From Plugins To Hardware

[prez]

Recently, I purchased two pieces of gear that I've been wanting to get for a while. Two EMU rack units:Mo Phatt and the XL-1. I'm in love with both of them and combined with my Roland XV-5080 with a couple expansion cards, I need nothing.I do use Battery 3 (you have no idea how much I love this drum sequencer), Imposcar (AWESOME analog soft synth), and a couple others.What I've been finding over the years is my slow departure away from plugins to hardware which is peculiar because I started mainly in the box. I have a whole rack full of stuff. I did this mainly to save on CPU but I'm finding that I'm loving the sound that comes from my hardware units. Plus...I don't know...there is something just sexy about hardware gear. Don't get me wrong. Battery and Imposcar are just...uhhh..love them. Pristine sound. But I could see myself running just a DAW, a drum sequencer plugin, and the rest hardware.Anyone else ever go through this reversal? Is in the box where you like to keep it or is out of the box more your flave? I'm just curious about this really because like I said, for me, the transition was more of a slow departure that I really wasn't pointed about. Just happened. Your thoughts?Jude 2

[stoney]

Otherway round for meUsed to have loads of outboard gear including synths, dynamics processors, mixing desk the lot. All going into an apple G4 which at the time I thought was the bomb! Then over night my whole rig change a producer I was working with introduced me to logic and pro-tools. I was hooked went out bought a G5 (power PC, intel ones hadn't even come in yet), Logic, new audio interface and a bunch of software. I slowly ebayed all my out board, for me the my out board just became. Plus I find there is nothing like being able to automate your synths, filters and stuff. Great.Still have some lovely outboard processors can't beat the sound of a quality pre or compressorOnly thing I miss is getting my hands on the actual faders so might at some point purchase a console.

[stoney]

sorry for all the grammatical errors above and not finishing sentences that make no sense. Obviously thinking too much about a new console!

[mojobone]

I can't get enough outboard preamp flavors, I can get along with only one hardware compressor if it's flexible enough (EL8 Distressor) For the rest, particularly at mixdown, I'm working 'in the box' more and more. For makin' samples, though, nuthin' beats a bunch of funky old analog boxes. I don't know how people mix without faders; I don't know, and I don't wanna know.

[mazz]

I'm doing a hybrid approach, I have a few hardware synths that are really great sounding and there's a certain fatness that comes from recording them through a tube preamp.For time-sensitive projects, in the box is still the winner but I do love my hardware and use it whenever possible. I'd love to have some great sounding analog board with a full-bore Firewire, multichannel, bi-directional interface. I'd want full automation of all knobs and faders, too. The SSL Matrix is pretty close but it's 25K!!Oh well,Mazz

[ibanez468]

Yeah, I'm like you guys, I love my hardware. I'm just more comfortable with it. Actual hands-on type stuff, ya' know? But I am making the transition and getting my feet totally wet with the software. I'm gettin' there, as far as comfort is concerned. I'm tryin' ta' work both sides of the fence. Depends on what I'm tryin' ta' do. But I'm stubborn. I'll keep at it until I crack it.I-468

[kouly]

I think I have a division of labor also. I love all of Logics stuff but I have found that I just can't live without my "core" pieces of hardware. Maybe someday I will be all ITB but for the time being it will be a mix of both.

[mojobone]

My mixes don't depend on having automated FX, but it's nice to have the option, given that I'm sorta old-school, when t comes to mixing...That said, some of my digital hardware is somewhat less than intuitive...

[prez]

Don't get me wrong: whatever works is whatever works. I just went in the opposite direction, working almost exclusively ITB and slowly working to more hardware OTB. They each have their advantages and disadvantages. I actually believe a mix of the two is the way to go. You simply can't beat the power of a DAW compared to tape or even a digital desk. But the limitations of processing power (which contributes to quality) and even desktop space make working exclusively in the box inefficient IMO.But ultimately, it's whatever works for you. I just thought it was a bit strange that I worked in that backward kind of fashion because more likely than not, it's the other way around. Jude 2