[crunch]

My, how things change.

Of all the stuff you probably have racked up, how much of it do you actually consistently use?

Because I have a console to hold my picks, screwdrivers and various crap.

And an enormous 4 bay 36 space wall that I only use 40% of.

Max.

If I would recap my console, a dumpy old soundcraft, and it was reallllly punchy and clean, I would be using it as a front end and to monitor through.. maybe mix through? It would be fun, but nope on the recall. Just like me, a fucking goldfish.

..that now administrate a fancy forum in the middle of nowhere..

I MAY NEVER RECAP IT.

[Chris Lambrechts]

Actually … after the rack gear over the years being used less and less during the covid years it made it re-apearance to the point that it is currently back in full on use … all of it. Pre’s comps eq’s fx …

Mostly revitalised and started by the new generation going ‘hey dad can I blah such and such …’

Did the journey from all outboard to all plugins to hybrid to hybrid with 1 or 2 key pieces of outboard only back to now full hybrid with a preference to a lot of the rack gear.

And no …. Not because it is better ! Definitely not. Different at best. I do firmly believe that in the box can be as good.

But man I do like turning the knobs on some of that rack gear

Chris

[Skwaidu]

My, how things change.

Of all the stuff you probably have racked up, how much of it do you actually consistently use?

Because I have a console to hold my picks, screwdrivers and various crap.

I use my preamps and that's about it. After I converted to the MTRX Studio, I kept extra AD/DA around to have my meager outboard (little but good, the original Knif Vari-Mu, a Knif Joiku spring, an EMT 140 etc) and Vintagedesign "Neve" summing available, but I have not actually used them ever since that upgrade.  

I'm totally spoiled by offline bounce on a fast computer and even remote connecting from home, and over half of my work is 5.1, 7.1 or Atmos (film/game score stuff and "regular" music).

[crunch]

I know you guys will laugh, and not in a good way, but I have Dolby Atmos on my phone and audio sounds awesome through it. Different.. probably better.. It's more flattering in ye olde headphones? I have enormous headphones I use with it. I'm basically a luddite with contemporary crap? 

And yeah, the 40% of the rack I use is all preamps, monitor controllers and monitor switching.

Still retaining the piss-poor attitude though!

[David Aurora]

I don't do a whole lot of studio stuff these days (I've switched careers to fixing audio gear) but when I do...

For tracking, not a lot, generally a few outboard comps.

For mixing though I often patch heaps of stuff in. And then I'll often go grab guitar pedals and stuff like that on top of the outboard. In some cases it's because I don't have a plugin that does what I need in that minute, but I think often it's more of a way to break the monotony of the screen rather than a quest for sonic perfection.

It's like the tape rewinding thing- it gives you a minute to breathe/think/talk/etc.

Taking 5 minutes to patch in an outboard reverb and play with settings can be a great reset when your ticker can't take yet another cup of coffee to wake yourself up, whereas launching another reverb plugin just feels mechanical sometimes.

Plus, having limited units and/or controls can stop you going up your own ass and overthinking the way you can with plugins.

[Pounce]

Well I recently got a Neve 8816 and used it on a client mix today. That’s its first use. I’m trying to keep a modest amount of pretty good analog gear to go along with the ITB stuff and I imagine I’ll be hybrid for some time. Todays signal path out of the DAW was -

Metric Halo ULN8s sending out groups
Neve 8816 summing
Smart C1 bus compressor
Arsenal Audio Eq
Into a Silver Bullet tone box

Instant glue and width, sounded great, got there quickly. Probably more quickly than I would have if ITB only.

So my answer to the OP is that I’ve picked up just a little more outboard and plan on being hybrid and using outboard for the foreseeable future. With my studio being small and private I can make it just right for me, and therefore I really use the stuff I have. Anything I’m not using has to go - I don’t have the space or money for anything I’m not using. I was far more ITB for a stretch but have doubled down on having some good analog signal paths for my space and in this excitement I’m using all of it more.

[fulcrum]

My rack synths and outboard FX are gathering dust; I do intend to fire them up again someday, once I have a more permanent space.

About the only brick 'n' mortar I'm using these days outside of my controller keyboard is my tabletop Apollo Solo (Heritage Edition). It allegedly has a 610A and a 610B built in if you count the accompanying plug-ins interacting with the internal electronics via UAD Fucking Magic™. Now what I need is a better LDC.

[tannoy]

Everything itb here - except for preamps, monitor controller, a compressor / fx for monitoring vocals whilst recording and a quack.

[Hillbilly hell]

Dolly made her living off her rack!

Sorry ?

[fulcrum]

Don't be. If she can joke about it, so can you.