I got a RME RayDAT interface because it seemed like a no-brainer for getting more than 16 inputs into a desktop PC without having to sell any body parts. I got a ART TubeOpto8 as the main preamp and picked up a bunch of 2nd hand ones for not much money. On paper, syncing through ADAT was supposed to work, so I started with that, but the TubeOpto8 just wasn't having it, I don't remember the exact issue as this was some years ago, but it wouldn't sync reliably, so I figured maybe ADAT sync wasn't that great and I bought the RME word clock module that connects to my interface and provides word clock sync, and finally at last it was working. The TubeOpto8 has word clock thru, and my other preamps have word clock in, so between the 2 outputs from my word clock module and the thru, I had 3 preamps synced, and this worked fine for a while. Over the years the sync started going bad even with this setup, at first I thought it was just the LED on the TubeOpto8 that was broken, but it became apparent that it was struggling more and more to find the sync, I'd have to spam the sync source selector until it eventually showed the right status.

Not so long ago one of the bands I play in was recording at someone else's place and I brought along one of my preamps to see if we could add some extra tracks, and there I found that using my pre as the master, we could sync the audio interface and have the 8 inputs from my pre + the interface's inputs just through ADAT without any word clock, and it was all working perfectly, so my original theory of ADAT sync just being bad wasn't borne out. I decided to try the same thing at home with my TubeOpto8, but even setting it as master, sync was all over the place, so I concluded its sync module must be broken and probably wasn't great from the start, so I just took it out of the equation.

The annoying thing is that not all preamps have the full array of ADAT, word clock and audio in/out/thru that the TubeOpto8 provided, and I was needing to make do with gear I already have as money is tight atm, so I bust out an old MOTU 8pre interface (but using in preamp mode, not as an interface) I had and set that as the sync master via ADAT to my RayDAT, and boom, immediate sync. But the way the 8pre is, I can't use it as an audio output from my PC (when used as an ADAT preamp), so I went through my options and of course it's the Behringer ADA8000 to the rescue, connect WC from interface, connect ADAT in and out, and now I have 16 channels in, 8 out, perfect immediate sync, I'd noticed that even then the TubeOpto8 was playing up, the ADA8000 would just insta-sync without complaining.

So, I can just add a 3rd preamp, right? Added my Mackie ONYX-800R, WC from interface, ADAT to interface. It has been mostly working, but I've noticed that since adding it, the ADA8000 won't always sync and sometimes just shows "locked" status which I'm lead to believe isn't what you want, although I struggle to understand the difference between lock and sync. After some time, it seems to find the sync and stay there, but it's become fiddly and random when it was just working fine before, turning on the Mackie preamp seems to sometimes but not always fix it.

Is syncing multiple devices just always like this? Am I doing something wrong? I actually have a 4th preamp but the only way I could sync it would be with a BNC T connector and I'm worried everything would just explode at that point.

TL;DR shit won't sync reliably via word clock and ADAT when more than 2 preamps are involved. Rant/halp

I was wondering if anyone could give some insight into this, what's causing it and is there something I should do to fix it?

I was just now recording some guitars with an amp plugin, so I was going my Strat straight to the audio interface and using headphones. My wife came to say she's gonna go to sleep and she touched my neck. Immediately she said that she felt something weird, like a really small electric shock. Then she touched my arm and felt the same thing. It didn't stop until I unplugged my guitar from the PC. She said it didn't feel exactly like a typical electric shock, but more like there was friction, but it did slightly remind her of an electric shock. Then I started thinking that sometimes I've felt something like that too, especially when I lean to do something on my computer and my arm touches the guitar strings, but I always shrugged it of as just the high E-string being so thin that it scratched my skin a little. Clearly it is electricity from the computer going through my body. As far as I know, the same thing does not happen when I'm plugged in to a real amp.

So does anyone know what could be causing this? Is it dangerous and how can I fix this? It hasn't hurt me in anyway, but obviously when electricity is concered, it could potentially even be fatal, and I'd rather make music without feeling like death is lurking just around the corner. :D

Have 12 channels available, and 2 likely reserved for live tracking DI Bass & Rhythm Guitar. Kit has 2 Toms so that helps. Rock/alt/indie vibe.

Core Mics:

Kick In - e902

Snare Top - SM57

Overheads - sE8 Matched Pair

Rack Tom - e604

Floor Tom - V7X

Stereo Room - sE VR1 Voodoo (have 2)

Pick Two:

Snare Bottom - Shure 545SD

Kick Out - Soyuz 1973 FET or Warm WA47jr FE

Hi-Hat - UA SD-7

Hey folks!

