Making Sense of Digital Recording Technology
With a plethora of choices for project recording available on the market: it can be tough to understand which options will give you the best results & be easiest to learn. With all the hype (and potentially high price tags) WHICH choices give you a world class sound at the best value?
What is the difference between an audio interface that cost less than $1000 and the ones that are used in million dollar pro studios?
Well: for years – pretty much the top of the food chain has been Protools HD: Today with a price starting at $10,000 for the basic hardware & software. It has a powerful clean sound that stands out even on the consumer gear we use for playback. And bear in mind that nearly any piece of equipment will sound nice when amped up on your studio monitors.
What about the MOTU interface line or interfaces like Presonus & M-audio which typically sell in the neighborhood of $1000 or less? What sets these units apart from more expensive brands? It's something called "Jitter".
Basically the incoming sounds must be converted into numbers. They are measured ("sampled") at a regular rate ("frequency") according to a clock which operates in billionths of a second ("nanoseconds"). If the clock is not accurate: then the sampled measurements do not match up with the actual real-world sound-wave. This is ok for more general aspects of the music but causes issues that CAN be detected by the human ear. The lower the clock resolution: the less "pleasant" the music sounds to the human ear.
Most of these manufacturers claim to make units that sample at at full 192khz frequency – leading to superb sound (or so they claim). However the inexpensive clocking chips used in these mass-market devices are unable to render an accurate sonic picture.
The majority of the affordable solutions license out a third party Jitter control system called "Jet PLL".
An excellent value: based on the commodity "Jet PLL" clocking is the . This device combines modern digital plugin technology with vintage modeling based on the work of Rupert Neve and others. Neve is the father of the recording console.
Premium brands such as the or the typically sell at considerably higher price per channel while offering their own proprietary advanced clocking solutions. Anyone can easily hear the improvements of sound quality over the bargain solutions and serious studios are willing to pay the extra cost.
Premium Protools HD applications often allow the primary unit to be controlled by (slaved to) a separate atomic clock or mini-oven-stabilized master clock which itself can run up to $6000.
What is a Small Project Studio's Best Bet?
Getting that sound into the computer in its most natural and beautiful form is the key to making world class recordings. What's the point of having a fine microphone and preamp if the sound gets robbed of its natural beauty & character by a bargain analog-to-digital converter?
It so happens that the latest devices offered by EMU: feature the exact same digital converters that come with the $10,000 Protools HD system. ; is $169.
In the US you must use it with a desk-top PC or Mac with an open PCI express slot. (Will not work with Imac.) The nice thing is that by using the PCI bus you can make up for having an otherwise slow computer with an audio-incompatible Firewire chipset. You can bypass the latency issues which occur in these situations and with most USB based recording-interfaces.
What is latency? Once a signal has been processed by your computer it might come back to your ear a fraction of a second later: so you are unable to monitor your performance using your reverb plugin for example. Either you have to go through an outboard reverb or hear an uninspiring headphone mix.
Although certain USB-based products such as our recommended Line 6 interfaces for guitarists have superb latency management features: the ideal situation for long-term growth is to be able to purchase a dedicated recording computer which supports high-quality Firewire-enabled recording interfaces or simply sticking with a PCI-based solution.
See our write up in: "Mac or PC for Recording".
Another highly acclaimed option is called the AudioFire12 by Echo Audio. Although you haven't heard much about this brand from your favorite audio magazine: this company has long been known to high-end studios. Now they offering their technology in an affordable Firewire package. (Street Price: $599). Again you are getting something that way outclasses the normal bargain-priced interfaces. According to expert ears: this unit sounds even better than the converters used in the EMU & Protools HD systems.
Before you purchase this unit; however be sure you have a computer that features the Texas Instruments Firewire chipset. Most PCs designed for audio recording will include this type of Firewire controller. However in the Macintosh line you have to purchase the top-of-the-line Mac Pro. Check out our write-up called "Mac or PC for Recording?"
Once you have figured out how to get the audio digitized in the purest manner, you can easily add on channel strips and Tube preamp options to optimize & shape your sound before taking it into the digital domain.
Excellent entry-level choices are available from ART. Products such as the & the are proven bets as well as being affordable compared to many other exotic brands.
If you want serious world class sound and have the money to spend: stick with the & the . These are the ears that invented the original recording console. He is responsible for the "Beetles Sound" and practically anyone else who really mattered ever since that time. Other fancy brands on the market today what will take (a lot more of) your money. Rupert is still pushing the envelope today: and is light-years ahead of the pack.
Avalon Signal Processors are also relied on daily by top producers to achieve an unparalleled "silk" sound.
Making a Living with Audio & Video
If you want to run a studio that gets its bread and butter from both Pro Audio & Video post-production work: it might make the MOST sense to go with MOTU products all the way. They offer powerful & affordable ways to get both the audio & hi-def video into your computer for editing. They also offer a Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) that is renowned for its ease of use in both Audio Production & Sound for Film & Video. However if you plan to go this route: you will need to invest in a top-of-the-line Apple Macintosh – such as the
typically starting at around $2500.
For Motu Audio See:
For Motu Video See:
offers world class (also straight-forward) audio recording & midi sequencing tools while being especially adapted to creating sound for film & video. This is the number one industry choice for Film/TV scoring and sound.
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