What rack gear could you not live without in your mixes?

groselicain said:

Hands on faders.

There was a time that I worked completely in the box. I currently have a Chandler Mini Mixer in lieu of a standard console. Without getting too philosophical, the one thing I can't live without is some form of analog control on my channels.  It doesn't have to be a console that carries a pedigree like a Neve or Trident, or one full of flexibility like an SSL. It could be as simple as a four channel TEAC. You could talk about the effect analog summing has or doesn't have, topology, active versus passive, and a slew of other concepts that may or may not matter, but if something can take my eyes away from a screen and force my ears—and preferably hands—to evaluate a balance and manipulate it into the correct place throughout the journey of a piece of music, then it's indispensable.

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Agreed, when I used to record, the thing that I missed the most in home studios were big consoles, I don't care if its a Behringer console, but I need to have faders and EQs when recording, if I needed to fix something I could just turn on the EQ and twist a knob.

gear comes and goes based on need and what it provides when I use it.  While I normally do not fuss about having to have specific things,  there are a couple of key pieces I would be very sad if they died. Luckily I can fix them.  Those pieces  are the u-33 compressor by old world audio, and my AD2055 eq by Avalon design.  I can achieve everything I want from those two units and then some.  I just wish I owned more of them.

Nice to know I'm not the only U-33 owner around here. All mixes are routed through a Chandler mini mixer, so until I finish building my own mixing console that is the piece of rack gear that I cannot live without.

To me it's just all about whether my room is translating accurately for me.  So the only piece of rack gear I truly need is my power conditioner and interface.  The rest is just all for fun and doesn't really get me any closer that I can get ITB.  So I'm pretty much with Whoops on this. 

Enjoying the make/model drops, thanks y'all! Some of them I've never read on before.

Don't have any desert island gear I couldn't stand to lose, not yet. 
I'll start on a stereo u73b clone after completing the whale;  hope they become indispensable.

I think i'm in love with my TC Helicon Voicelive GTX. You can use it before or after mixing. The difference is really big. Since I'm not very good at mix-mastering, the processor gives my voice an edge and makes it sound good in the mix.
AKG 451eb and Tc Helicon Voicelive GTX combo is great. Eq is adaptive by the way.

Mbira said:

To me it's just all about whether my room is translating accurately for me. So the only piece of rack gear I truly need is my power conditioner and interface. The rest is just all for fun and doesn't really get me any closer that I can get ITB. So I'm pretty much with Whoops on this.

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for me my mixes are better if I have the luxury of a large format console. I love the tactile experience and the analogue interface of being able to change multiple parameters at the same time.

Of course this is not always possible and I have a hybrid setup in my own room. Even the best digital interface/controller is a different experience to an analogue console. I can mix in the box, but personally prefer hand to ear co-ordination with outboard. Regardless of sonic quality between outboard and a plug-in the physical interaction is a big thing for me and helps me arrive at the destination faster.

When I started working more from my own room than in large format rooms these were my no compromise pieces.

SSL bus comp x 2
Sontec / GML type EQ x 2

The above took care of my mix and drum bus.

1176's (the more the merrier)
SSL channel style / dbx 160 style compressors (the more the merrier)
1073's.... the musical filtering is unmatchable.
480L reverb (UAD has for the most part nailed this now)

What I miss analogue wise and want

Pultecs
Stereo Vari Mu compression
Ear 660

Trust your ears and go with what works for you.

ruffrecords said:

Coffee cup holder.

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Sidebar Response--

Right. AND you need a REALLY GOOD CHAIR.

I concede these are not "rack gear," but they are essential equipment for doing things right, whether at the office or in the studio. Seriously, if I am going to be stuck in any one place doing something really meaningful for an extended period, I want a really good chair. When I was a professional something or other in business, I spent a fortune on a really good, all-day chair and an equal sum for my secretary's chair because she was an essential cog in the machine. One does not perform his best if he is uncomfortable, and being uncomfortable is distracting and fatiguing, which has a deleterious impact on one's work product.

Honorable Mention - Good lighting is another consideration. Working in the dark is sorta cool for awhile, but it is not the best for seeing what you are doing and avoiding headaches, especially if your work product matters to you and your client. You cannot do your best in crummy surroundings. Just MY take. James - K8JHR

MicMaven said:

you need a REALLY GOOD CHAIR.

I concede these are not "rack gear," but they are essential equipment for doing things right, whether at the office or in the studio. Seriously, if I am going to be stuck in any one place doing something really meaningful for an extended period, I want a really good chair.

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Couldn't agree more,
I also spent a good ammount in a good chair, it's for sure a great investment

MicMaven said:

Honorable Mention - Good lighting is another consideration.

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For sure, good lighting being it natural light or good artificial light is highly important.
Also people seem to forget a quality air supply and air renewal, I've been into cave studios that people didn't understand why they got so tired while working there, and one of the main reasons was that there was no good air supply or air renewal system so the Oxygen levels were very low inside the room, and that makes you realy tired and wasted.
Without good Air you can't make good mixing decisions and it doesn't matter what gear you have in the rack or not.
Having an healthy lifestyle, doing exercise and being an happy person helps tremendous also.