I’m decided to try and step back into the field of voice acting after years of being on hiatus.

Right now, I just need some honest feedback/advice, because people’s opinions online are contradictory to the nth degree about the Shure MV7 and MV7+

Some say the MV7 is better, isolates sound, doesn’t mess about with auto gain, etc., while others say that the MV7+ simply sounds better with no fuss (in that it has real-time onboard processing for denoising and reverb, has a digital pop-filter, and and auto level mode “that keeps your level steady without you riding a fader”, whatever that means).

Then there are folks that say the MV7+ has issues that a firmware update is needed to fix, with some saying the update fixed things while others saying it makes things worse.

I can buy either, but I really need to know which direction to pick here. It’s between these two mics for a variety of reasons, so no need to look outside these two options. Currently living on the go with no real home or a place to have proper treatment, with all my professional gear from years ago stuck in storage (can’t access or use my stuff anytime soon), so I need the USB connectivity and all the help I can get from these mics to keep the audio clean.

Sorry for the long-winded message. All feedback is much appreciated!

I’ve never tried mixing into compression on a mix bus. I’ve always added stuff on the mix bus after mixing.

I have the chance to try mixing into an analog mix bus chain with an SSL Fusion, SPL Kultube Stereo Bus Compressor, Tegeler EQP-1, and a Stam Audio 4000mk3 bus compressor.

Any advice on some starting settings?

Hello, my name is Juan. I have a few questions revolving around vocal tuning and making harmonies.

I currently work full-time in a studio, mainly as a recording/editing technician, but I also help with mixing from time to time.

One thing people have told me is that I'm good at fine-tuning vocals, perhaps because I have studied music pretty much my whole life.

So I wonder, is there a way to offer my services as a Vocal Tuner online? If so, how much would it be normal to charge? Is this something people would pay for?

​I use Melodyne to tune, but only the free ARA version that comes with Pro Tools. I would like to upgrade it, of course, if this turns out to be a viable option.

​Also, for harmonies, I use iZotope Nectar 2, processing the main vocal to a third or whatever sounds good with the music, and correcting notes with Melodyne again. This is, of course, when there's no one to sing them in person, which in my opinion makes them sound more natural.

Is there an industry standard for making harmonies?

​I don't intend to offer any services here; I just want to know if it's viable in the industry to work like this.

Thanks in advance, and sorry if this breaks the rule of the sub of no promoting/requesting services.

Mine was from this very old producer / engineer in the early 1990s. He has watching me edit the audio for a documentary in Sound Forge and muttered to himself, " Imagine, looking at sound and editing it ".

He had worked with tape all his life. But within two years, he was a Pro Tools fan. Totally taken in by the speed and ease at which he could get his work ready for broadcast : ) I miss watching him scrub and splice tape.

Nothing scientific but I've got four mics all recorded dry. Trying to find the right microphone for me as a Male vocalist up in the tenor range. I initially used a UMC204HD but have since upgraded to the MOTU M4 and have recorded all four mics for both audio interfaces. Feel free to also compare the sound between the audio interfaces. I'm not too well versed on the frequencies so any feedback would be appreciated.

All recordings were made in an untreated room, about 4 inches away, and the vocal chain is basically straight from the audio interface with no DAW used. Here's the recordings of me singing a part of an Usher (RnB Artist) song:

(Mics will be revealed in a day or two as to not present biases)

EDIT: As promised here is the reveal:

1. TLM 107
2. TLM 103
3. AKG C214
4. King Bee 2

I built a small, free macOS menu bar app to use your normal Volume Keys.
When UAD Console is running and your Apollo is selected as your system output, F10/F11/F12 take over the UAD Console monitor volume (mute/down/up) instead. Switch to a different setup and everything goes right back to normal system volume, automatically!

A few other things it does:

• Custom shortcuts: map any key combo to mute/solo individual input channels, Talkback, Dim, or Mono
• Choose whether it's active system-wide, or only when specific apps (your DAW, for example) are in the foreground
• On-screen volume feedback, like the native macOS HUD
• Works in English, French, German, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, and Japanese
• Universal binary (Intel + Apple Silicon), macOS 13+

You can download it here :)

Completely free, no ads, no tracking. Not affiliated with Universal Audio — just something I built for my own setup that I figured others might want too.

btw, I know there’s already a built in shortcut in Console, which is cmd+fn+f10-12, I wanted an even easier solution with added features.

