When doing EQ work, I usually just go by ear for where I want to cut or boost (I also use charts off of the internet to know where) but I am wondering if there is a "Science" or "Method" of knowing how much to cut or boost? Like oh, I need to cut around 2k hz, but how many db's do i take it? How sharp is the "bell notch"? Again, I usually go by ear, but I am wondering if there is a "When in doubt" kind of solution of knowing how to do this?

"And speaker-air recordings often sound more exciting and “real” for dubstep anyway."

I have some assets for artists I'm trying to master. I forgot to bring adapters for XLR so it was a speaker-air recording. Someone brought me them later so a second microphone recorder has a direct line in but it seems to have been hot as there's popping and other artifacts despite the higher end being more clear and present. The above statement I read when going through a tutorial.

¿If you had the choice would you always prefer a line-in recording [for dubstep]?

Simple as the title, really...

I'm very intrigued by Gefell- to clarify, modern Gefell-, but surprised to observe the lack of discussion about them. Further, on speaking with a very well known studio/pro audio shop here, I was shacked when the salesman told me hadn't sold a single Gefell item in something like more than a year- that straight up baffled me...

A few I'm interested in are the UMT70S, M990, M92.M1S... and then more in the dream-end of things, the CMV563 M7S.

I've seen some older posts where the M990 and M92.1S are lauded, but they're usually very old posts.

I'm very content with my humble two-mic setup (an OC818 and M160) for now, but would love to 'upgrade' and step into one of the aforementioned at some point, just am slightly concerned by the lack of glowing reviews, honestly- I'm sure that will strike many as a stupid gauge of quality, but generally people tend to praise mics they like.

I’ve been using the Clariphonic EQ plugin heavily on masters lately — heavily enough that I’m starting to eye the hardware. Which I realize is a bit of a paradox: if the plugin is working this well, why chase the hardware?

That said, I suspect the answer is “they’re not the same thing.”

Has anyone done a direct A/B between the hardware and the current plugin version? Appreciate any firsthand takes.

Any mics I have on a stand, 57s, decent condensers, whatever, if you touch it, it picks up the sound. If you rubbed fabric near the capsule it will definitely pick up the sound. Wiggling the cable will make a sound. But lav mics have a wire dangling down while the person moves, the mic is constantly moving, fabric is rubbing on it, and sometimes it's even placed inside a shirt or jacket so it isn't seen by cameras. How do they not pick up contact sound all the time and if they do, how does everyone manage it?

I obviously haven't used one.

Whatever tech they have to deal with that, why don't they put that tech in every mic?

Hey everyone, what are your guys thoughts on the best aesthetically looking daw? I’ve been on pro tools going on 10 years at this point and honestly it just looks like straight dookie. Is it a powerful engine that I know inside and out like the back of my hand …..yes, but I can admit it looks horrible especially on pc.

Curious how many of you are both musicians and engineers, and if you are, which role do you feel more connected to?

I recently mastered the new album from The Coral. The processes were quite unconventional. The album name '388' comes from the recording process as it was tracked and partially mixed through a Tascam 388, but it was also mastered through the same unit using the tape section and even a bit of desk EQ

Typically the Tascam 388 isn't something you would even consider for mastering but now and again, the least likely tool is the best one for the job

You can watch the breakdown video here:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DYmv18MNkR1/?igsh=NzczeGI2YW9mYjhu

Tackling restoring the smaller of the 2 (55s) first. Got the case removed but the spring broke at the screw, planning on replacing at least the 2 out wires along with the spring but want to leave everything else electrical origional. Add in some new audio foam to replace the old fabric...

Should I tackle replacing every wire? Seems to be origional, looks like fabric insulation on all the internals except for the 2 that go down the spring.

Also, at the moment have not removed the fabric to clean the diaphragm. This internal fabric seems to be in decent condition all things considered - but should I need to clean that diaphragm... is it a hard replace that fabric? Or can just layer some audio foam?

Lastly the rubber holders disintegrated. Friend has a 3D printer - want to try to print out replacements but will likely fall back to some air dry clay or similar. Any feasible recommendations?

Many thanks to any/all time and advice given!

So, let’s say you have a super neutral, generic P-Bass tone. Solid player, quality bass with good pickups.
Recording is direct, maybe a tube pre/comp but nearly flat EQ, and comp is set as light as possible to only catch extreme peaks.
Player laid down solid tracks, but, it’s an exciting song, so plenty of dynamics in the level. You don’t have a mic’d amp to compliment the sound. Just one lonely bass track to get the job done. Bass player isn’t picky, just says, “make it sound great!”
Let’s say it’s kinda 90s-ish. Quiet verses, loud guitar choruses, that sort of thing.
Especially you pros with lots of experience, if you have to mix everything “in the box” (a terrible hurricane came and washed all your nice gear down the river), what would be an example chain you’d have? Anything you’d do differently for a finger player vs pick?

Edit: Someone said 90’s was not specific enough. So let’s say, grunge/alt rock rather than limp Bizkit or Korn.

