Analog Tape vs Pro Tools Digital
My first studio experience as a performer was in the late 80′s. We recorded to 2″ analog tape. I remember watching in amazement as our engineer/producer carefully cut and spliced sections of tape and removed unwanted noises or reversed cymbal crashes and snare hits for effect. It seemed like a whole new world of possibilities was opened up for us inspiring me to buy my first tape machine, a Tascam 1″ 16-track.
Within a few short years, computer-based recording and editing became available to the general public in ’91, via Pro Tools by Digidesign. For a mere $6000.00, you could record and edit up to four tracks of audio using a computer hard drive as the medium. By ’97, Pro Tools had become much more accessible cost-wise and accommodated up to 48 tracks.
Around that time I began using Adat recorders, which recorded eight tracks of digital information to tape for my home studio recordings, but we still recorded to analog tape when recording in professional studios. In ’04, I purchased my first version of Pro Tools and began recording to a computer for the first time. My initial thoughts were that the editing process had become so much easier and the difference in sonic quality was negligible enough that there was no way I’d ever go back to analog.
In the ensuing eight years I have upgraded to Pro Tools HD3 and my converters are Lynx Auroras, which are about as transparent a converter as you will find on the market today. The Pro Tools software and accompanying plug-ins available both from Digidesign (now AVID) and other developers have reached levels that even the early developers and software engineers couldn’t possibly have imagined. My modest home studio has blossomed into a full-blown commercial venture housed in its own building built from the ground up to be what it is, a professional recording studio, but there has been one thing missing until now.
Many technological advances have permanently replaced all memories of their predecessors. It’s very likely we’ll never again see cassettes, 8-track tapes, dial telephones, black and white TVs or typewriters unless at a museum.
I’ve never been one to throw away old shoes just because I bought a new pair and, while I’ve continued to embrace new technology throughout my recording career, I’ve never lost my love for the medium I was first introduced to. I still own my Tascam 1″ 16-track. But my Tascam isn’t capable of producing the type of results necessary to compliment my digital and computer-based gear, so I recently purchased an MCI JH24 2″ 24-track recorder and had it completely rebuilt by Andy at analog domain.
MCI JH24 2" 24-track recorder
I’ve been doing many side-by-side comparisons with my computer-based recording gear and will be posting my findings and opinions in future blogs, but I will say this much……both mediums have distinct advantages so having the option of using either is invaluable for a commercial recording facility. I couldn’t be happier with my decision to buy and install an analog machine at STEM.
- Curtis