So for me: Confortable Chair, Good lighting, Good Air Supply, Being healthy (physically and psychological) all come first to any rack gear

Yep -- good air. Quite right, and I would have never thought of that. James

MicMaven said:

Yep -- good air. Quite right, and I would have never thought of that. James

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What we talked about is well discussed in the great book "Recording Studio Design" by Philip Newell,
there's a chapter with all these topics:

Something important to me that could be a piece of gear or more recently a plugin is an A/B switch between what i'm working on and a good reference.

ubxf said:

Something important to me that could be a piece of gear or more recently a plugin is an A/B switch between what i'm working on and a good reference.

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Don't know if you ever tried this one but it's simply amazing

https://www.plugin-alliance.com/en/products/adptr_metricab.html

yes that is exactly what i referred to when i said a plugin

Plug-ins are very good now—good enough that they’re not going to limit my ability to do good work, even if I had no outboard at all.

When I set up my smaller west coast space I did make it a priority to have these things:

1176
LA2A
EQP-1A
H3000

I just like them and know what they do. There’s nothing magical about them—it’s just gear (but it’s gear I happen to be accustomed to using). Part of it is just that it feels comfortable to look over and see them sitting there.

That said, a good chamber and a good plate are two things that seem to have a little something that doesn’t really exist inside a computer—at least not that I’ve found yet.

But even there, plug-ins like UAD Capitol Chambers are pretty damn close.

I’ve used UAD Capitol Chambers on a mix alongside printed returns of the *actual* Capitol chambers, and it wasn’t a joke. In context, I doubt anyone could spot the source on which I used the plug-in versus the real deal.

Maybe in “solo.” But listeners don’t hear it in solo.

Gold Star chamber??? That would be very cool!!!!

Bri

Brian Roth said:

Gold Star chamber??? That would be very cool!!!!

Bri

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It sure would. It’s probably still down there under the parking lot of that Starbucks

Maybe one day someone will find a way to restore it and get some IRs

soapfoot said:

Plug-ins are very good now—good enough that they’re not going to limit my ability to do good work, even if I had no outboard at all.

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I find the same.
11 years ago when I left the previous studio I was working in and where I had an Hybrid mixing setup with a lot of good outboard gear involved, I was afraid that after I left my mixing would suffer because I didn’t have anymore those great tools. I struggled a little bit in the beginning to be honest, some tools I couldn’t the same result with plugins. Over the years I found solutions to most of them and then when I got UAD it was an huge step up. Nowadays fortunately I was able to get all the tools I needed inside the box to replace the outboard gear I love, and I’m quite happy with the results, it took time but it got there, at least for me.

soapfoot said:

When I set up my smaller west coast space I did make it a priority to have these things:

1176
LA2A
EQP-1A
H3000

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I love all of those. Great Gear

soapfoot said:

That said, a good chamber and a good plate are two things that seem to have a little something that doesn’t really exist inside a computer—at least not that I’ve found yet.

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I had huge problems with Plate sounds in plug-in format after I left the studio.
We had EMT 140 and EMT 240 plates there, and I really like the sound of those and got used to it. I missed those a lot some years ago, I even though about building my own 140 style plate.
At the present I use 2 different 140 plates inside Altiverb, and there’s also the UAD 140 plug-in which has 3 different voices inside. In a context of a Mix with the Altiverb options or UAD ones I’m able to achieve a result I like.

I still don’t have a replacement for the EMT 240 in plug-in format, if anyone has a recommendation please let me know.

Even more than plates I struggled a lot with spring reverb emulations inside the box, up to a certain point I didn’t like any of the option I had.
That was solved with GSi Type 4 plugin, and also with Line 6 Pod Farm reverbs (Fender amp spring reverb emulation)

soapfoot said:

Maybe in “solo.” But listeners don’t hear it in solo.

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That’s a really important consideration that I feel we should have.
Tchad Blake said in an interview something along this lines “I like what I do but In the end of the day I want to be able to go home and have dinner with my family”

Working well and sounding good in the context of the mix is normally good enough.
And personally I take my job seriously and always want to achieve great quality but seeing my kids grow up and having time for the family is more important than being obsessed by the micro-cosmic details of a mix

One thing I like to stay aware of is that most of our favorite music was made in a highly pragmatic way, using whatever tools were accessible.

Sometimes these were great tools, sometimes they were only okay, but in the end the artistry of the people doing the work will shine through in almost every case—that’s truly the most important thing.

I'm just a DIYer of recording music, mostly for Americana style singer-songwriter stuff. For the vocal mix in particular, an ecoplate reverb and an analog delay.
The quality of the mix does depend on good mics, preamps, and the room. So I don't distinguish this question separately from the recording process. The better the tracks, the less tools needed on the mix.