r/audioengineering 1d ago

Community Help r/AudioEngineering Shopping, Setup, and Technical Help Desk

2 Upvotes

Welcome to the r/AudioEngineering help desk. A place where you can ask community members for help shopping for and setting up audio engineering gear.

This thread refreshes every 7 days. You may need to repost your question again in the next help desk post if a redditor isn't around to answer. Please be patient!

This is the place to ask questions like how do I plug ABC into XYZ, etc., get tech support, and ask for software and hardware shopping help.

Shopping and purchase advice

Please consider searching the subreddit first! Many questions have been asked and answered already.

Setup, troubleshooting and tech support

Have you contacted the manufacturer?

  • You should. For product support, please first contact the manufacturer. Reddit can't do much about broken or faulty products

Before asking a question, please also check to see if your answer is in one of these:

Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) Subreddits

Related Audio Subreddits

This sub is focused on professional audio. Before commenting here, check if one of these other subreddits are better suited:

Consumer audio, home theater, car audio, gaming audio, etc. do not belong here and will be removed as off-topic.


r/audioengineering Feb 18 '22

Community Help Please Read Our FAQ Before Posting - It May Answer Your Question!

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45 Upvotes

r/audioengineering 8h ago

The Men I Trust sound

24 Upvotes

Any idea on just general recording/production for getting the sound of this song? It feels so full but still so reserved. I don't want to flatten everything or just mute my drums, but I'm just hoping for some general advice. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bDuNZpIFOw&list=RD1bDuNZpIFOw&start_radio=1


r/audioengineering 3h ago

Microphones Mic Shootout for Male Tenor Vocals w/ Cover (TLM107 vs TLM103)

6 Upvotes

Nothing scientific but I've recorded a cover of "Pillowtalk" by Zayn with these two mics hoping, to find the right microphone for me as a Male vocalist up in the tenor range and seeing which mic I should keep/sell.

All recordings were made in an untreated room, about 4 inches away, and the vocal chain is basically straight from my MOTU M4 to FL Studio running a compressor and stock reverb. The only EQ I have is for a high pass filter on 40Hz. I've tried to gain match them as best I can. Any feedback is appreciate!

TLM 103 With Backing Track Voice with Reverb only
TLM 107 With Backing Track Voice with Reverb only

r/audioengineering 2h ago

Is it doable to mod an analog tape delay so it has a speed controll?

2 Upvotes

I recently bought a Mixer that has an analog tape delay built in. But it’s lacking a couple features. While I think adding an extra output for the delay (right now I can’t get it seperated from the main channel) should be fine, and maybe even get separate outputs for every tape head (not so sure about that because of the bias and all, but I thought maybe via a classic decoupling capacitor) I have no idea about motors, especially from old tape delays. Can I just throw a variable resistor on the circuit and that’s enough? Any suggestions what I could search for, are there any mods people have made that I could just follow? Every advise, resources or thoughts are highly appreciated :)

The Mixer is the LEM Baby Pro Powermixer btw

Edit: If you know any subreddits, that are a better address for this question please let me know :)


r/audioengineering 1h ago

Discussion New Sound Techniques / Warm Audio JUDE-MP preamps

Upvotes

I stumbled upon these new preamps (if I could, you can find them too), and I found them intriguing, because apparently, they were used to record some of the very classic records like a minority of The Beatles' stuff, Bowie, Elton John and Queen stuff done at Trident studios. When the Levee Breaks was mixed on the console too, and there's an alternate Sunset Sound mix of Stairway mixed on it.

Now it seems that Sound Techniques tried to resurrect the range, I guess nobody was buying it, so they teamed up with Warm to make it affordable (which is good). They don't have output trims, only impedance matching (while at it they could've put the impedance higher than 1.5k to accommodate for ribbons imo), and it's a class A design with input and output transformers.

