Does Any Of You Still Use Outboard Gear?

LimaLaVoz

LimaLaVoz

YouTube.com/HotSongBeats
I was flipping through a music catalog today, and came across of huge section of outboard eq's, compressors, reverbs, sonic maximizers, and other effects. A few years ago I would have blew a couple checks for some of those pieces of gear. Today I could almost care less about hardware, because I've been spoiled by plug-ins.

Do any of you guys still buy and/or use outboard gear? And if so what pieces do you use?
 
If it's digital, IMO, it's a waste of money. Plug ins have come further and are capable of more. Now, if you're recording live using 16 inputs at once, it's a different story, but for most hip hop, RnB, and Pop where you're doing most of the production on the computer(minus 1 track at a time recordings of vocals, a guitar or keyboard input for the most part)I don't see much outboard gear being a good investment.

Good Mic, good Pre/interface, and you're "in the box" I'd much rather have the right effects at my disposal within my DAW.
 
I'm strictly inside the box on my own rig, except for a few extra preamp's ... but when I worked at the studio I would always use outboard gear on the way in... DBX comp's, API EQ's... if I had the money I wouldn't hesitate to buy them at all
 
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Most of my synths are hardware, but besides that I'm mostly ITB as far as processing goes. I do have an analog delay & a few tape delays & a strange analog chorus and a bunch of guitar pedals to run stuff through, but all the basic mixing stuff is in the box. Wouldn't mind having a nice hardware bus comp, but all the worthwhile stuff is currently way too expensive (a pair of Distressors, anyone?) for me.
 
I have toyed with the idea of outboard stuff, but only because I wanted analogue sound. Trouble is that the drawbacks are huge. Like if I wanted an analogue compressor I'd only have 1 instance of it and you need all kinds of life support systems to rig the thing up. Seems too clunky.

Another area I sometimes think of going is modular synth... never really been tipped over the edge. I like versatility. Hardware versatility is expensive.

But now you can get very good software analogue models for things like EQ and compressors. And I can run 100 instances of them. That said digital synths often have a gritty glassy edge to them I don't like.
 
Yes, I use outboard gear. Other than preamps (obviously) it's mainly EQ and dynamics. I don't use any of my digital fxs boxes anymore. I keep them in the rack for the very rare oddball thing, like, once a year LOL.

I would say that if you are starting out, focus on outboard gear you can use while tracking in addition to mixing. You can get a lot more mileage out of it that way. Plus, when mixing, you can only use a box once.

One of the things I do frequently to deal with a busy schedule and having to switch mix projects frequently is when I feel like I have a part dialed in and a pretty solid mix, I'll print back any hardware that can be printed back. That usually means anything that's not on a buss (because of getting multiple signals making changes particularly difficult). So a common scenario for me is to have the lead vocal all hardware with EQ and compression. When I think the mix is "there" and I am going to either sleep on it or send it for approval and I consider the odds of needing to change those settings about 1 out or a 100, I'll print it back to a new track. I'll copy all the automation to the new track and print the straight audio. That way, if I need to later go back and change it, I can easily. But it avoids the inevetable slowdown when switching projects and having to write everythign down and the reset all the gear for the other song. Now I can just load the other song. It also avoids the scary situation that all pros have experienced where you discover upon recalling a mix, that you wrote down the WRONG setting LOL.

This all said, software is getting sooooooo damn good now. So I would also focus on gear that does something you can't really achieve in the box as well. Just getting outboard gear to impress your friends doesn't do you any good.
 
I still use outboard gear, for example the other day I connected a TR-808 to a Mu-tron and played the peak and depth knobs in time with the beat while it's being feed into the Sitar preset of an FX-500 which produces a rather pretty sound, this sort of thing is painless on hardware as there is very little latency, same thing when I am playing an analog delay by throwing the knobs in synchronization with the beat, the movements of which can be quite violent.

I still use old outboard gear such as the JV-1080 which despite it's limitations still has decent sounds and a respectable 4.4 ms latency and as I can edit it in Cubase just like any VST I don't see too many negatives.

The best thing about hardware is that it remains functional unlike legacy software, for example despite being discontinued Roland's VK-8m will continue to work with a DAW well into the future whereas Native Instruments' B4II will not, you also don't need to keep paying for the future compatibly of hardware.
 
Unfortunately, my only piece of outboard is my mic's preamp. I don't consider my mpd and keyboard controller gear, per se.

I would LOVE to have a 6-slot 500 series module strictly for vocals.

Like Phuk'dup said, If you're not recording an ensemble or larger, you simply don't have too much need for many inputs.

In-the-box is the shyte and the tech is only getting better, but having so much control pre-fader, would save a shit-ton of processor work, allowing one to take advantage of more from their DAW...if speed is an issue.

Peace
 
RedBeerd said:
Like Phuk'dup said, If you're not recording an ensemble or larger, you simply don't have too much need for many inputs.
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True... 16 channels would be more than enough for any home project studio... I only have 8 channels right now, but I'll be upgrading to 16 through ADAT soon...
 
I might use a bunch of channels if I am tracking some gear with multiple outputs such as the TR-808 or if I want to use a bunch of outboard effects/processors, but I usually disable them when I am not using them, but if you have a bit of outboard gear it's far better to have them and not need them than to need them and not have them.
 
I bought a crap load of outboard gear in 2010. I slowly see myself using less and less of it. I like using my Distressor on the way in. My La3a hardare compressor with the side-chain "high end emphasis" cranked all the way up is my favorite de-esser by about 10 trillion. Other than that, I'm having a blast with plugins and NEVER want to mess with OTB when I'm recalling a mix from a month ago. There's nothing like when you have 45 minutes to work on a song spending 42 minutes getting it back to ALMOST where you had it. :o
 
brandondrury said:
I bought a crap load of outboard gear in 2010. I slowly see myself using less and less of it. I like using my Distressor on the way in. My La3a hardare compressor with the side-chain "high end emphasis" cranked all the way up is my favorite de-esser by about 10 trillion. Other than that, I'm having a blast with plugins and NEVER want to mess with OTB when I'm recalling a mix from a month ago. There's nothing like when you have 45 minutes to work on a song spending 42 minutes getting it back to ALMOST where you had it. :o
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I can save the settings and control most of my MIDI gear with Cubase MIDI device panels, so using something like my Warp 9 analog filter is just as easy as using a VST, but if I want to use my analog SH-2 filter I have to set it up manually because there is no MIDI control, so what I will use is a dummy SH-2 Cubase MIDI device panel that is laid out the same way as my SH-2 so that I can make a note of each knob setting that makes up the patch.
 
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