My wife is teaches kindergarten and is teaching her students to sing here comes the sun.

I'd like to make a version with the vocals reduced but not removed to help them follow the song.

I have found lots of sites and programs that remove vocals but not reduce them. Thanks

Perhaps I'm the odd one out here but If your client says "I can send you the stems"...you know exactly what they mean. Do you think they're saying it to piss you off? And if you really are unsure if they actually mean multi-tracks, it takes all of 2 seconds to clarify AND gives you a chance to educate about the difference, if you so wish.

"Can we stop calling multi tracks stems???"

When I see these comments it feels like the person saying them has only just themselves learned about the difference. It's comical.

Yes, there's a difference but it's really not a big deal. I'm far more concerned about if they're going to send me .mp3's by mistake.

I’ve worked 6 years in a small studio (15 m² live room) under a veteran producer. We handle the whole production process, but sessions on our end are almost always solo vocal, guitar, or bass (DI in the control room, amp mic’d in the booth). Drums and strings are done in other studios.

As I’ve moved deeper into mixing, I receive tracks from other studios (drums especially.)

After some trial and error, time alignment has since become a revelation. Because my real-world multi‑miking experience is still limited, especially on drums, I’d love professional insight on a few things.

1. Guitar & Bass – DI/Amp Alignment

Aligning a guitar amp mic to the DI makes a massive difference in punch and kills comb filtering. I can keep both the DI clarity and the amp character intact.

• Question 1: Are there styles where the unaligned phase cancellations are a deliberate part of the guitar tone? And before sample‑accurate nudging was possible, did engineers just accept this, or shape it with mic distance and polarity?
• Bass: I find aligning bass DI and amp much trickier. The low‑frequency wavelengths are so long that a perfect transient match sometimes creates a hollow or phase‑weird body, so I often leave it unaligned. Does anyone have a systematic approach to bass DI/amp alignment (e.g., nudging to a specific part of the waveform, aligning to the first cycle rather than the initial tick, or using all‑pass filters)? Or is it often better to treat the DI and amp as intentionally decorrelated layers and just flip polarity to find the fullest low end?

2. Drums – Alignment Philosophy & Trade‑offs

Aligning close mics to the overheads can improve transient integrity by orders of magnitude, but it raises questions.

• Overhead alignment: Do you ever time‑align the L/R overheads to each other? If so, what’s the anchor—usually the snare transient? How do you then judge the stereo image integrity?
• Transient vs. room tone: Aligning close mics to OH tightens attack but costs some room depth and natural space (but room mics I never align to OH, that misses the whole point). Does the tiny natural time difference between the kick, snare and toms arriving at the overheads actually help paint a more believable room ambience, even at the cost of a slightly softer transient? Are there genres where absolute phase‑coherent transients are critical and others where that “softening” from inter‑channel micro-delay is preferred?

Real‑world workflow

What’s your editing‑phase routine before you start mixing a multi‑mic recording—especially drums? I’m curious about your order of operations: phase‑checking, polarity decisions, alignment strategy, and any personal rules for balancing transient tightness against the spatial cues (or stylistic choices in the case of guitars) those tiny arrival‑time differences provide.

im gonna book studio time with an audio engineer but the studio says only st 1 has built in computer and the other rooms dont, it says producers usually bring their own laptops, does this mean the engineer will use my laptop or will he bring his own?

Please and thank you. Amp plugins don’t matter much,I just need a good base (NOT BASS.) electro guitar instrument plugin that can work realistically enough with multiple modes if possible.

Preferably free but paid is also okay if it’s good enough. I need guitars that make sounds similar to realistic guitars not on notes but like you know,the release noises,the fret noises,the palm mute mid-ringing,etc. One that can make satisfying strumming that you hear in j-pop,like in JIN’s songs (vocaloid producer).

I’d like to try out 2-3 mics with a vocalist I am recording soon, and want to choose a mic that best suits their voice. I’d like to setup 2-3 mics for them to perform into simultaneously so we can compare the tonality of the mics on a take of the song in order to determine which is most flattering for their voice. The trouble is, I find it difficult to place the three mics optimally for the singer, which I believe correlates to myself and the performer having a bias toward the best positioned mic, but not necessarily the best suited mic for their voice.

My instincts have landed on 3-4 mics I’d choose for this vocalist, with a huge dynamic range: a female vocalist who literally goes from nearly whisper talking to yelling as loud as they can. The mics I’m planning to shootout are: Beyerdynamic M88, SM7B, Sony ECM-377 or my U47. I plan on using either a Daking mic pre, CAPI red dot VP28, or maybe my AEA RPQ for the SM7B. Whatever the lead vocal mic/pre is will be running thru a Distressor. I’ll likely also setup a pair of SDC or ribbon stereo room mics and gate em them to open up during louder yelling parts when mixing.

I digress tho, my main question is how do you shoot out vocal mics ? 2 or 3 mics positioned as best you can on one performance or 2/3 passes thru the song to choose?

Seems like there’s 3 new ones per hour. Has anyone noticed a big difference between any of them?