Whats the lowdown on stereo wideners? Are they best used as inserts or sends? I heard that sometimes they can do more harm than good. What instruments are they 'typically' used on? Are they more necessary or unnecessary when using samplers and midi rather than a recorded drum kit and player?

Cheers

Andrew

http://www.use-audio.com/plugiator.htm

Seems very interesting, no latency except for the D/A A/D on your soundcard, plus last I heard from a tech at Creamware Scope (5 mts ago) that Mac OS X wont be supported anytime soon, but now it seem they have the new Sonic Core platform yet still no news if that will support OSX.

Looks like after a lot of complaining Sony is finally getting rid of the annoying DRM copy scheme to make it easier to use purchased songs.


http://www.businessweek.com/technology/c...ries_msnbc

The industry has definitely taken a hit in the past few weeks. 3Beat has shut down all digital outlets as a result of Amato closing down.

Quote from 3Beat
"As many of you are aware dance music's main distributor has gone bust [amato] . as a consequence so many labels are in serious trouble as they have lost all their stock and all their money - it has been swallowed by amato's liquidators . so many massive dance labes are now affected ... big players like hot label CR2 , dave seamans audio therapy , darren emersons underwater , ben watts buzzin fly , digweeds bedrock , mark knights toolroom , hajis big love , james holdens border community , axwells axtone , crosstown rebels ,distinctive , eq , freerange , bukems goodlooking , mn2s , kompakt , freelands marine parade , nukleuz , poker flat , soul heaven , sanchez's stealth , tidy trax.... ... and 3beat digital . its like a whos who of dance music . and this is just the tip of the iceberg there are many hundreds more labels like this . "

I knew that vinyl had long been on it's way out but this makes me think that it will truly die off in the next few years. It will be interesting to see how this affects everyone in the next few months. I love the ease of digital but I will never stop loving vinyl. Sad times for dance music.

I happened across this site after clicking on a link on the bottom of a medway post on gearslutz.

I have been drilling my head into the ground for the last 5 years trying to master my drum mixing techniques and match the sound of what I hear say for ex: on a Medway track. I usually go thru many incarnations which include eqing/compression on everything and then an over all drum sub group comp/eq and or sometimes slamming em with a hard L1 or L2. I Feel my compression/eq techniques are pretty solid, although I am still not completely happy with my results.

I am curious if the drums in the likes of a Medway track are being mixed entirely in a DAW or if some external hardware ie compressors are being used to get them sounding that way.

Is it a combination of using the mpc and a good hardware pre/comp that makes the difference?

Is it possible to make pro sounding drums with out the use of some solid outboard gear and a nice console? If so, what might be some of the keys to getting em to pop and have that nice, tight feeling?

I realize this is a sort of multi faceted question with many aspects to discuss... and so I dont expect all the answers...but even some small clues and things to think about would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers,
Brandon

I've always been confused about compressors in general but have recently started to use them somewhat successfully. However, all the reading I've done about compression/mastering always seems to talk about the multi-band compressor as the key to getting that professional sound, that sheen so to speak. My only real experience has been with the multi-band compressor in Ozone 3. I never use it because I really don't know what I'm doing, however just using some of the presets, I can hear that it definently adds that something extra to the mix that is absent otherwise.

So my question is, could someone either point me to a good tutorial you would recommend or explain how to use a multi-band compressor in terms that someone like myself, a compression challanged person, could understand?

Finally, is the multi-band compressor in Ozone good to use? If not, what ones would you recommend? Where would you potentially put the multi-band compressor? On the master output of your sequencer? What about hardware based compressors? How do they compare to software?

Sorry for all the questions but I feel I'm majorly missing out on something with my productions of late and its very frustrating. Thanks in advance.

just wanted to give everyone a heads up, on Dec 31 they are discountinuing any WAVES/NARAS discounts.

the deal is if you are a grammy member you get huge discounts on WAVES plug ins 50% + its ridiculous how low their prices are with the discounts.

All that is required is that you are a member, and you can become an associate member here:

https://www.grammy.com/Recording_Academy...fault.aspx

If you are interested I have a full list of prices offered for all their products (again ridiculosly low rates), let me know and Ill email you the list.

Rambunkcious

I thought you were having server issues, or something last nite, but the new look is real tight man, the new logo is sweet and I like the blue.

mmmmmm... blue

Hi,
I recently listened to a mixdown in my car and it sounded terrible! (Although it sounded great on my studio speakers). I couldn't hear much bass or kick and all the high frequencies were over emphasized / harsh. I guess my question is should i care about how it sounds on various speakers if it is destined for the dancefloor? And if so, is there a trick to mixing it better or do you have to literally switch to different speakers during mixing to check?
many thanks