Lately I’ve been entertaining the idea of recording a lo fi “straight to tape” type project. I have an old reel to reel that’s great for this use, and test results have been nice so far.
In regards to process I decided I would run my Digitakt and a synth or two in to a Mackie Mixer, then out of the Mackie and in to my reel to reel.
However aside from the obvious change in workflow (in this case being “DAWLESS”) would there be any fidelity difference were I to go in to the tape machine via Overbridge and Ableton? So I would run everything in to Ableton via OB/my audio interface, then out of the audio interface and in to the tape machine.
I would think both the Mackie and Ableton are totally transparent, so in theory results should be the same. However I would need to bump the Digitakt audio a bit, since Overbridge is by default fairly quiet. Curious to hear thoughts on this on whether I would hear any difference. My brain wants to tell me using the physical outs and skipping the DAW will sound more “raw and real”, but that’s gotta be placebo.
IME, the diffs between OB2 and a direct capture from the output is vanishingly small, when I tested this with Rytm I could not tell them apart wjen properly levelmatched… So the diff between outputs capture and OB2 with a digitakt has to sound even more similar
However, mackie might be clean but it’s not necessarily transparent… Many mackies seem to exhibit slight skewing of stereo image, for example. This would already make OB2 and a mackie mix sound diffferent, especially if you record the end result in mono…
The truth can only become indisputable once you have tested both methods for yourself. Cant hurt to test either way right?
I suppose you’re right! I can A/B each of them when I have the time. My typical recording style involves everything going through Overbridge and into Ableton, so it would certainly be simpler to just run a few cables out of the interface and call it a day. Could also be fun to work DAWless though. Thanks
It’s possible one of your output sources (mackie or audio interface) has a more compatible output level & impedance with your tapedeck, which could result in a slightly nicer capture, for example
In the case of the Digitakt you’re just swapping out which DAC chip its digital signal is ultimately going to be coming out of, but the difference is more subtle when you consider that it will be mixed in the box and combined with the other signals before going out of the converter all together, as opposed to getting mixed and summed in the analogue domain with the Mackie.
It will definitely make a difference; however, whether one is ‘better’ is subjective. The question seems to be whether to use analog summing via an external mixer or digital summing before hitting the tape. Is that correct? But are we specifically discussing analog summing? Which Mackie model are we referring to?
You got plenty of options here, but for lo fi you might even benefit by having multiple ad/da conversions in the process. You can also consider to first record each stem in DAW as usual and then bounce every individual stem thru reel to reel, mix the song and bounce the final track’s 2 bus again thru reel to reel. So many options, just experiment.
Erm, there is hardly much “summing” occurring when something like a digitakt has no individual outs. All you’re going to get is one stereo signal, regardless, unless you split out tracks via OB2 into the mackie, which wasnt on the table AFAIK