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Analog Summing: Does It Make a Difference?
Monday May 17, 2021. 04:00 PM , from Sweetwater inSync
For years in pro audio circles, there has been a persistent
debate over the virtue of analog summing. Proponents argue that summing individual tracks or stems through an analog summing box rather than inside of the DAW yields a warmer sound with improved depth and dimensionality. However, skeptics believe that is little more than hype born from analog romanticism. While opinions vary in terms of whether analog summing sounds better than digital summing, one thing is verifiably true: the two methods do sound different. And, ultimately, what matters is whether or not you find that the difference is worth the price of adding an analog summing device to your mixing setup. As someone who started his recording journey on large-format consoles and who is an unapologetic analog romanticist, I have been interested in analog summing for years. But I haven’t had the opportunity to try one of the more advanced analog summing devices in my humble home studio. I wanted to hear for myself whether or not the difference justifies owning an analog summing box. Fortunately, I was able to get my hands on a Dangerous Music D-Box+ for a couple of weeks to test it for myself, and the timing worked out nicely as I had just wrapped the production on a new song, “Leonine Boulevard,” and was ready to start mixing. In this article, I’ll take you through my experience with the D-Box+, which was, in some ways, surprising and, in other ways, completely expected. But, first, let’s take a look at how analog summing works. Dangerous Music D-Box+ (Front) Dangerous Music D-Box+ (Back) How Analog Summing Works At its most basic, summing simply refers to combining multiple tracks into a single stereo master track. If you’ve been recording and mixing in a DAW, then you’ll be familiar with routing your individual tracks, buses, and auxiliary channels to your master fader. In this circumstance, your DAW is summing tracks digitally. The process is essentially the same on a mixing console except the tracks are flowing through physical circuitry, and the inherent imperfections in those electrical pathways (referred to as nonlinearities) contribute to the characterful sound of mixing consoles and, ergo, analog summing devices. Even though high-quality analog devices are designed for accuracy, the extremely minor imperfections add up to produce subtle distortion and intermodulation that don’t occur in digital summing. It just so happens that the human ear enjoys inconsistencies, even if those inconsistencies are essentially imperceptible at a conscious level. Plug-in and DAW designers understand this concept, which is why they’ve created software that mimics the phenomenon, such as the Avid HEAT Harmonically Enhanced Algorithm Technology plug-in, the Waves NLS Nonlinear Summer plug-in, and the Slate Digital VCC Virtual Console Collection 2.0 plug-in bundle. Universal Audio Apollo x8p (Front) Universal Audio Apollo x8p (Back) It should be noted that analog summing requires a fairly significant investment in gear. First, you need an analog summing device. Next, you’ll need an interface with enough outputs to feed the device. Add to that interconnection cables, which are often pricey DB-25 snake cables. As mentioned, I used the Dangerous Music D-Box+ for this test, which has eight inputs. Normally, I rely on a Universal Audio Apollo Twin X QUAD as my recording interface, which is limited to four line outputs — half the amount I needed for the D-Box+. For this test, I used a Universal Audio Apollo x8p, which has the requisite I/O. After spending some time watching tutorials on Dangerous Music’s YouTube channel, connecting the D-Box+ was a breeze. Once the hardware was connected, it was time to set up the routing in Pro Tools. You can approach this in a number of ways, but, for my purposes, I decided on four sets of stereo groups: Group 1 (D-Box+ inputs 1 & 2): Drums, percussion, and bassGroup 2 (D-Box+ inputs 3 & 4): Synthesizers and guitarsGroup 3 (D-Box+ inputs 5 & 6): Lead vocalsGroup 4 (D-Box+ inputs 7 & 8): Background vocals Now, I had two options for the group routings. Option 1Route all the tracks within a given group to a stereo bus in Pro Tools, which in turn is outputted to the assigned tracks on the D-Box+. Option 2Route the individual tracks within a group directly to the assigned inputs on the D-Box+. What’s the difference? With option 1, I’m adding a stage of digital summing before hitting the D-Box+; with option 2, I avoid that stage of digital summing. Reading about other people’s experiences with summing boxes, I noticed that most were choosing option 1, which makes sense in terms of convenience, perhaps. Yet, I decided on the more puritanical approach — option 2. Now, in order to avoid digital summing as much as I could, I did sacrifice my drum bus, to which I usually apply some processing, especially a bus compressor. I did include some of my typical parallel drum-processing channels for compression, saturation, and so forth, but the lack of a drum bus was a pretty big change. Beyond that, I was able to apply my general mixing template, including my go-to effects sends for vocals, synths, and guitars. The Analog Summing Experience Many proponents of analog summing claim that, in order to get the most from it, you should always mix into your summing box. Why? Because, they argue, its sonic