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  #16  
Old 03-25-2010, 07:41 PM
DupleMeter DupleMeter is offline
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Originally Posted by Bob Womack View Post
One of the things we kept were our Dorrough meters, and we are probably going to add software Dorrough plugs.
The Durrough Meters are the best!

Yeah - the issue with digital is that you have peak meters...which are of limited use in an "overall" way. Sure, they tell you how close to clipping you are, but they don't give you a sense of 'average ' levels over time.

Between the Durroughs, the Sonalkiss meter plugin and something like Inspector - with the K-Meter setting, I find I'm set and really have a good sense of where the music really is landing.

Also - I find it helps to have your listening environment calibrated to a standard so you (over time) just let go of all the visual/left brain stuff and let your ears tell you what's right or wrong. My big complaint with the DAW is that it brings the eyes into the process too much, which, in turn, engages the analytical side of the brain too much.

But that could be just me...I've been recording long enough that I've seen a lot of things come and go: analog tape (4-track, 8-track, 16-track, 24-track tape), digital tape (Sony, Alesis, Tascam), Hosted DAWs (ProTools TDM/HD), Native DAWs (ProTools LE, Digital Performer, Logic, Nuendo, Cubase, et al) and Sony DSD and really see them all as secondary or as support roles to the main act...that being the music and being true to the art itself. They're all tools - use them well and know how they misbehave and how to keep them from misbehaving...and most importantly: don't try to hammer a nail with a screwdriver!
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  #17  
Old 03-26-2010, 07:54 AM
Joseph Hanna Joseph Hanna is online now
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Originally Posted by Bob Womack View Post
One of the things we kept were our Dorrough meters, and we are probably going to add software Dorrough plugs. What are Dorrough meters? They are LED ladder meters that display VU or persistence levels and peak levels at the same time:
A few years back the company I work for became so over-run with work they bought all the audio guys Pro Tools LE systems for home so we could get out of the bays for the next shift and still continue mixing from home. We purchased the only software meters available at the time, the name currently escapes me, but honestly they were simple to slow to do us any good. Impossible to train you mind to hear a spike and not see it for 200ms. Slowed production to a stop. I wound up driving out to Woodland Hills and met the lady from Dorrough (sweet lady) and purchased 3 meters.

They're not nearly as easy to read as the meters in my bay but work just fine.

I'd be skeptical of the software however.
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  #18  
Old 03-26-2010, 08:12 AM
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Bob Womack Bob Womack is offline
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Originally Posted by DupleMeter View Post
The Durrough Meters are the best!

Yeah - the issue with digital is that you have peak meters...which are of limited use in an "overall" way. Sure, they tell you how close to clipping you are, but they don't give you a sense of 'average ' levels over time.

Between the Durroughs, the Sonalkiss meter plugin and something like Inspector - with the K-Meter setting, I find I'm set and really have a good sense of where the music really is landing.

Also - I find it helps to have your listening environment calibrated to a standard so you (over time) just let go of all the visual/left brain stuff and let your ears tell you what's right or wrong. My big complaint with the DAW is that it brings the eyes into the process too much, which, in turn, engages the analytical side of the brain too much.

But that could be just me...I've been recording long enough that I've seen a lot of things come and go: analog tape (4-track, 8-track, 16-track, 24-track tape), digital tape (Sony, Alesis, Tascam), Hosted DAWs (ProTools TDM/HD), Native DAWs (ProTools LE, Digital Performer, Logic, Nuendo, Cubase, et al) and Sony DSD and really see them all as secondary or as support roles to the main act...that being the music and being true to the art itself. They're all tools - use them well and know how they misbehave and how to keep them from misbehaving...and most importantly: don't try to hammer a nail with a screwdriver!
You know, it's true: I was visualizing music and recordings in my head long before we had the displays and back when I was physically editing tape. As a result I don't feel like a fish out of water without them. My young colleagues often do, and feel like they are missing something in their ability to internally visualize what they are doing. I wonder whether or not they will pick that up as they mature? I've also had the benefit of mixing primarily in calibrated rooms and particularly one Live-End Dead-End control room for fourteen years, so I've got familiarity on my side. I can't overestimate the value of that.

But there are great tools that provide the ability to quickly analyze things when you are dealing with a particular problem. Another great toy is the DK Meter.



Its "jellyfish" meter in the center allows you to quickly discern where the energy in your mix is going and how in or out of phase your channels are. That's really important when you are mixing in 5.1 but is also quite helpful in establishing how wide your mix is. Here it is in stereo:



Whatever, its a means to an end. When I am teaching audio, I like to tell my students that this business of audio is really not much different from painting - though overarching the whole business is the creative process, even a painter has to understand the nature of his oils and his canvass. Without a technical understanding and thorough familiarity with the medium, he can't exploit it to its fullest.

Bob
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  #19  
Old 03-26-2010, 08:14 AM
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Originally Posted by Joseph Hanna View Post
A few years back the company I work for became so over-run with work they bought all the audio guys Pro Tools LE systems for home so we could get out of the bays for the next shift and still continue mixing from home. We purchased the only software meters available at the time, the name currently escapes me, but honestly they were simple to slow to do us any good. Impossible to train you mind to hear a spike and not see it for 200ms. Slowed production to a stop. I wound up driving out to Woodland Hills and met the lady from Dorrough (sweet lady) and purchased 3 meters.

They're not nearly as easy to read as the meters in my bay but work just fine.

I'd be skeptical of the software however.
So far all I've used is the hardware but a colleague is running the Dorrough plug as his main meters and has had great success.
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  #20  
Old 03-26-2010, 08:16 AM
Joseph Hanna Joseph Hanna is online now
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Another great toy is the DK Meter.
All of our bays have DK Metering. Far, far from a toy In hardy use the Dorroughs are toy-like in comparison,
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  #21  
Old 03-26-2010, 08:37 AM
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Digicheck is a pretty handy mulitfuntion program with persistence and peak levels among other things.





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  #22  
Old 03-26-2010, 10:14 AM
ronmac ronmac is online now
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+1 on the DIGICheck

I never have a calibrated or reliable room to mix in, so having a visual tool that you can trust helps a lot.
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