Need tape transfer for vinyl pressing help I am lost???

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kiln_house
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Need tape transfer for vinyl pressing help I am lost???

Post by kiln_house » Sat Aug 22, 2015 5:51 pm

Hello all please help guide me.
I am frustrated by my inability to find clear information about what I need to do to properly transfer my reels for a vinyl pressing.
I am using a Tascam TSR8 for tracking and am ok through tracking...what to use next is where I get hung up.
I have compared mixing down to my Otari half track vs transferring straight to Audacity using an old Emu0202 to a mac and think at the end of the day I preffer mixing down straight to digital.
I think I am prepared to sell the Otari and invest about $1000 in a better digital transfer device....or should I keep the Otari and make it work which will give me a better mixdown?

Question #1
I am only interested in a 2 track transfer device for my 2 track mixdown...which is better hardware recorder or a better interface than the Emu? I have no prefrence except simplicity.

Question #2
If a better interface which one? Or which hardware recorder?

Question #3
What program should I be using instead of Audacity for the best 2 track mixdown?
I do not need any effects as I am going to send this out to get Mastered later for vinyl.

Question #4
What format should my mixdown be in to send to be mastered?


Thank you for your time and assistance I know I am rambling and lost in the woods here. Also I feel like my terminology might be all off so feel free to set me straight.

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Drone
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Post by Drone » Sun Aug 23, 2015 6:02 am

Why would you record in analog, mix down to digital, and then press to vinyl?

There are places out there that will press from tape, and even places that will press from tape without transferring to digital themselves.

Just a thought.
The previous statement is from a guy who records his own, and other projects for fun. No money is made.

kiln_house
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Post by kiln_house » Sun Aug 23, 2015 8:59 am

Thank you for the reply, this is exactly the kind of response I want to hear.
I originally wanted to go AAA which is why I have the Otari but I was feeling when listening back (albeit digitally A/B) that the straight digital transfer was a bit clearer than the tape 2 track version.
I was also under the impression that the "industry" had really moved to mostly digital and it would be extremely expensive to remain AAA.

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Drone
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Post by Drone » Sun Aug 23, 2015 9:11 am

I don't know if it's more expensive. I know it's harder to find a place that is actually all analog, lots of places will accept tape, but transfer it digitally. I also notice places that press now are overloaded, UR for instance isn't accepting any new customers.

At the end of the day though, go with your ears, not with your head, if it sounds better mixed into digital, do that, there's no wrong way. Also if you are pressing to vinyl, figure out where your sending it, and what formats they work from.
The previous statement is from a guy who records his own, and other projects for fun. No money is made.

kiln_house
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Post by kiln_house » Sun Aug 23, 2015 10:46 am

Ok sounds like my very first question should be who are some recommended vinyl masterers who do all analog mastering?
Second who are recommended vinyl masters who do digital to vinyl mastering?
Thanks for your help : )

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I'm Painting Again
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Post by I'm Painting Again » Sun Aug 23, 2015 3:47 pm

Scott Craggs of Old Colony Mastering who actually posts here sometimes is really good and very affordable..digital / analog hybrid system

I've worked with John and JJ Golden, and Alan Douches as well..both did an exemplary job. Mid range prices.

My friend get stuff mastered by Greg Calbi who is one of the best up in the studio in the Chelsea Market in the old Nabisco building in Manhattan. Not cheap.

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Post by I'm Painting Again » Sun Aug 23, 2015 3:50 pm

dunno if anyone is doing all analog though I would pick a mastering eng based on skill rather than if it's all analog..

kiln_house
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Post by kiln_house » Sun Aug 23, 2015 4:11 pm

Can anyone recommend Bob Weston? I love his recordings ala Todays Actice Lifestyles how are his mastering and cutting skills....and prices comparitively?

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Drone
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Post by Drone » Sun Aug 23, 2015 5:07 pm

I'm Painting Again wrote:dunno if anyone is doing all analog though I would pick a mastering eng based on skill rather than if it's all analog..
Definitely is, a local label Cavetone records prides itself on being all analog and I know he presses in the US.
The previous statement is from a guy who records his own, and other projects for fun. No money is made.

Matt C.
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Post by Matt C. » Mon Aug 24, 2015 12:02 pm

according to his website, Salt Mastering does analog tape mastering with no digital delay processing. I've never used him though.

Golden Mastering accepts analog tape, not sure whether it's a truly no-digital-processing thing though. I've used them a couple times (sending digital masters) and had great results.

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Post by drumsound » Tue Aug 25, 2015 8:44 pm

Very few places have a true dual A/B mastering path. Many can do direct cuts from analog tape.

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Mo-Tech
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Post by Mo-Tech » Wed Aug 26, 2015 11:29 pm

Depends what you're after.

"Clarity" or "sterility" of digital can be nice for some, but many others, me included, hate it.

Being all digital guy most of the time I speciefically bough my Otari to introduce that "tape magic" into my mixes and tracking. It definitely doesn't make it clearer. Yet it makes it sound better in a way I can't get anything like it with digital emulations or simulations.

If you really want to go digital an excellent, preferrably mastering-grade A/D is a must of course.

I digitize with Metric Halo ULN-2 and using specially made audiophile Van Den Hul cabling (there's a noticable improvement over any common cable touted as "studio grade", especially when doing multiple steps, i.e. tapemachine->patchbay->compressor->limiter->D/A). Cheap or compromised cabling is often a weak-spot in many chains even if they have expensive high-end A/D converters in the end.

Another thing to consider is re-capping your Otari. Remember those machines are from 80s and 30 years of work is too much for even the very best electrolytic caps. Hence they fade in sonic quality (some like that degraded "lo-fi" muddy sound and can call it "vintage" though). I recapped my complete machine, transport probably wasn't that necesary but recapped all audio path with Elna Silmic II (my personal favourite caps sonically) and Nichicon Muse series (mightly clean sounding for bipolar) caps. Those are audiophile caps speciefically designed for better sonics. And there was noticable sonical improvement in my MTR-12 1/4" for the better once the caps got run in which required at least 20 hours of playback and recording time to start noticing difference. More clarity, depth and "3D" in sound, pure and sweet analog juice in an examplary way to put it short.

With analog you have many more variables and too many places to go wrong, but if you hit it right, there's no digital tweak or cheat that can compare IMHO.

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Post by I'm Painting Again » Sat Aug 29, 2015 9:00 am

Mo-Tech wrote: Being all digital guy most of the time I speciefically bough my Otari to introduce that "tape magic" into my mixes and tracking. It definitely doesn't make it clearer. Yet it makes it sound better in a way I can't get anything like it with digital emulations or simulations.
recently AB'd my Ampex 440b vs the Neve 542 and the results are super close..it really sounds like a good tape machine.. don't have to put energy and $ into a deck..many tracks will cost ya up front though so there's that to weigh in to be fair..

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Post by farview » Sat Aug 29, 2015 3:49 pm

Go ahead and A/B the two mixdown mediums and choose the one that sounds best for your project. If the project is better off with more clarity, go digital. If it's better off with the creamy goodness of tape, use that.

Find a mastering place that does work that you like the sound of and use them. Don't worry about how they do what they do, just whether their results are good for your project.

The results are the only thing that matters, not how you did it.

Only engineers care about the whole analog/digital thing. The audience doesn't care at all. Even the people who are really into vinyl are more into the experience of it than the technicalities of the process that produced it.

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