A peek behind the scenes at a recording session

[Andre Marc]

Hi Atmasphere,

Sounds like a cool project to me!

Best regards,
Barry
www.soundkeeperrecordings.com
www.soundkeeperrecordings.wordpress.com
www.barrydiamentaudio.com

Can I give you a list of performers to record?

Let's start with the Felice Brothers, and while we are at it, the Avett Brothers.

 

[Atmasphere]

Hi Atmasphere,

Sounds like a cool project to me!

Best regards,
Barry
www.soundkeeperrecordings.com
www.soundkeeperrecordings.wordpress.com
www.barrydiamentaudio.com

Paul is a good one to start with on a direct-to-disc. He does not make mistakes

 

[bdiament]

Can I give you a list of performers to record?

Let's start with the Felice Brothers, and while we are at it, the Avett Brothers.

Hi Andre,

Sure, sounds great! Just point those folks to this page and the rest of the Soundkeeper site.

I'm always on the lookout for artists and love all kinds of music. Assuming an artist's music moves me, it is really a matter of whether or not they are up to what I call "recording without a net". The pressures are great on the artist (as well as the engineer) and I've found many prefer the safety of being able to punch in to fix mistakes. A lot of folks don't realize that few bands can play a three minute song in three minutes. I've seen big names take a week just doing the vocals.

Things like that were what inspired me to start Soundkeeper. The Equinox album, a Stereophile Recording of the Month, was recorded in four hours -- the whole album. And that included setup, getting the sound and balances, recording, breaks and break down at the end of the session! These are the kind of sessions with musical "fire", that make me love what I do.

Almost did a project with someone the Avett Brothers have worked with. In that case, the music was great but politics (i.e., "advice" the artist was getting) led me to say "no thanks". Life's too short for record business type games. Soundkeeper does the business end as differently as it does the sound. The experience for all concerned is one of joy. (Why else do it?)

Best regards,
Barry
www.soundkeeperrecordings.com
www.soundkeeperrecordings.wordpress.com
www.barrydiamentaudio.com

 

[bdiament]

Paul is a good one to start with on a direct-to-disc. He does not make mistakes

Hi Atmasphere,

I certainly hear that! ;-}
Nothing like approaching the lead-out and someone makes a clam.

Good luck with the project. I bet it's wonderful.

Best regards,
Barry
www.soundkeeperrecordings.com
www.soundkeeperrecordings.wordpress.com
www.barrydiamentaudio.com

 

[Andre Marc]

Hi Andre,

Sure, sounds great! Just point those folks to this page and the rest of the Soundkeeper site.

I'm always on the lookout for artists and love all kinds of music. Assuming an artist's music moves me, it is really a matter of whether or not they are up to what I call "recording without a net". The pressures are great on the artist (as well as the engineer) and I've found many prefer the safety of being able to punch in to fix mistakes. A lot of folks don't realize that few bands can play a three minute song in three minutes. I've seen big names take a week just doing the vocals.

Things like that were what inspired me to start Soundkeeper. The Equinox album, a Stereophile Recording of the Month, was recorded in four hours -- the whole album. And that included setup, getting the sound and balances, recording, breaks and break down at the end of the session! These are the kind of sessions with musical "fire", that make me love what I do.

Almost did a project with someone the Avett Brothers have worked with. In that case, the music was great but politics (i.e., "advice" the artist was getting) led me to say "no thanks". Life's too short for record business type games. Soundkeeper does the business end as differently as it does the sound. The experience for all concerned is one of joy. (Why else do it?)

Best regards,
Barry
www.soundkeeperrecordings.com
www.soundkeeperrecordings.wordpress.com
www.barrydiamentaudio.com

Well, I am a music obsessive. Everything except hop hop and opera.

I have over the past year or two REALLY gotten into bands and performers influenced by Dylan and The Band's Basement Tapes. Call it Americana, or what ever.

The Felice Brothers and Old Crow Medicine Show do it as well as anyone. And there are many others..that add their own flavor, Like David Eugene Edwards, whose music makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up with his Gothic overtones.

They are all powerful performers who fly by the seat of their pants. I am seeing the Felice Brothers on Tuesday night and plan to record them
off the board. I have a bunch of their board tapes and it is is like party up on stage.

There is all kinds of record making. What you are doing, "documentation" is so right for so many artists. And their are some who should be doing it this
way but are trying to make product. Lucinda William'w new album comes out next week and I hope it is a return to earthier production

Sorry for the long winded post!

 

[Steve Williams]

A purist!

I appreciate seeing that. We just did a recording using only a pair of mics, running into a pair of updated Western Electric mic preamps, which then drove the LP cutter electronics directly- no limiting, no processing of any sort.

We did some test cuts just to see how things sound and the artist was stunned. I am hoping for a release near Christmas.

The musician is Paul Metzger (http://paulmetzger.net/)

We recorded it in our studio (where we also have our mastering operation), which is an irregular shaped room with surprisingly good acoustics.

Ralph

you should make an announcement here as things get closer, and what a recording to look forward to.

 

[rbbert]

...the Avett Brothers.

I just don't "get" the Avett Brothers. I consider myself a pretty big fan of Americana (or roots music, or country folk blues, or whatever) but I totally fail to see their appeal. Oh well, that's more a topic for another thread...

 

[Andre Marc]

I just don't "get" the Avett Brothers. I consider myself a pretty big fan of Americana (or roots music, or country folk blues, or whatever) but I totally fail to see their appeal. Oh well, that's more a topic for another thread...

yes, a matter of taste.

