

why not just re amp the signal (be it kick drum, bass ect.) to go into the hardware gate or compressor?
if something goes wrong, you still have the raw track, and i think this would be a good way to even experiment or to "get to know" your processor or whatever the fuck you got

let me know your thoughts
( just trying to share some ideas )
hope it helps

 

[Trevoire520]

Well, this isn't really re-amping, it's just using a hardware insert with your DAW. Plenty of people doing it in the pro studio's with nice hardware comps/eq's. Gotta watch out if you're on PTLE though as you don't have delay compensation.

 

[greyskull]

Yep. i often use the 1176 on the way in and during mix, in Le just nudge the region back by 4 times the playback engine buffer.
so for 1024 thats 4096 samples to nudge it back by

 

[Line Level Recordings]

lol adleast i tried to help
thats cool though

so if its not reamping ( i know its not the proper term )
what would you call that?

 

[BLUElightCory]

lol adleast i tried to help
thats cool though

so if its not reamping ( i know its not the proper term )
what would you call that?

It's just a normal hookup for outboard gear. If you're in a DAW it's usually just a hardware insert.

You don't need a re-amp box because you're sending a balanced line-level signal out of your DAW into gear (compressor/gate/whatever) that's designed for a balanced line-level input. It's just a straight connection.

Integrating hardware into a DAW rig is also sometimes referred to as a hybrid setup or hybrid mixing.

 

[Line Level Recordings]

thanks for the info dude

 

[Nauru]

Here's the thing though.
You lose something in the conversion every time. So to really do this well, especially if you do it multiple times, you want really pristine converters.
I mean sure, try it, it's a cool thing to do, plenty of pro's do it, but be careful not to over do it, or the sound quality of the track will suffer, no matter what you're putting it through.

 

[greyskull]

true; but its also been argued, that it is in fact the FIRST A-D conversion where most of the damage is done; so to speak

 

[colonel kurtz]

Here's the thing though.
You lose something in the conversion every time. So to really do this well, especially if you do it multiple times, you want really pristine converters.
I mean sure, try it, it's a cool thing to do, plenty of pro's do it, but be careful not to over do it, or the sound quality of the track will suffer, no matter what you're putting it through.

if anything, when mixing digital tracks thru outboard, make sure to send it out thru the D/A to a patchbay, route it thru whatever chain you're going to use, and then back thru the A/D again

a couple years back when i was in school, they were showing us how they had routed the HD rig so that you could simply use any of the outboard gear as a hardware insert on your tracks, and i brought up this same matter...and it turns out that each insert on a track adds another generation of conversion. dudes were acting like it was so awesome that you didn't have to do any analog patching anymore, which is true, but then you have to suffer sending the audio through a 192 4-5 times(assuming you're going for outboard EQ/comp/reverb/etc.).

 

[Metaltastic]

true; but its also been argued, that it is in fact the FIRST A-D conversion where most of the damage is done; so to speak

Interesting, never heard that before...

 

[BLUElightCory]

if anything, when mixing digital tracks thru outboard, make sure to send it out thru the D/A to a patchbay, route it thru whatever chain you're going to use, and then back thru the A/D again

a couple years back when i was in school, they were showing us how they had routed the HD rig so that you could simply use any of the outboard gear as a hardware insert on your tracks, and i brought up this same matter...and it turns out that each insert on a track adds another generation of conversion. dudes were acting like it was so awesome that you didn't have to do any analog patching anymore, which is true, but then you have to suffer sending the audio through a 192 4-5 times(assuming you're going for outboard EQ/comp/reverb/etc.).

This is a good (and often overlooked) point - It's definitely better to use a single insert (if possible) and route the entire outboard chain on that insert. Of course, this only makes sense if you want the outboard gear routed consecutively, but the less trips in and out of the A/D, the better.

 

[Line Level Recordings]

doin this hybrid thing is making me kinda nervous now haha