Analog vs Digital Mastering - Comparison

Shaded Pest said:
Here is a comparison i've made between Analog and Digital Mastering, the same music and mastered with the same studio, trying to apply similar processing!

The music is a project i'm doing, so composing and also mixing aren't that good...

Digital Mastering: https://mega.nz/#!I4ZSHT7b!pHJZ9ungqR7enNI8_Cs2FweRll8jGMhh0-kKf1vF4Zo

Analog Mastering; https://mega.nz/#!M5gEkQ7Y!gYGXLpb8t7Hb_N5fwSkjs2xsVoWyWtzMroNmqlWLEBA
Click to expand...

In this case I prefer hardware by maybe a factor of 100. Software has phase, it's just as simple as that, your version is no exception. This means the whole stereo image is a tunnel mono dot. Hardware removes that issue, hence all of the stereo elements goes from being in a sharp triangle, into a wide and deep sound stage. A very good example of the difference between software and hardware.

What hardware did you use if I may ask?
 
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DarkRed said:
In this case I prefer hardware by maybe a factor of 100. Software has phase, it's just as simple as that, your version is no exception. This means the whole stereo image is a tunnel mono dot. Hardware removes that issue, hence all of the stereo elements goes from being in a sharp triangle, into a wide and deep sound stage. A very good example of the difference between software and hardware.

What hardware did you use if I may ask?
Click to expand...

I've made this mastering at Mpmegas Mastering, here is the gear used:
Chandler LTD2 Mastering
SPL stereo vitalizer
Studer A80
Sontec MEP-250EX
 
Shaded Pest said:
When your hear the music, the diference between analog and digital is not small, but when you look the spectrum it's almost the same! This is what surprised me! Yellow is the analog, blue is the digital: http://s2.postimg.org/4tix7tjgp/analog_vs_digital.png
Click to expand...

Exactly, it's pretty much just the phase information that is different, everything else is more or less the same. But that's enough, phase eats up the signal like crazy, it's like the frequencies are there on the chart, but not received by the ears. I have always been amazed at this phenomenon, how can something so anonymous, do so much damage so silently. It's incredible. But it's like order vs. chaos.
 
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Shaded Pest said:
The mixing of my music was not good, mastering could not fix it :(
Click to expand...

The sound is good, the balance is good. It's just that it is a contraction that keeps building until the finish line. Those mixes are as valid. I like what you've done, I think the playing is awesome, I think the tone is nice. It's good. It's cool. It's fine. Nice creative work! It reminds me of Eric Johnson, it's just much heavier. If you want it less dense, that is done similar to this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8mtk0e8Pqc


0:00 tension
0:53 release
1:10 tension
1:16 release
 
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It would be interesting if you didn't label the two as digital or analog to see what actual differences we can hear (I haven't listened to it yet). If we have the preconceived notion that analog or digital will have a certain sound or affect, we might bias ourselves by focusing on those specific qualities.
 
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