The Hardware Megathread

#4280

Another game changer on my mixes was having hardware with sidechaining built in.
I still use lots of eq on the mids, not much on the lows and highs. And on my reverb return channel.
But overall fuck equing.

#4281

Lately i just like using the NoiseAsh Rule Tech on my Bass, and i also do the Pultec low end trick on the master with it as i’ve found it clears mud in the midrange that you didn’t even know was there until you A/B it with what you did have.

In fact i’m even tempted to say send me your best mix and ill improve it in 10 seconds with the NoiseAsh.

As for choosing the right sounds, the longer you’ve produced music the more you realise you do this without even thinking about it.

#4282

Jodie
Jodie.jpg600x518 51 KB

#4283

Not to be the outlier here but I don’t think there is any mix that couldn’t benefit from at least a low end roll off at somewhere between 80 & 120 hz. Given the vast array of different listening environments and speaker roll off points you never really know what you’re going to get from one place to another. I’m down for the safe side and in the end there’s no point in keeping inaudible rumble around to clutter up your headroom.

My two at least.

#4284

Not an outlier.

I roll all the lows out for headroom

#4285

I don’t think the point is so much that you shouldn’t do it, it’s that if your base sounds already don’t contain much in that frequency range (either by design, EQing them individually or choosing sounds that don’t have that content), you don’t have to worry about it later.

Even when I EQ early, I still do a finial pass at mixdown to check for that stuff, because nobody got time for mud eating headroom.

#4286

@chasedobson @RFJ

Do you use an EQ on each track or can you just do it on the master channel? edit: for rolling off the lows that is.

#4287

I’m probably way too excessive w it but I roll off all individual tracks and the master bus as well. Master gets a lighter roll off with an easier curve. Everything is case by case though as far as where roll off point is. I typically roll off the highs too, on both.

Master bus also gets a scoop in the mids as general practice with a fairly wide q. I feel there’s a sweet spot with the mid scoop for each track that really gets rid of mud and adds air. It’s a delicate balance though and different on each mix.

#4288

Wait. There are other things in a track than bass? I DIDN’T GET THE MEMO.

#4289

Every channel. I come from mixing on analog desks so my workflow is very similar.

In my masters I often highpass at 25hz w a little resonance

#4290

Thanks everyone. I’ll have to give the ‘rolling off the lows’ thing a go again. I must have been overdoing it way back in the past as I remember feeling like I couldn’t ever avoid anemic sounding mixes when doing it.

#4291

I find a lot of synth sounds have more low end in them than necessary. I just highpass up until I start to hear it and then back off.

This can really clean up your low end.

#4292

In fairness I don’t have anything below 120 other than the bassline and bass drum usually and even then the side chain takes care of competition. Very occasionally I’ll have a part that plays up and down the frequency range but while a bastard to EQ and needs automation, doesn’t happen too often.

#4293

I think there’s a ‘noob trap’ of sounding good during the design/solo playing phase and what happens in the mix. Lets face it, it’s shitty and boring to play a big synth pad with no lows by itself, and most presets revolve around sounding good on their own, not sitting in a mix. It takes some experience to know that you’re not doing yourself any favors down the road by leaving all that clutter in.

There’s also the fact that a synth isn’t really a limited instrument in timbre and range the way an acoustic one is - like a double bass isn’t going to generate a bunch of 10k+ no matter what you do to it because of it’s physical properties, and most people have an intuitive idea of where that double bass lives in the frequency spectrum. Synths aren’t limited like that, so you end up with these crazy full-spectrum patches just because you can.

It’s similar to inexperienced metal guitarists dialing in a fuckton of distortion with scooped mids because it sounds bitchin’ in the bedroom and then stepping all over all the other instruments because they don’t understand that guitar is a mid-range instrument. There’s a disconnect between solo and mix for a lot of people.

#4294

That is why my Microfreak is the synth that stayed with me the longest, being limited it means it sits in mixed quite well, without too much of an effort

#4295

Replying to myself because I’m cool.

Said that, the only thing on my desk at the moment is the Mpc, I’m trying to see how far I can go with 1 box only.

Edit: turns out I can do a decent job on on box only and maybe one of my most decent recent songs, I don’t even have too many mix complaints.

#4296

That FMish low end is amazing man. In my headphones it has a nice stereo-ish top end but doesn’t muddy the mix at all. I like that there is some top end click to the kick drum, I’m not sure I love how it “chirps” though (that is a pretty minor critique).

I really love that besides the drums everything else is just this one giant evolving texture. The extra sub that comes in later is a great touch…dat bassweight bruv ;p I seriously need to listen to this on my PA.

#4297

anit-hardware post…

…finally bought myself Valhalla DSP Delay…the man is a genius and his plug ins are honestly worth twice the price at least…

#4298

I have them all and they’re a staple of my productions

:edit: I tend to use my hardware effects for tracking through and then rely on plugs for mix effects so that they can be automated and easily recalled.

#4299

yea, ITB I pretty much only use Vintage Verb, his presets are really great starting places for tweaking as well, which I like, he has a lot of utilitarian ones instead of just wild and crazy things no one can actually use.