Years ago now when I was working for an embryonic company called Digidesign I found myself visiting a fair amount of high-end studios that had made the commitment to what was then the uncharted waters of DAW's. It was a fun time to be in that world yet many first rate studios found themselves a bit hapless with this brave new world. I'd guess for two solid years my primary job description was getting things running in some of the best recording environments in the Eastern and Mid-Western areas of the country.
There is a guy (who'll go un-named) who despite a long string of major hits chose to remain and live in the Mid-West. The entirety of what I had previously known as to what made a good recording environment was shattered when I spent an afternoon in his studio. I suspect there was hundreds of thousands of dollars invested in tuning and treating the rooms (if not more) but the sound in the control room of an old Gibson strummed with a couple of Nuemans sitting miles from the source was simply overwhelming.
Of course I know none of us have a spare million sitting around to throw at room treatment but until you have the chance to hear what a good room sounds like I think the idea is often distilled into something less significant. It's simply the single most important element (past the talent themselves) that effects the outcome of a recording.
Fix the room, not the mic