Warm Audio imo makes decent gear, but quite coloured and not exactly to the tightest tolerances. When I bought my first SSL piece, I got a taste for more modern hi-fi stuff that's easy to set up for stereo.

Have you heard of these Sound Techniques A-Range being cloned before? What do you think and expect? Is it the same as Trident A-Range?


r/audioengineering 12h ago

Science & Tech Good, old (maybe not even around anymore) forums?

7 Upvotes

I'm currently researching the old Buchla 100 series LSD legend and was wondering if anyone has any suggestions for older forums like ModWiggler, Reverb etc?

It's fine if they're not around anymore, I can search them on the internet archive, and am mostly looking for more info and images for a vid I'm making.

Thanks!


r/audioengineering 7h ago

Mixing 2 track phase

4 Upvotes

Does the phase of a 2 track beat really matter or mean anything, and if so how would I go about fixing it and getting its correlation up?

(Sorry if my question is confusing I’m not home right now to give a physical example but will do that asap!)


r/audioengineering 13h ago

Discussion Mixing Shoegaze Starter Pack

6 Upvotes

Shoegaze is a genre that I love but have never recorded or mixed. I want to try and take one of the songs I've written, or write a new one, and record it and mix it as a shoegaze song.

If you have experience with this, what are some specific common techniques that you would reccommend. Since this is audioengineering, I'm looking more for effects and mixing techniques, like what types of reverbs, guitar effects and such.


r/audioengineering 5h ago

Building a bass rig for both live and studio use

1 Upvotes

I am aware that I am over-engineering a system. And I may be too wed to rack-mounted equipment. However, I would like to build a rack that can handle my basses and acoustic instruments (upright bass and cello). I've spent dozens of hours trying to learn and build a system, including with over 400 prompts to Chat (please don't crucify me). I really like the functionality I've settled on:

