Plug In Shorts lesson Analog vs Digital recording defined guitar tone drums pt1 get free backstage pass

[magicthunder666]

in the future Digital recording will sound exactly like Analog recording.. and then.. better :D

[soapboxearth2]

just play some slide for a month!! thanks for the info

[PilotDownhill]

when recording analog do u have to do each instrument in one take? or can u keep starting where u messed up?

[NoEgg4u]

Compression should be considered sacrilegious. Compression is what kills the dynamics of the sound. Compression is at the heart of the "loudness" wars (when taken to extremes).

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I am not an audio engineer. But I would imagine that if you have to use compression due to saturating your tape, then you have your gain (or levels) up too high.

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Excellent video, BTW. But I did not hear you mention digital's other problems, such as the low "bit" rate, and jitter.

[merkury06]

Dude this is a great explanation of digital and analog technology.  Sadly most people do not know what digital technology really means, just that it is newer and "better".

[perfectthetech]

Yes, exactly, great.

[synth77]

I was thinking but getting one of them Otari MX 5050 there fairly cheap but still used by pros.

[mta415]

I prefer analog over digital. My system is just "high end" enough where you can actually hear the difference. No digital "jitter" is also a plus.

[djverdugo7]

The vinyl has true sound stage which makes it sound wider & more pronounce CDs doesn't have that.

[generik88]

I want to make a video where I talk for 10 min with a guitar in my hands, and don't do anything with it.

[DawnPatroler]

if anologe ever gets popular again, I'll be in line with that

[ShimmySystem]

On digital you can put a limiter/compressor though. Analog is probably better but I think it's a bit audiophilic to absolutely cast out digital. It's obviously what a lot of people are doing and what a lot of people use to listen to the music, so what's the point of recording on an analog that'll just be digitalized in the end?

Like you said, digital has much more you can do than with analog.

[jjontte]

Beauuutiful Fender!

[TheSCSB]

this video is very helpful and semi-professional, but it is in many ways corny, like dave holding a guitar there, everyone who watched this probably anticipated him playing something, but then you notice he as a hurt thumb and the guitar isn't even plugged in. very good video, but drop the corny stuff for professionalism.

[StopTheMoti0n]

these informative videos you all have been posting lately are really helpful, keep it up!

[audeconn]

that guitar is scary beautiful

[hmmm5000]

Dave!! You gotta be careful where you're stickin that thing buddy!! LOL..Just kidding..thanks for the vids:D

[unseenbeach]

DAVE! did you break your thumb?? I did that recently and it messed with my guitar playing!

[rockongoodpeople]

Hi - I fractured my thumb playing basketball - on the DL for another 3 weeks - but will take more than that to stop the rock here at NLG

rockon!

David T

[drewrocks43]

i love how he has a guitar but doesn nothing w/ itt :p

[astro2191]

lol w/e its a beautiful guitar

[HoosierLine]

Sorry you had a boo boo with your thumb Dave but I have one question..........can that thing double as a slide?? ( :

[seachnasaigh]

Thanks, Dave ... and hope your thumb is better!

This is a tough technical/artistic topic. Lots of recording engineers get real religious about this sorta thing. Your vid is a good intro; for the h8trz, this is 10mm into a 10m pond, give the man a break. It's a complex topic and this is just an intro for folx who haven't seen any of it.

Love your stuff, Dave. Rockon soon.

[MrMusicgenius]

what are u talking about?

[Sideler74]

What's Up Good People!

That's the 1st thing I said to Dave when I met him this past Labor Day weekend @ a bar called "The Ketch" in Beach Haven, NJ. We spoke for a few minutes about his YouTube page I told him how I'ver been watching his lessons for a few years now & he was very appreciative. He's one of the coolest guys ever. Rock On My Good People!

[lifedelay]

digital is kinda cold

[FrosredZiggy]

Hey man, did you sprain your thumb? Oh well, get better soon so you can start showing us more tips on the guitar.

[AdidasMix]

i want that guitar *.*

[makeubad35]

Cool vid but umm ... Was there a reason for the guitar? Haha jk jk hope your thumb heals :)

[damuddykip]

I would not of watched this whole video if he wasn't holding the guitar.

[FaNwlnG]

hurted your thumb ?

[claronaminerva]

farting in the bathtub = analog.. It has a warm sound too. Has a warm feeling. If you adjust the compression you can get a quick sharp sound or a soft warm one.

[Haydeosmith]

I Hope your thumb is going famously

[500passwords]

great job dave , thanks for sharing your knowledge .

wow , there sure is a lot of studio techs commenting about this subject .lol

[umajunkcollector]

Sooo, a vibrating string is analog. A vibrating drum head is analog. A vibrating reed is analog. A farting trombone is analog. A vibrating stylus is analog. A vibrating diaphram is analog. It's natural, and no conversion needed as in digital. But analog is decadent, therefore digital is better for recording (making exact copies). So digital is a great way to store analog (in memory media).