 

[rbbert]

I would like to know why the prices for the different DVD-R's are so different, especially the DVD-V 24/96 PCM and 24/96 wav? The production costs of all three (DVD-V, 24/96 wav and 24/192 wav) should be the same; if there is a difference I would expect the DVD-V to have the highest production cost. Thanks,

Rob

 

[Asamel]

Given how you rave over this A/D, D/A converter is this something we should be thinking about for our home systems? Is there a more 2 channel friendly model?

 

[Bruce B]

Given how you rave over this A/D, D/A converter is this something we should be thinking about for our home systems? Is there a more 2 channel friendly model?

Metric Halo ULN 2

 

[bdiament]

I would like to know why the prices for the different DVD-R's are so different, especially the DVD-V 24/96 PCM and 24/96 wav? The production costs of all three (DVD-V, 24/96 wav and 24/192 wav) should be the same; if there is a difference I would expect the DVD-V to have the highest production cost. Thanks,

Rob

Hi Rob,

Not sure if your question is directed to me.
If it is, the answer is that it takes longer to burn some formats than others. All six of our burned formats are created one at a time, to order. This translates to a different number of discs that can be created in a given period of time. The V burns more quickly than the files-on-disc version. The 192 takes twice as long to burn as the 96.

Best regards,
Barry
www.soundkeeperrecordings.com
www.soundkeeperrecordings.wordpress.com
www.barrydiamentaudio.com

 

[bdiament]

Given how you rave over this A/D, D/A converter is this something we should be thinking about for our home systems? Is there a more 2 channel friendly model?

Hi Bruce,

I rave about these converters because they deliver what I seek (i.e., I want the gear to get out of the way, to whatever extent is technologically possible). Some folks seek other things from their converters, such as what I call "enhanced detail", and others seek converters that make rough sounding recordings come back sounding "silky smooth". It really depends on what one seeks. Those who want "enhanced detail" or a "silky smooth" sound probably want something other than the converters that I find so wonderful.

I know many folks using the Metric Halo converters in their home systems and yes, I recommend them wholeheartedly (again, provided this is what a given listener is seeking).
For those who don't need microphone preamps or any of the addition processing capabilities and simply want a superb converter than can do justice to the 4x rates (176.4k and 192k), the LIO-8 is, in my view, a bargain -- even if one is using only two of its channels.

For those who want something less expensive, there is the ULN-2 but this tops out at 96k.

There are some caveats though:

1. With the LIO-8 or ULN-8, the connectors are not the standard types found on most home gear. (This is because there was no other way to fit this many connections without either using these connectors or making a *much* larger box. One needs to either purchase some sort of adapter (there are companies that build these) or build their own. I chose the latter course because I wanted the shortest possible adapters in order to use my preferred cables.

2. All the MIO boxes (2882, ULN-2, LIO-8 or ULN-8) involve a short learning curve. They are not plug-and-play boxes, since each offers a great deal of capability beyond simple D-A conversion. It takes a short while to "get" the software that allows one to get the most from these boxes. Again, these are powerful boxes and the software is the means of controlling all they can do.

3. Right now, the boxes are Mac only and connect to the computer via Firewire. However, a change is coming that will allow connection to Windows as well as connection via USB.

If all you want is the simplest possible version of these to run stereo up to 96k, the ULN-2 is ideal.
If you want to hear how good it can get (in my opinion, of course), I'd recommend auditioning an LIO-8 (which is simply a ULN-8 without the mic preamps or dsp).

Another thing I like about these products is the company behind them. I love the way they provide update paths for all their gear so none (so far) has ever been made obsolete. I find that sort of care for the customer laudable too. It is part of what has made me a fan.

Best regards,
Barry
www.soundkeeperrecordings.com
www.soundkeeperrecordings.wordpress.com
www.barrydiamentaudio.com

 

[Asamel]

Interesting, thanks.

Bruce

 

[f1eng]

I was introduced to the Metric Halo devices about 4 or 5 years ago.
There is no more accurate converter IME and as an amateur recordist I really appreciate the total transparency (though I can't hear the difference between mike feed and output at 24/96 either).
Before I plumped for the Devialet amp I used 2-channels of a LIO-8 as the best DAC I had heard at any price, though the cabling and setup need a bit of work, as Barry points out.

A lot of hifi enthusiasts prefer, it would seem, to add a bit of their chosen "colour" to the sound using their chosen equipment. My approach is also to get any colour from the music, not the equipment, if that is your approach too I can not recommend the LIO-8 too highly.

 

[rbbert]

The infamous equipment roller joeinid lists the LIO-8 in his profile.

 

[Sauerball]

I have a LIO-8. I had it in my big rig for a few years; now tethered to my Mac Pro for head-fi and digitizing vinyl.

It is a great piece, albeit with a bit of a learning curve if you're used to consumer gear.

I look forward to hearing both of these recordings!

 

[bfalls]

I also use the LIO 8 along with a the mic pre option (4 channels) which allows it to be used as a phonostage as well. Metric Halo includes the RIAA equalization curve as one of the options in the equalization module and it works really well - 24/192 is the key. In the end you have a state of the art A/D and D/A and it gives you the ability to add personality (equalization) if that is desired/needed. The unit can also drive amps directly - I've used it with Goldmund monoblocks, Atmasphere monoblocks, and First Watt monoblocks with good results.