The Ben Grosse love thread (Chris you need to answer;)...)

[Mikaël-ange]

I agree that the Red cd sounds great but i really thought it was mixed ITB. has all the attributes of a ITB mix. BIG yes, punchy and fat but kind of flat sounding. And not that 3d really.

This is all subjective but the kick has always bugged me abit. sounds to plastic and fake and has WAY to much sub haha.

Mixed on 9000xl Christian

But as I said before when we spoke about that, 9K and ITB sound kinda the same (except for the soft top end and more solid center). Sonic wise it's really interchangeable between both.

Older Ben mix sound more 3D to me (Fuel album for example). Last year Ben mix are kinda more on the blockbuster side, where everything is massive and in your face; but also heavily squashed to death (mostly during mastering in suppose).
Sound like he also push a lot more automation wise section by section, more dramatic move, but also more obvious.
Still one of my fav mixer in the genre (with TLA)...

 

[aramism]

wait wait isn't that what i said mikael?

to quote myself: "i think a lot of his sound has to do with the 9k. most other guys in his league are mixing on 4ks which are dirtier and have "less resolution" from a sonic standpoint. so BG mixes always seem to have a little bit more clarity in each area. top, mid, bottom (especially the bottom). it's a wild guess by me but i don't know, it kind of makes sense doesn't it?"

what i said was that because his mixes seem to be bit more "in your face" and "big bottom" and "clear" it could be because he is mixing a on a cleaner board with more "bandwidth" so-to-speak. this is in contrast to all the other elite guys who use 4ks which are more dirty and mangled and provide less clarity and not as big bottom.

 

[amarshism]

this record never impressed me

 

[The Dane]

Obviously none of you has ever mixed on a 9K...

 

[Mikaël-ange]

Obviously none of you has ever mixed on a 9K...

I have, sorry to disappoint you... On a 9080J (never on a xl). Board is still on my learning curve for some point...

Btw I will be happy to speak about J with you, since I have 2 question that not everyone can answer

wait wait isn't that what i said mikael?

to quote myself: "i think a lot of his sound has to do with the 9k. most other guys in his league are mixing on 4ks which are dirtier and have "less resolution" from a sonic standpoint. so BG mixes always seem to have a little bit more clarity in each area. top, mid, bottom (especially the bottom). it's a wild guess by me but i don't know, it kind of makes sense doesn't it?"

what i said was that because his mixes seem to be bit more "in your face" and "big bottom" and "clear" it could be because he is mixing a on a cleaner board with more "bandwidth" so-to-speak. this is in contrast to all the other elite guys who use 4ks which are more dirty and mangled and provide less clarity and not as big bottom.

Sorry, I'm not always clear about what I want to say (I'm French so I have little excuses).
Yes 9k are clean with extended bandwidth, so you hear more from your track and less from the board. I don't reacted about your console input/interpretation, but more about this "i think a lot of his sound has to do with the 9k".
A lot of his sound come from how he use outboard gear (and what he use)and how he shape the sound as a mixer.
I experienced this myself so maybe it's only the way I perceive thing (and I'm mostly a 4K guy); but to me it's more difficult to mix modern rock genre on 9K because the board didn't help you sonic wise as a 4K. You need to really work on it for get what you want, for glue the mix... So at the end you can really see how good Ben Grosse is.

I don't know if that make any sense so apologize for this

 

[Brett - K A L I S I A]

So are you saying that Ben Grosse is even more awesome because he makes thing sound good on a 9K (while on a 4K he would still be awesome, but a bit less since it's easier)?

 

[Mikaël-ange]

So are you saying that Ben Grosse is even more awesome because he makes thing sound good on a 9K (while on a 4K he would still be awesome, but a bit less since it's easier)?

It's kinda that... not "less awesome" but quicker (and with probably less outboard) since the board help on that genre (modern rock).

 

[aramism]

yes his sound is more "high fidelity" and there's more low end stuck to the whole mix as a whole without breaking up. not to take anything away from him just a note.


ps - michael brauer mixes on a 9k also (j) and i really like his mix of dream theater's "octavarium". i'm growing fonder of these more "high res" rock/metal mixes. andy sneap also now uses an aws which is based on the duality heritage.

 

[Mikaël-ange]

yes his sound is more "high fidelity" and there's more low end stuck to the whole mix as a whole without breaking up. not to take anything away from him just a note.


ps - michael brauer mixes on a 9k also (j) and i really like his mix of dream theater's "octavarium". i'm growing fonder of these more "high res" rock/metal mixes. andy sneap also now uses an aws which is based on the duality heritage.

An other one who mix rock/modern rock on 9k (J also) is Jay Baumgardner.
I also love the fact he can mix with close to nothing in the outboard department (he use lot of stuff but not as many than Michael Brauer or Ben Grosse).