characteristics will have a significant effect on your mixing decisions. Obviously, this runs counter to the idea that analog summing devices are essentially color boxes. Meaning that, if you’re simply trying to add some analog vibe to a song, running a premixed session or stereo stems through a summing box may not yield the results you’re after and could lead to disappointment. I was very curious to see for myself if analog summing does, in fact, change the way you mix, and I can say, in my experience, it certainly does. After pulling up the faders to begin crafting an initial balance, it was clear there was a difference in sound from my typical in-the-box mix sessions. Yet, it wasn’t really “warmth” that I was hearing — it was clarity. Elements just seemed to jive more easily, especially when panned out into the stereo field. With the D-Box+, crafting an initial balance was significantly faster and easier than with digital summing. Also, I didn’t have to spend as much effort thinking about gain staging. The metering in Pro Tools no longer mattered. The only thing I had to worry about was the summing output level going back into Pro Tools. Other than that, I was able to totally rely on my ears. Full disclosure: On my first pass, I hit the D-Box+ too hard, which made the midrange frequencies harsh and a tad brittle. Thankfully, I had the foresight to assign each of the groups to its own VCA, so I was able to easily trim back the output levels without affecting my overall balance. When it came to processing my tracks with dynamics and EQ plug-ins, I found myself doing far less than I typically do. For the most part, I was employing subtractive EQ with some strategic additive EQ here and there. Also, I wasn’t reaching for saturator plug-ins as often — the tracks didn’t need them. However, the impact of the D-Box+ was most apparent when I began to apply reverb and delay effects. There was a heightened level of detail, especially in the reverb tails, which made it easier to hit the sweet spots on the effects sends. Plus, the D-Box+ increased the perception of both depth and width, allowing me to forgo stereo widening plug-ins, which I would generally employ on some of the stereo effects channels and on the mix bus. Can You Hear the Difference? Offering up an apples-to-apples comparison between digital summing and analog summing is tricky. After all, my experience confirmed the notion that one should mix into an analog summing device rather than use it as a post-mix processor. That said, for the sake of comparison, I’ve included one mix as executed with the D-Box+ and an alternate mix using Pro Tools’ digital summing. For the second mix, I left the track processing, panning, and balances intact. But I had to lower the VCA levels when taking the D-Box+ out of the equation. Before revealing which mix is which, take a listen and see if you can tell which mix was digitally summed and which was summed through the D-Box+. So, what did you think? Could you hear a difference, and, if so, which mix did you prefer? Final reveal at the end of the article! Final Thoughts The argument for analog summing often boils down to this question: Do you need an analog summing box to create professional mixes? The answer to that is simple: no. And how can we state that unequivocally? Well, because more than a few highly regarded mixing engineers such as Andrew Scheps, Dave Pensado, and Tchad Blake mix professional records entirely inside their DAWs. There is a caveat to that, however. They are, by and large, mixing records that were also professionally recorded using boatloads of high-end analog gear. But, even if you’re limited in terms of front-end gear, with enough talent and time, there is nothing stopping you from making an incredible-sounding record mixing in the box. Does that mean that analog summing boxes are just snake oil? Not at all. With this test, I confirmed, at least to myself, that analog summing has several advantages over digital summing. First, it mitigated the need for loading up my session with saturation effects and additional color processing since it provided the analog flavor those plug-ins are designed to emulate. Second, it enabled me to mix faster and more confidently. Third, it opened up the stereo field, making it easier to place elements in the panorama and to better utilize time-based effects. Finally, and most importantly, mixing through the Dangerous Music D-Box+ was a lot of fun! It gave me a similar sense of excitement that I had when I first heard a mix coming off an SSL console back in my early 20s. Could that have been confirmation bias? Perhaps. But let’s not forget that music is art first, science second; and, when it comes to choosing gear, it’s hard to put a price on inspiration. So, which mix was which? If you guessed that Mix B was the analog-summed version, then you’re correct! To hear the effect of the D-Box+ on each of the four subgroups, check out the clips below. If you’re interested in incorporating analog summing into your studio workflow, please reach out to your Sweetwater Sales Engineer at (800) 222-4700. Along with the Dangerous Music D-Box+, Sweetwater carries a wide selection of analog summing mixers from Rupert Neve Designs, API, Solid State Logic, Radial, and many more! The post Analog Summing: Does It Make a Difference? appeared first on inSync.
https://www.sweetwater.com/insync/does-analog-summing-make-a-difference/
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