I am wondering if using multiple computers would create the same kind of effect as analog processing. I have 2 computers if I were to open a project and use core audio on one computer and send the signal to my audio interface on a second computer would this convert digital to analog back to digital? The process could be different I am trying to get better quality sound. I am not sure how good the core audio soundcard or audio out jack is. Is this a bad idea?
Analog mixing
- Thread starter EXM
- Start date
I also have a dbx compressor I do not know if this is better to use than Ableton. I am on a budget where I am trying to make the best productions I can but I dont have $20,000 to invest in analog processing at this time. Currently I am using Ableton suite, Native Instruments Komplete, and Adobe Audition.
Adrian-MarQ
New member
Not 100% sure what DAC stands for, but I believe it is digital analog converter....or something like that. Tldr: analog isn't an effect, it's a type of signal. You can route a digital signal to an analog device to convert to analog (it will still be a digital signal when it returns to your computer). This will not improve the quality of your audio.
Just so you know, what you are trying to achieve is not going to improve any aspect of quality. In fact, you may lose quality depending on your source audio if you go from digital to analog.
Another tid bit of info:
Analog = a continuous signal. Digital = a discrete signal. Basically for digital, the source signal is sampled 44,100 times a second (more for a higher sampling rate). With analog the is no discrete sampling. I'm not the best at explains that.... think about an analog stick on a video game controller. You can move it around freely in any direction and at and intensity. That is what I mean by continuous. The directional pad is a digital input. It works with discrete button presses.
Just so you know, what you are trying to achieve is not going to improve any aspect of quality. In fact, you may lose quality depending on your source audio if you go from digital to analog.
Another tid bit of info:
Analog = a continuous signal. Digital = a discrete signal. Basically for digital, the source signal is sampled 44,100 times a second (more for a higher sampling rate). With analog the is no discrete sampling. I'm not the best at explains that.... think about an analog stick on a video game controller. You can move it around freely in any direction and at and intensity. That is what I mean by continuous. The directional pad is a digital input. It works with discrete button presses.
Adrian-MarQ
New member
"Better" is very subjective and depends on the analog gear being used. Every piece of gear won't affect your audio in the same way. I might also add that there are some people on the internet that swear on their lives that gear (mics, headphones, monitors, etc.) that can capture/produce sounds up to 48kHz are superior and sound better than gear that only does 20kHz. On average we can hear between 20 Hz and 20kHz, therefore you cannot hear the superiority and "betterness" of the frequency response. My point is, make as educated a decision as you can. Instead of reading, try finding audio examples of analog vs. digital so that you can judge for yourself.
To be completely honest, I think you can achieve "the analog sound" in your DAW. The main difference would be that analog gear would affect your audio automatically as it is run through your gear. With plugins, you'd have to manually adjust your plugins to get a specific sound....
And to address what you asked in your first post:
Your interface would need to be analog. I've only seen one computer in use + analogue gear for the times that I have sent a digital signal to analog gear or seen others do it. Not sure how to tell the difference between an analog interface and a digital one off the top of my head (never really looked at an analog one)
To be completely honest, I think you can achieve "the analog sound" in your DAW. The main difference would be that analog gear would affect your audio automatically as it is run through your gear. With plugins, you'd have to manually adjust your plugins to get a specific sound....
And to address what you asked in your first post:
Your interface would need to be analog. I've only seen one computer in use + analogue gear for the times that I have sent a digital signal to analog gear or seen others do it. Not sure how to tell the difference between an analog interface and a digital one off the top of my head (never really looked at an analog one)
Don't do any of what you described. The noise increase with cheap converters will make it very much not worth it. Adding a cheap compressor into the mix if you don't know how to use a compressor will make things even worse. Forget about analog audio and all the wonders you read about analog audio. Cheap digital is better than cheap analog. All the wonders you read about great analog has to deal with expensive analog gear.
Adrian-MarQ
New member
You just need some sort of analog gear that can receive an input signal to run your signal through that is also sent back to your DAW. That's about the only requirement I can think of...