https://www.reddit.com/user/dlflr/comments/1w4jukc/bass_rig_conceptual_design/

Routing / MIDI-control approaches I've already considered

Approach Examples I've considered Why it's attractive to me Why I haven't simply chosen it
1. Full programmable analog matrix CB XPatch-32, Wolff ProPatch 32R, Flock PATCH, Alyseum MATRIX II, vintage Sound Sculpture Switchblade / 360 Systems, Anatal XBay This is the closest match I've found to what I need: arbitrary analog A→B routing, mono multing, independent stereo paths, processor sends/returns, tuner routing, output assignment, and scene recall Some lack straightforward MIDI; some rely on computer/software control; some are Eurorack; Anatal is wildly overkill/expensive. XPatch-32 is currently my leading version of this approach.
2. MIDI source selector / simple analog mixer RJM IS-84 Very robust, all-analog audio path, straightforward MIDI, purpose-built for live use It isn't actually a matrix. Selected inputs enter a common summed bus, so I can't preserve two independent signals such as passive stereo bass A/B or acoustic pickup/mic. It could be useful as a selector, but it isn't sufficient as my rig's main router.
3. Smaller MIDI loop/router system Morningstar ML10X, RJM Effect Gizmo Much cheaper and simpler than a studio matrix; analog audio; excellent MIDI implementations My topology requires more than serial effects loops: one source → multiple destinations, independent two-source routing, returns → multiple destinations, plus controlled mixing. The ML10X came surprisingly close, but its matrix/mixing capacity appears limiting for what I'm trying to do.
4. Modular digitally controlled analog routing system CB Electronics ER-Patch + ER-Gain+Sum + ER-Processor + ER-MicAmp This is basically built for my problem: true analog matrix, active multing, recallable routing, gain, summing, and preamps Functionally it's excellent, but physically it's specialized: Eurorack, 3.5 mm infrastructure, multiple modules/control boxes. I started looking for a cleaner conventional-rack equivalent.
5. Conventional 500-series + external MIDI router Black Lion PBR 8-500, Heritage / Rupert Neve / API chassis + XPatch / Wolff / etc. This gives me a very open ecosystem. I can choose almost any compressors, EQs, saturation, and preamps while keeping the entire audio path analog Ordinary 500-series modules generally have no preset recall, so either the processing stays manual or each processor needs its own digital-control scheme.
6. Digitally controlled analog 500-series ecosystem WesAudio _TITAN + ng500 modules such as _MIMAS, _DIONE, _HYPERION, _PROMETHEUS, etc. This may be the cleanest processing concept I've found: analog audio + digital parameter control + total recall in a modular chassis The practical ecosystem is mostly WesAudio; ordinary 500 modules don't gain recall just by being installed. My biggest remaining question is clean standalone MIDI control from the MasterMind to GCon/_TITAN without needing a computer.
7. SKnote digitally controlled analog ecosystem Etna-M5, Etna-Q5, Vastaso-500, Leso-500; Etna-P / Etna-Y / Etna-R routing systems This gives me analog processing with total recall and potentially compression, EQ, saturation, routing, and mixing inside one family Control relies on SKnote's Etna ecosystem rather than obviously direct conventional MIDI. I haven't found enough documentation to prove simple MasterMind integration.
8. Next-generation modular analog-control platform Karno SEPIA Philosophically this is almost ideal for me: modular analog circuits designed from the beginning around digital control/recall It's still a relatively young ecosystem. I haven't proven that its routing/mixing architecture can handle my entire two-path + tuner + final-sum requirement.
9. Integrated analog mixer / 500-series mixer Heritage MCM-8 II, Harrison D510r + D510mx, SKnote Etna-R These naturally give me the analog mix/sum stage and may combine several rack functions They're usually excellent at mixing, but not arbitrary source routing. Most conventional solutions also don't give me MIDI recall of mixer/routing states.
10. MIDI-controlled analog processors independent of the router Bettermaker, OTO BOUM, Strymon Compadre, AudioTouch C-Buss, various SKnote/WesAudio products I can keep routing and processing separate: the router recalls topology while each compressor/EQ/etc. recalls its own settings I've been surprised by how few professional analog processors offer the combination of direct MIDI + presets + independent channels. Many great studio processors are manual; others require USB/plugin/proprietary control.
11. Digital mixer / DSP as the system brain Generic rack digital mixers, DSP processors, UA/TC/dNa-type approaches This would make routing, mixing, parameter recall, and scene management extremely easy I've deliberately rejected this approach. One of my core design goals is analog audio with digital control, rather than digitizing the instrument signal for convenience.

The basic problem I'm trying to solve

I need an analog routing/control system that can do things like:

```text PASSIVE MONO BASS | +----> PATH A | +----> PATH B

PASSIVE STEREO BASS A ----------------> PATH A B ----------------> PATH B

ACOUSTIC INSTRUMENT Pickup ------------> PATH A Mic ---------------> PATH B ```

Each path then has independent analog processing:

```text PATH A: Compression -> EQ -> Optional additional processors / loops

PATH B: Compression -> EQ -> Analog distortion -> Optional additional processors / loops ```

Then both processed paths return to the routing/mixing system:

text PATH A RETURN ----\ >---- ROUTING / MIXING ----+ PATH B RETURN ----/ | +--> Cab A only +--> Cab B only +--> Stereo: A -> Cab A / B -> Cab B +--> A+B mono -> both cabinets +--> A+B mono -> one cabinet +--> A+B mono -> FOH

I want the FOH feed and single-cab feed to be able to use the same final analog mono mix.