[umajunkcollector]

I think digital is a form of analog. IF you have like 100 pulses per second, that's a freq of 100 CPS. IF you turn a light switch on and off five times a second, that's a freq of 5CPS. Or is everything digital like in our brains? Does our ears convert freqs (analog) into digital pulses for the brain, i.e. one pulse at a time processed extreemly fast? Think digital, think pulse, think analog, think TIME or freqs!

[umajunkcollector]

speakers = analog

mics = analog

ears = analog

i.e. air waves aka sound

analog means various frequencies

digital is converted to analog, it depends on the freq of the pulses. So it all boils down to analog, digital has to be converted to analog, cuz that's how we hear. You cannot hear electrric pulses, it's converted to audio via a MODEM, ii.e. it's modulated down to VLF, then decoded via an AD/DA converter, or else the digital pulses would be merely noise. A pulse is either on or off.

[umajunkcollector]

digital = very fast pulses,

analog = flow (not unlike an anal-log).

Some of the 60s FX was junk back then. It was not always reliable. I remember fuzz pedals that were just crap, but now sell for big bucks cuz it's "analog old skool"". HUMMMMMMMMMM BUZZZZZZZZZZ intermittant loose connections blown tubes smoke yah, those were the good ol' daze!

[JonDeth]

Research 1 bit recorders, they have no break in the recording path making them superior to analog. I circulated this concept for years until someone finally built one.

Digital clipping is the only element of the technology I will fault. At 24/96 it's the TINIEST bit murky. It's the only facet that will single it out from tube/chips.

You can however overdrive a digital distortion set low, with an analog pedal and the murk is gone.

That "warmth" is a salesman pitch tactic and nothing more.

[TaffyRaphie]

you're using a sales tactic too though. getting us to buy digital. their both good. i can't tell the difference either but some people like the fact that they have something vintage and having it analog makes them feel like its more vintage

[JonDeth]

Truth isn't a sales tactic

I own analog, digital and tube gear. When guys talk about warmth I laugh at them because it's pure malarkey. Generally these guys have been burning up their ear drums for a good 10-20 years or longer in clubs and also don't know the technology from an engineers point of view

No way their ears are better than mine

Push comes to shove, most engineers will admit there's no differentiating tube from analog if the circuits are well designed and using quality components

[Sick1982]

Differentiating tubes from analog? Tubes are analog. So you are telling me that with the right design you can make trannies respond, saturate and clip 100% exactly like tubes? Also have same heating pattern and respond accordingly? And since they are both build differently and consist of different material behave exactly the same under all conditions? Even if you use it in a way it was not "properly designed" for? Now, this is what they all say but fail to replicate :-)

[JonDeth]

Generally a tech refers to analog and tube separately as analog 99% of the time is referring to solid state circuitry seeing how this is 2009 not 1959.

You use catch phrases rather than technical phrasing which tells me you're ignorant in regards to both technologies.

Bottom line is clipping characteristics, frequency curves, compression/dampening, line voltages and impedance. Yes, a chip and transistor circuit can behave exactly the same as tube circuits.

Tube/Brand loyalty is lame.

[Sick1982]

No, it's called 'logic', I'm not an electrical engineer, and you don't have to be one, to know enough about materials to be able to judge that something just can't be replaced by something else. That's just braindead in ANY discussion. Now, mr I-think-I-am-so-smart-and-uplo­ad-poorly-rated-videos, please prove you are right! Give me something that sounds exacts the same like something else but uses different components! No excuses!!

[JonDeth]

Gee, something like the circuit I invented that makes the guitar sound like a trumpet?

The reason tubes are still used so frequently is that while they're delicate, they're an easier technology to learn and it's incredibly difficult to build a piece of tube equipment, complex or simple, that performs like shit.

Get an entrepreneur with basic soldering skills and no tech knowledge, they'll still be able to design a tube amp off a common design while chips have more capability and difficulty.

[JonDeth]

Also understand, solid state is called that because it's more stable and reliable than tubes. The chip/transistor circuits are much more involved and difficult to design but can be tailored to do a lot more and in the build stage, cost a lot less.

A tube circuit can do the same but, you end up with a circuit that's basically solid state in design but relying on a tube for the "engine".

Tube vs Solid State vs Digital.

For now S.S. wins but eventually digital will completely take over.

[hangin10]

Wrong. Solid state is called solid state because the physical device is solid. Doped silicon. Tubes need to heat up a filament that causes electrons to jump through a vacuum (ie mostly empty space) through a grating to another element.