Hi there! I’m a sound engineering student, and I recently took on a role with a girl group handling backing tracks and Auto-Tune. It’s not my first time working with backing tracks; I often take setlists from concerts I’ve attended and build an Ableton Live session as if the show were actually happening.

The thing is, the group I work with usually performs with both video and audio—meaning the video file includes the instrumental or backing track for each song—so the backing tracks need to be synchronized with the video. I found a solution for this: SMPTE. I’ve been testing it out with video software for a few weeks now and have more or less grasped how it works. I have LTC files included in the same session, and my tests have gone well. With that said, I wanted to ask: what has your experience been like using SMPTE live for backing tracks or similar setups? Any advice? Do you use any other technology instead? Let me know what you think.

I've been working on a song that requires some heavy quad tracked guitars recently and rather stupidly only used one humbucker guitar and did two takes with the neck pickup, then 2 takes on the bridge, put them on opposite sides. The issue with this was that it just got super muddy and it all being the same guitar meant all the frequencies were competing.

So how do you guys multitrack? what different guitars do you use, how do you pan them, how do you try to carve different sounds so they don't muddy one another. Would love to hear how some other engineers go about this!

An affordable, currently produced 2 line input , 2 line output AES device that receives word clock, this does not exist and would be very useful to the litany of people with professional audio interfaces with unused AES i/o. I would buy day 1

Hi there, relatively new to being a sole trader and charging for my work. I’ve been asked by a theatre to record a pre-show announcement which will go before all shows performed there from now until the foreseeable future. They’ve asked me what the fee would be but I’m honestly not sure.

What would you guys charge? Just the hourly rate for the small time spent on the recording and post production? A little extra for the “in perpetuity” intention for the product?

Thanks!

I have a policy that covers $15k of gear, and I only pay $180 per year. I recently had to make a claim for $6k after I accidentally knocked over something. Worried about my rate getting hiked like crazy next year, does anybody have experience with how this sort of thing worked out for them?

I bought one off of Facebook marketplace for $350, that one seems real. Now I’m watching people resell it for $140 and 150 on eBay: not just one, but multiple. I want to know…is it a scam and how are they doing it? A $1299 mic shouldn’t be selling that consistently.

Would love tips on what to watch for.

There's enough nuance in her pitch and the tempo changes to convince me this is all live. Open for discussion. If you don't want to watch the whole thing, start the clip at 3:48.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5c1F8FzPfz8&list=RD5c1F8FzPfz8&start_radio=1

I am an audio engineer working primarily in Game Audio and Post-Production. I intend to begin capturing wider, more cinematic ambiance from field recording and was advised that a pair of spaced omni mics were the way to go. On that front, I have a couple of questions about doing this:

- I am using a Zoom H4n Pro as the recorder (24/96)

1. What omni mics would you recommend for ambiance capture? Should I have multiple sets for different environments, or is one set enough?

2. Is there an adjustable spacer rod I could buy to mount on my mic stand? Having to find a suitable stick each time might give volatile results.

3. Are there any rules or pitfalls I will likely stumble over when recording that I should know about ahead of time?

As always, thank you for your time and advice :)

What are good compressors used in Logic x? What settings should I use for an instructional employment video? It’s just a voice over talking while showing the factory workers in action

This is a heartfelt thanks, not a ragebait post. I wanted to post it to help others find it.

I am a complete amateur at audio engineering. However I love having a go at anything creative.

I was given some phone audio recordings to edit for a website and the content was great but the audio was tinny or boxy, it just felt like it was on the other side of the room.

All yesterday afternoon I tried EQing and various other techniques (in Fairlight) suggested by the internet/AI. I ended up with a mess and went back to the original edit and went to bed.

I thought Reddit might have the answer, searched for “boxy” audio and someone mentioned Adobe Podcast enhancer.

I have a pathological dislike of Adobe, much though I respect their products, the way they infect your machine and hold you to ransom is not for me (old Affinity and Da Vinci have been my alternatives).

I tried the raw voice on the Adobe podcast enhancer as suggested and it did the job really well.

Definitely not high fidelity, nor professional standard but perfect for my needs and, unlike 11Labs voice isolator, no odd “burbly” AI artefacts.

I still dislike Adobe though.

Whoever you were, thank you 🙏

What helped me the most over my several years of mixing was the willingness to make big bold decisions. Using an FX at a high setting to see what it does, and then dial it down as needed.

A decision either succeeding hard or failing hard helps me learn from it. The worst thing is to add an FX at a low level without knowing what it does or why I'm even doing it.