Hard requirements that keep eliminating products

  • I want the audio path to stay analog
  • Digital control / relay control / digitally controlled analog is fine
  • I need up to two independent simultaneous source channels
  • A passive mono bass needs to be actively multed into both paths
  • A passive stereo bass needs to remain genuinely independent A/B
  • An acoustic pickup + mic need to remain independently processable
  • I don't want any compulsory pre-processing summing
  • I need two independent processing paths
  • I want compression on both paths
  • I want independent EQ on both paths
  • I want analog distortion available on one path
  • Both processing paths need to return to the router/mixer
  • I want independent Path A / Path B mix levels
  • I need a final analog A+B mono sum
  • I want separate two-cab stereo operation
  • I want A+B mono to both cabinets
  • I want A+B mono to a single cabinet
  • I want the same A+B mono mix available to FOH
  • I want a dedicated clean tuner feed
  • I don't want to repatch the rear of the rack between instruments/scenes
  • Ideally, I want everything recalled from an RJM MasterMind
  • I strongly prefer standard MIDI Program Change / CC
  • I strongly prefer no laptop/computer required on stage

What I'm hoping to learn

The big question I'm hoping the sub can help me answer is:

What professional analog hardware or ecosystem am I missing that provides digitally recallable routing and/or processing without converting the audio to digital?

In particular, is there a current product somewhere between:

"guitar MIDI loop switcher"

and

"$10k+ studio routing matrix"

that can handle:

  • two independent sources
  • active multing
  • two independent processing paths
  • processor sends and returns
  • independent return mix levels
  • recallable output routing
  • final analog mono summing
  • normal MIDI Program Change / CC control

And on the processing side, are there any overlooked digitally controlled analog preamps, compressors, EQs, or saturation/distortion units with real hardware preset recall and straightforward MIDI control rather than requiring a DAW/plugin/computer host?

I'm especially interested in obscure broadcast, live-sound, installation, mastering, or older studio automation hardware that might not show up when searching for "MIDI guitar router."


r/audioengineering 23h ago

Discussion Engineers who work with vocalists: what should be fixed at the performance/recording stage vs. in the mix?

29 Upvotes

I’m a beginner singer who recently started learning more about recording and mixing, and I’m trying to better understand the line between what should be addressed through singing technique/performance and what should be handled in the mix.

From an engineer’s perspective, when working with vocalists, what are the things you really want the singer to get right at the recording stage rather than expecting them to be fixed later in the mix?

And on the other hand, what are some things singers often worry about or try to control while recording that you’d rather they just leave to the engineer?

For example, I’m currently learning about things like dynamics, differences in tone and volume between registers, mic technique, resonance, breathiness, etc.
Sometimes I’m not sure whether I should change the way I sing something or simply sing it naturally and address the difference later with volume automation, EQ, compression, etc.

I’d especially love to hear from people who have worked with a lot of vocalists.
What makes you think “great, this singer gave me exactly what I need to make this vocal sound good”?

I’ve just started learning both singing and mixing, so I’m trying to develop a better sense of where the singer’s job ends and the engineer’s job begins.


r/audioengineering 21h ago

Mix Bus & The Master Stage

13 Upvotes

When I am mixing and specifically at the mix bus stage, I find myself combing the stage of mastering into the mix bus. I look at other people’s mix bus processing and it’s the same as a mastering chain, so why duplicate the processing I ask myself.
After having met Irko a few months ago, I asked him about his mix bus approach and philosophy. What I took away and realized was why try to fix things at that mix bus stage. If something is resonating or poking out, I’ll go to that specific instrument and channel, and fix it. I won’t try to fix it at the mix bus stage, to me that is the mix bus stage, taking a step back and evaluating where to fine tune things so they all sit better together.

Once the mix sounds really clean, balanced, and all that good stuff. I start the combination of mix bus and mastering stage. I’ll EQ out anything I don’t want, but very little because it’s always taken care of due to the clean mix I already did and the work I did on individual channels. Then I’ll do mix bus compression, notch out some more EQ, mastering Tape emulation, then sometimes Neve pre amp for digital summing, onto to clipping, limiting.

