jreed said:
I disagree. If the average listener cared so much about sound quality, compressed formats would not be so popular.
We are not talking about poorly recorded music. We are talking about recording music in a home studio vs a pro studio. Poorly recorded music is any music that was recorded badly regardless of where it was recorded. In other words, poorly recorded music is not directly related with a home recording studio. Also, if recording in a “pro studio” was the norm, then why has so many gone out of business? Who cares if a Jay Z album was recorded at the Hit Factory or on a 002?
The bottom line is if the person who originally posted does not record or mix very well with the equipment he has, then he needs to go somewhere else. However, I guarentee you I can use the same equipment he has and produce a professionally sounding recording. (excluding mastering…that should be done by a mastering engineer.)
Whether listeners know it or not, they "care about sound quality"
Like I said, they most likely will not be able to tell you
why one sounds professional and the other doesn't... but they will know.
I don't care how you sing into your mic and set your levels (that would be the extent of "how well you record" that is possible with his system)... you will
not get a real top quality professional sound by recording into an
mbox using the converters on the
mbox and the mic pre on the
mbox.... hell, I have a ProTools HD accel3 system and I use specialized converters and mic pre's to record (plus having everything clocked and having good mics and a good room, etc) and my system is light years above an mbox... and that is necessary on
my system to get a "pro" sound--- and you think you can get that with just an
mbox and nothing else?
"Poorly recorded" means it was ... uh... recorded poorly. If you record into low level consumer grade gear, then you are going to get a "poor quality recording."
a listener will care if vocals sound dull and bass and kicks don't slam you in the chest and if snares dont crack and the separation is weak, etc, etc... and whether a listener can articulate that or not... THAT is "caring about sound quality"... even if all they can say about it is "that track sounds weak"
...and if you read my post, you would see that I said "poorly recorded music is not directly related with a home recording studio"... I said with HIS home studio, it is not equipped to get pro quality sound.
I am not talking about music being recorded in "
A pro studio vs.
A home studio"... i amtalking about music being recorded in "
THAT pro studio vs.
HIS home studio"
Like i said, you can have a "pro" quality studio at
home... but that does not mean that
every home studio is capable of "pro" quality.
...and the reason many big commercial studios are struggling is not because you can do the same thing with an Mbox... it is because you can build your own
professional quality studio on a reasonable budget that will be perfectly suitable for most purposes (and when I say reasonable, it is still very expensive for the average "hobby" user.)
... and the reason "compressed formats are popular" is because using compressed formats is the only way you can effectively trade music on the internet and the only way you can put a bunch of music on a portable player.
and for the casual listener, you don't need anything else. I am a "professional producer/composer" and i use MP3's for my portable players and to post my tracks online, etc... but, believe me, nobody cares more about "quality" than I do. But compressed formats serve their purpose... and
acceptance of compressed formats have nothing to do with
acceptance of low quality music. at this point in time, compressed files like MP3's are a necessary evil.
...and anyone who uses that as an excuse for saying that the best recording chain is in the studio is
not necessary because the kids don't care anyway and they can't tell the difference, is just fooling themselves.