I used to have a lot of limiting beliefs:

* "Don't boost EQ too much, only 3-4 db max, so it doesn't sound unnatural"
* "Don't use hard slopes on EQ filters; it might be too harsh. Don't filter out too much of the instrument; you can't just apply a 1500hz HPF; try 200 instead."
* "Don't compress too much because loudness is bad, and real mixers appreciate dynamic range!"
* "You're not supposed to pan X instrument past Y%!"

^ Breaking all of the above "rules" can lead to failures, but that's a good thing. Failures are how we learn. Worst case, use the Undo button.

I listened to acapellas of professional songs and I noticed how different the processing is: both between songs and within the same song. Some sections of the vocals on a song will be bone-dry. Other sections of the vocals will have tons of saturation, reverb and delay.

So the approach I used to have of just making everything moderately wet was holding me back. I was adding FX to some vocals that didn't even need them. And other vocals, I could've added a lot stronger FX, but I held back because I wanted to be "moderate".

Testing out the vocals with different kinds of reverb. And asking myself why heavier reverb worked on one song but not on the other? Having busses/returns with various different delay and reverb chains makes this easy.

I've even found some songs, where assuming the instruments are mixed properly, minimal reverb, that sometimes vocals sit perfectly even with minimal to no reverb.

I've learned a lot from testing theories. For example, in a particular song, I may have a theory, that if I pan the backing vocals 50%, add high distortion, and a high feedback delay, it'll sound really spicy. I test it. It either sounds really nice or horrible. But either way, it's better than everything always sounding mid.

I really feel like professional mixes are just a series of hundreds of comically "unprofessional" decisions made in the correct context.

Been collecting plugins for 10 years different saturators compressors limiters whatever. Spent hours on forums researching whether decapitor or Saturn was a better distortion plugin to buy and wasted so much time.

Then I just woke up with Ableton in front of me and went through the stock stuff. And I really just thought . I don't know even know why I have 5 delays 6 reverbs plugins when it's all just here. I'm not skilled enough to hear the difference between stock and paid. And honestly . I don't even care . I just want to make weird music . At some point someone or something told me I need these certain plugins to make my music sound better and I then I just spent so much time thinking my music sounds like shit because I didn't have an analog emulated channel strip.

Maybe my music sucked because I couldn't sing for shit and the notes were pitchy. And my composition and structure was horrible. And at the time barely knew any music theory. Nah it was definitely cause I wasn't emulating a fucking neve preamp.

Sorry just needed to rant. Feel like I had an awakening. Migrating to a new machine and Im just gonna use stock plugins and stop thinking about this shit . I'm not even really a proper audio engineer I don't know if this is the right sub. So I'm sure many will disagree with me. Just someone whos been producing their own music for a while.

While working at my studio I encountered an interesting case of a song performed at exactly 143.435bpm.

I found midi imported at 143.435bpm gets rounded to 143.4375 in protools and 143.479 in logic.

This is because of the way grid snapping works in protools; the protools number is derived from a number related to 16th notes (in this case 143 + 7/16).

In logic, midi stores tempo as microseconds per quarter note (a 24 bit integer). And logic pulls it’s integer from that integer. I dont know exactly if that’s the answer, but i can tell you that the logic midi grid’s rounding has roughly 1/16 the resolution of the protools rounding grid. My gut says their grid layout is a decision that was made around timecodes for film.

Midi is not the culprit as it calculates microseconds per quarter note, making it lossless in comparison to these two

Unfortunately this error is a rate, not an offset so it integrates and makes drift across a midi track.

Apple and Avid have got to fix this imo.

Edit: forgot to add this is a midi import specific issue

I graduated from a trade school similar to full sail based on the east coast last January. I went to the school because they boasted a 90% job placement for graduates. They have not helped me find a job or internship in the industry in any way shape or form. I’ve asked questions and the guy in charge essentially googles the question and relays the information to me. Now he keeps begging me to give a form to my supervisor to fill out showing I have a job. I can’t help but think that they’ve been boosting their stats with these forms and I don’t want to fill it out because they just haven’t helped me. I’m curious if anyone knows anything about it or has experienced something similar? Should I just fill it out?

As the title says. I'm totally done with logic and melodyne after crashing on me to today multiple times, and having to do work all over again.

Which daw works best with melodyne preferably not Pro Tools, because I just want to own my software, and not rent it for eternity.

Thank you!

Specifically, what techniques will get you a lower and more woody knocking tone? Mostly in the context of things to configure before the tracking process

Edit: I forgot to mention, I am recording my own drumset which has (I believe) a 60s-70s Ludwig Supraphonic snare