I know if it works and sounds good then that is all that matters, and this works for me. And there is no wrong way. I am just wondering if I am missing out on anything by doing it this way? I also realize we, and my mix approach have far more processing power than the records pre plugin and digital age. So I know it doesn’t need much processing, and certainly not double processing to achieve a great mix and sound. Like why on the mix bus EQ, compress, saturate and even clip and limit, and hand it to a mastering engineering for them to do the same thing. Just fix it on individual channels, auxes, and groups, then the mix bus and mastering bus works way less harder


r/audioengineering 2h ago

No clue what I’m doing wrong

0 Upvotes

Mixing techno - I’m constantly told my mixes sound muddy even though to me, they sound totally fine. I listen with multiple reference devices and can’t find a single thing that should be altered. What do I do?

So I make ambient-ish techno. It’s in the realm of Skee Mask, Andy Stott, Priori, Floating Points…

I try to limit myself to one mid range element which is usually a pad or something similar. Then I have other higher frequency elements in the background going on and a big booming bass. With this specific song I have in mind, I only have 7 layers for the entire song. Kick, hat, bass, pad, high end thin synth, percussive glitchy synth, and a distorted glitchy noise layer for texture. So everything is above 500 hz except for the bass, kick, and pad. So I’m just not understanding why my mix is considered “muddy”

I just don’t get it. I do everything that I think is right for years and think I’m finally a pretty decent mixer and then I get flamed the second I share something that I thought was amazing. It just makes no sense to me. Also, I listened to my reference track and my track side by side and I don’t get how the reference track isn’t considered muddy…. its New Romantic by Andy Stott and it’s considered one of the greatest electronic songs of that subgenre yet to me, it sounds so muddy compared to my song. So what do I even do here??


r/audioengineering 11h ago

Discussion Best way to determine acoustics for a hall?

0 Upvotes

Hi all, what is the best way to to calculate how much acoustic treatment is needed for a large hall (500+ people)? Is there a way to calculate what type of material would be needed for the acoustic treatment, how much is needed, where it should be placed, etc.

My initial thought was to use REW and based off of some calculations using the Sabin equation, it could help me determine how much treatment is needed, and then to create a design of the hall using EASE 5. Would this be the correct approach?


r/audioengineering 1d ago

Discussion How do these lesser-know plug-in companies survive?

34 Upvotes

There are like a million of these no-name companies, and most are selling the same plugins with really slight variations. If you're spending good money on these things, why wouldn't you just go with the super popular plug-ins? Realistically, I can see maybe choosing from the top 10-20 options for whatever category you're looking at. But below that margin? Doesn't seem like it's worth searching through and experimenting at that point.


r/audioengineering 1d ago

Discussion Old Neil Young recording question for the vets

28 Upvotes

His 1978 album "Comes a Time" has one of my favourite sounds and feels of any album, it's this incredibly natural, woody, warm and easy sound. I was wondering if anyone knows (or could offer an informed guess) as to what gear was used, mics etc. I did some digging and it looks like that a lot the main tracking was done at Triiad Recording Studios in Fort Lauderdale, Florida in 1977.


r/audioengineering 1d ago

Mixing Request for songs to listen to on new studio monitors

20 Upvotes

I have been dreaming of having home studio for years. I recently moved and finally have the space to create it! I JUST bought a pair of Kali Audio IN-8's and I am WIPED with how incredible music sounds through them. I feel like I'm Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz when everything becomes color. Would love to know if anybody has recommendations for music to listen to on them to hear the definition/ stereo field/ mixing details/ just overall bask in audio bliss!


r/audioengineering 1d ago

How to turn audio files into a ready-to-download file?

9 Upvotes

Hey, none-time lurker first-time poster.

My friends and I messed around and made an album. We do not want to put it on streaming, we just want to have it be a downloadable file. We made a very simple website and plan to have a hyperlink to a zip file in Google Drive (feel free to suggest a better idea, this is what we came up with).

The problem: turning the audio files into a ready-to-download file seems... impossible? We can't get the songs to show up in the correct order without having each one start with a number. We can't get the artist name to show up. We can't figure out how to get the album artwork to be ready by iTunes as the album artwork. What gives?

