We're starting a new CD project next month and the studio offers the ability to record on 2" analog. I plan to track the bulk of the CD in Vegas Pro at home as I have in the past, but have decided this time to record the drums in a well-equipped studio. They have had much success tracking drums on 2" and transfering to a DAW. Has anyone here tried this? There are a couple issues that arise. First of all, the studio gave us 2 choices. Buy our own 2" tape for $220 a reel and walk out with our masters after the sessions, or use the tape they supply for free (which obviously they would keep and reuse for someone else). They claim the effects of using the bulk-erased tape is a couple dB's off the top end. That wouldn't work for a classical session, but should be fine for a rock drums, no? The next issue is tape speed. The machine runs at 15 or 30 IPS. When 2" was the dominant recording medium, did bands typically track their masters at 30 IPS? Are there any issues I should be aware of when the engineer transfers the 2" to digital? Since they don't have Vegas, they'll be providing me with DVD-R's with the raw WAV files. I'm wondering if taking an external firewire drive would be better.
The thought of a hybrid analog/digital CD is intriguing (especially since I'm looking at pressing some vinyl in addition to CD's), but I don't want to risk it if we are looking at a bunch of technical glitches down the road.
Is the fatness of analog tape worth the extra work if all we track on tape is the drum tracks?
Thoughts?
jp
The thought of a hybrid analog/digital CD is intriguing (especially since I'm looking at pressing some vinyl in addition to CD's), but I don't want to risk it if we are looking at a bunch of technical glitches down the road.
Is the fatness of analog tape worth the extra work if all we track on tape is the drum tracks?
Thoughts?
jp