Either device variety can be digital. It depends on how it's used.

[JonDeth]

You're a moron.

I build and engineer SOLID STATE circuits. It's called that because it's more stable AKA made from solid materials. STABLE materials, duh.

Tubes are unstable and vulnerable.

In terms of digital, you've made an even bigger fool of yourself Neither tubes or chips/transistors are digital. They can and are implemented in digital circuitry but are not and can not be "digital".

Digital circuits involve a microprocessor or DSP as the heart/brain of the system.

[TechnicolorTypeA]

rofl actually you're wrong and hangin10 is right.

[JonDeth]

Use a dictionary retard

[TechnicolorTypeA]

what the fuck are you talking about? a dictionary for what? what the fuck

[ajkiller1]

I disagree. The Tone Fetishes out there will always live by their tube amps, and that is the way it should be.... :D

[JonDeth]

Yes but they are ignorant of the technology and in a blind sound test, won't know digital from tube from chip.

Tube amps are praised by the manufacturers for the simple fact that the novice technician can build one off a stock schematic from 70 years ago, change a few parts and BAM, theirs sounds a little different, was easy to build and sounds good.

Digital preamps and solid state preamps are a LOT more work but if you put in the effort, they absolutely do more and perform better.

[ajkiller1]

Whats your point...... Don't you know what a fetish is? ^^ I agree though, eventually, like anything else, technology will catch up, but again, FETISHH!!!

[JonDeth]

Point is the fetish is rooted in ignorance, not knowledge as they all claim since they persist the tubes sound and perform superior and "warm"

-most of them are half deaf from blasting out there ears in small clubs for 20 years!

[tiddlywinks98712]

im not 'ignorant of technology' just cus i prefer digital...if u listen to 'rock' music now..it sounds SO FAKE...overproduced, and un-real, digital, harsh sounding, and basically produced like a britney spears record...rock back in the day...up to even the mid 90s, raw, powerful, live sounding, REAL...thats why I prefer digital...

HOWEVER, for pop and R&B, yae, digial is way better than analog for those genres...but i listen to rock, thats why i choose analog, not out of ignorance

[JonDeth]

If the equipment is set up right, there's absolutely no way of knowing what you're hearing without actually looking.

I own analog chip, digital chip and tube amps and pedals. I also design circuits, modify circuits, cabinets etc.

Players know what pleases their ears but don't understand why things sound the way they do and that one technology isn't capable of producing a sound no other technology can deliver.

It's far more basic than the salesmen and tubeheads would have you believe.

[TaffyRaphie]

obviously you're saying its the truth AS a sales tactic, that is you would if you were really trying to sell it to me.

[JonDeth]

No I'm setting you straight with the knowledge I've gained through YEARS studying the technology, dispelling industry myths and modifying, building and even designing circuitry.

Engineering wise, tubes are easier and the high voltage/amperage is the primary reason they perform so well. Would you rather a 100 hp car or a 1,000 hp car?

My point is that under blindfold NOBODY can tell the difference and if you can't afford something expensive, something cheap can perform equally as well.

[johnnylifeson]

I agree...

[JonDeth]

Good to know others are aware of the facts.

[JonDeth]

Debate it all you like, in a blind sound test NOBODY will be able to tell the difference from one or the other if a good job is done.

The same is true with amplification.

A lot of companies have brought in veterans of the industry and had them attempt to differentiate between analog and digital in a blind test-none of them were respectably accurate.

Analog is copying as well.

Any method of recording is simply the machines interpretation of the wave signal.

Warm..lmao!

Such a myth .

[kw1ksh0t]

I would still go for digital, so much easier

[lazrpo1nt3r]

If I could afford analog recording, I'd totally record drums on that before putting it through my digital soundboard. I'm almost sick and tired of managing the peaks that come from the snare drum being hit.

[Bertziethegreat]

I plugged in my shorts, but they caught fire!

[xCYNICOUTCASTx]

sat there for 10 and a half minutes with a guitar and didnt play it once. hahaha. still enjoyed this video

[LedZeppelinKashmir]

im probably the first one to actually watch the entire video lol

[TheOnlyThinker]

go analog all the way!

[googenshlagen]

I mean, while digital recording is technically more "clean," the records everyone grew up listening and loving were recorded on analog tape, and whether those had "good" sound quality or not, that's the sound we like, because those are the songs and records that we love, and we want to hear that sound.

[alohastewie]

yea go analog

1st comment =)

[overmindzerg]

1st

[doggydog56789]

Thanks for this, i was wondering about some of these things.

[10lipicht]

first viewer!

[jakedeving]

lucky, ive always wanted to be one :P

[BiscuitsJoe]

no you aren't

[thebober10]

nice