Recording - September 2015 - 41

way that just doesn't happen inside the
box. By all means, we can agree that the
difference is small-sometimes barely
perceivable, sometimes more stark. But
you and only you can decide whether
you want to go the extra mile when it
comes to the sound of your mixes.

Final thoughts
Ultimately the biggest difference in
your mixes is going to be made by your
mixing engineer and not by your gear, so
if you are primarily a musician and your
choice is between getting one of these
units or hiring a professional, definitely
hire the pro! You probably won't mix
enough records in a month to justify the
cost of one of these units. On the other
hand, if you're an engineer who mixes a
lot of records and you have the means to
afford one of these units, they're definitely worth considering.
After testing these three units, I can say
that making a choice based solely on
sound would be very hard. They all
sound great and they all sound slightly
different with different source material,
and I did not always choose the same
unit as the best in each test. The
Dangerous sounds fantastically punchy,
the Rupert Neve design has that incredible Neve texture, and the SSL Sigma definitely wins for features-talkback, external MIDI control, direct outputs, and most
importantly, twice the number of channels
in one unit. However, the real goal of this
article is to give you the opportunity to listen to the subtle differences and decide
for yourself what you like best.
Another interesting point is that while
there definitely is a difference between digital and analog, there are even differences
between mixing in-the-box with Pro Tools
Native vs. Pro Tools | HDX, which came as
a surprise to me. Pro Tools also offers an
analog sound simulation plug-in called
HEAT, which I did not test but is supposed
to yield great sonic results and make up for
what you lose in a digital mix.
Keep in mind that manufacturers of
DAWs have been telling us for years that
digital "sounds just like analog." As much
as I am a huge fan and supporter of Pro
Tools, the fact alone that Avid makes an
analog simulation plug-in like HEAT is
food for thought. There wouldn't be a
need for an analog simulation plug-in if
digital sounded just as good as analog!
Your ears are the ultimate judge here,
so I invite you to download the ZIP file
and listen for yourself. Let me know what
you think; I'm eager to hear your comments and opinions.
Marc Urselli (urselli@recordingmag.com)
is a multiple Grammy®-winning engineer
working out of New York City. Read about
his current projects and past successes at
www.marcurselli.com.
RECORDING September 2015

41



http://www.clearsonic.com http://www.clearsonic.com http://www.marcurselli.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recording - September 2015

Contents
Recording - September 2015 - Intro
Recording - September 2015 - Cover1
Recording - September 2015 - Cover2
Recording - September 2015 - 1
Recording - September 2015 - 2
Recording - September 2015 - 3
Recording - September 2015 - 4
Recording - September 2015 - 5
Recording - September 2015 - Contents
Recording - September 2015 - 7
Recording - September 2015 - 8
Recording - September 2015 - 9
Recording - September 2015 - 10
Recording - September 2015 - 11
Recording - September 2015 - 12
Recording - September 2015 - 13
Recording - September 2015 - 14
Recording - September 2015 - 15
Recording - September 2015 - 16
Recording - September 2015 - 17
Recording - September 2015 - 18
Recording - September 2015 - 19
Recording - September 2015 - 20
Recording - September 2015 - 21
Recording - September 2015 - 22
Recording - September 2015 - 23
Recording - September 2015 - 24
Recording - September 2015 - 25
Recording - September 2015 - 26
Recording - September 2015 - 27
Recording - September 2015 - 28
Recording - September 2015 - 29
Recording - September 2015 - 30
Recording - September 2015 - 31
Recording - September 2015 - 32
Recording - September 2015 - 33
Recording - September 2015 - 34
Recording - September 2015 - 35
Recording - September 2015 - 36
Recording - September 2015 - 37
Recording - September 2015 - 38
Recording - September 2015 - 39
Recording - September 2015 - 40
Recording - September 2015 - 41
Recording - September 2015 - 42
Recording - September 2015 - 43
Recording - September 2015 - 44
Recording - September 2015 - 45
Recording - September 2015 - 46
Recording - September 2015 - 47
Recording - September 2015 - 48
Recording - September 2015 - 49
Recording - September 2015 - 50
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Recording - September 2015 - 72
Recording - September 2015 - Cover3
Recording - September 2015 - Cover4
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