MIXING IN THE BOX ( ITB ) OR OUT OF THE BOX ( OTB )
The battle of digital vs analog has been going for as long as the audio community can remember . There will always be a section of people that will side with producing and mixing purely with analog gear ( OTB ) while others stand for the benefits and the ease of mixing in a DAW software ( ITB ) using its stock plugins or third party plugins . Personally , I prefer using my API 512c Mic pre and JDK R22 Compressor during tracking but high-end outboard gear or expensive hardware may not be a reality for everyone . Besides , it ' s not the equipment that you use but how you mix it is what finally decides how your end product sound and ultimately , this is what counts to real world .
The Real Truth
The listener isn ' t concerned with whether you ' ve used hardware equipment or what plugins you ' ve used to produce the track , a minute into your track they ' ll be judging it on how it sounds to them . In most cases , it is almost impossible to tell by listening if a track has been mixed using an SSL or Neve analog console , for instance , or it has been mixed ITB using a DAW unless you ' re physically present during the session .
Nowadays , plugins have been developed to the point where they very accurately emulated analog hardware . The first name to pop up in your mind would be WAVES , which has managed to come out with tones of emulations of a lot top tier analog gear . Companies like McDSP , Sound Toys , Sonnox Oxford , UAD , Plugin Alliance , iZoptope and Steven Slate , to name a few , have put a lot of effort into accurately emulating hardware to get that specific tone and character .
Advantages of producing ITB
One of the main reasons for the massive shift towards producing ITB is the cost effectives and flexibility . There is also no need for patch cables and the space required to run an analog setup . DAW ' s allow a user to have as many tracks as they require
which tackles huge issue faced by users who use analog mixers . But while analog gear can be expensive , it has its own beauty and a certain tone for which users build a taste for .
Why are analog equipment expensive ?
The fact is that the signature design , the expensive components which take years of research to develop and integrate and the great sound and tone that it imparts to your mix , all add up to their price . They use high-quality components with industry standard input and output transformers , valves ( Tubes ) and transistors which create that hard hitting tone in the mix . It should also be noted that added costs such as good patch cables and regular maintenance and servicing should be considered while maintaining an analog setup .
Advantages of using plugins
Plugins have the upper hand when it comes to ease of application and the lack of a need for maintenance and additional costs . A lot of companies have trial versions of the plugins available for free for a limited period of time . You can check the quality and applications of the plugins firsthand and then make a decision based on useful they seem to you . Patching outboard equipment to multiple tracks is a tedious task whereas plugins can very conveniently be used on as many tracks as very require . The only concern is that plugins may have to be updated from time to time , whenever an advanced option is released .
In Conclusion
It doesn ' t matter if you mix ITB or OTB as long as you are able to get the desired output using the means available to you . In fact , in a lot of cases , the use of both hardware equipment and software ( Hybrid mixing ) is quite predominant . In the end , it all comes down to how you use your tools and creativity in your mix to make it stand out .
Author : Baba . L . Prasad . He is the owner and chief Sound / Mix and Mastering Engineer at Digi Sound Studio . He also teaches Sound Engineering and Music Production courses . For more details , visit www . digisoundacademy . com
The Score Magazine
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