Why I turn my back on analog and why this is good for you

An old debate…

This blog post won’t be an analog vs. plugin debate, because I still love the sound of analog hardware. It still has an edge over plugins sound-wise. But this sonic gap has become much slimmer over the last couple of years. And there is one benefit that most projects nowadays demand: having the possibility to recall.

The last session I did was a mastering job for the doom metal band Oath from Greece. I used many hardware pieces on it, but halfway through the project and many revisions later, I went fully digital. It was such a time saver, and having the possibility to make minute manipulations and keep them in the box made a huge difference for that project.

This made me really question owning various hardware pieces that were worth a five-digit sum. And I sold some of them. Of course, those also come with bragging rights, but I feel I can deliver better mixes faster than I would be able to with hardware.

I miss turning the knobs of a nice hardware EQ. I miss VU meters jumping around. But to truly be able to deliver the best product, it might be the best choice to go completely in the box. And it is also much easier to change things around when you have everything ready at the click of a button instead of manually recalling ten compressors, eight EQs and the routing.

Communication is one of the most important parts of the whole mixing and mastering process for me. And nothing stops a good conversation about mix details faster than: “Wait, I’ve got to recall the mix for the next hour.”

Will I completely turn my back on hardware? No! I plan to upgrade my recording chain with some nice hardware pieces because, in the end, that makes life even easier and makes mixing a breeze. But for now, ITB mixing is where it’s at. I can still see myself using analog on special projects, though.

And by the way, give Oath a listen!

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