Any and all help appreciated <3 thank you so much!!!!!!

Edit with solution: I used Mp3tag to add all the metadata to the files. Then, I used dBpoweramp Music Converter to convert the files from wav to m4a. Dragged the album into iTunes and all the info is there, songs are in the right order without having a number in the song title, album cover shows up, etc! Thank you everyone!


r/audioengineering 1d ago

Software Software that allows for fine tuning just intervals?

2 Upvotes

Hey everyone. I'm working on a project and I'd like to experiment with fine-tuning using just intervals. I was wondering if anyone with experience fine-tuning their tracks has any advice.

To me, it seems like the easiest way to do this would be to adjust individual notes by frequency in hz. Since pure intervals use ratios between frequencies, it would be super easy to just do the math and specify at what frequency I want each note to be.

I haven't really found a software that allows me to do this yet, though. I've found ways to fine tune in cents, but I have no way of figuring out how to make just harmonies with that. When I try to use cents, it always sounds a little out of tune because it's not EXACTLY the correct ratio.

I know this is probably a pretty uncommon issue, but I appreciate any tips I can get! Thanks!


r/audioengineering 1d ago

Patch Bay Routing Advice

2 Upvotes

I tried to mock up a potential basis for my home setup. its very basic at this point, but I'd like some insight on if I have this routing correct.

patch bay has mics/snake routed to the SSL preamps by default. this leaves me with the additional lakeside pre and distressor as options. In this diagram, I am chooising to go:

mic > lakeside > distressor > input 1 of SSL

am I way off here? any recommendations?

https://canva.link/osbmdxsoga5h6c7

EDIT: sorry if this doesn't belong here, happy to post in the relevant place


r/audioengineering 1d ago

Advice for bachelor's degree in audio engineering

2 Upvotes

What's up guys, looking for advice here -

Here is a little background info - I'm in my early 20's, I've been working in the world of live event production since I was 17 years old. I started as a warehouse worker/trunk pusher, but I've done a great job at networking, making actual connections, and using these connections to help work my way up in this industry. i'm from the California, more specifically the Central Valley / SoCal area, so there is good work for me here. I've gotten great experience over the years in all things production. I've worked for numerous production companies, but now I currently freelance as an A1/A2 on a weekly basis, meaning I get paid to mix on a regular basis. I'm currently in my junior year of Uni, I'm majoring in audio engineering and I'm currently in a bachelor's program for it.

Here is where the advice comes in - I've been presented with the opportunity to go on tour with a fairly big artist. It is not 100% set in stone, but everything is looking promising. If I go on the road, it would be right in the middle of my semester, I would be on the road for at least 1 month. This means that I would need to put a pause on school. This is because my University does not offer any of the classes needed online. Everyone around me is advising me to just take the semester off, the only issue I have is that the specific classes that I need for this semester are only available in the Fall, meaning I would essentially be a year behind in my studies.

I know that I do not need a degree to be an Audio Engineer, but I want the security in the long run. Also, mentioning to everyone that I've been in school this entire time has opened a majority of the doors for me, being that I've been so young compared to my peers, it's been harder to land certain opportunities, school has been the key to most of these conversations.

Does anyone have an online school that they could recommend? Or should I ask my University if they would allow me to test out of my PreReq classes (I am already familiar with a lot of the course work being that I've been working in this industry for 5+ years)?

Any feedback is appreciated. Thanks!


r/audioengineering 1d ago

How to start my freelance career in post production?

2 Upvotes

Hello! I’ve been a studio engineer in a Voice over recording studio for 5 years and it’s been awesome. But sadly the owner is shutting down the studio. I still have till the end of the year to find something but wondering how did most of you guys in post that are freelancers find your clients? I understand networking and knowing people but you guys ever just send out a cold email or connection on LinkedIn and have that turn into something? Just trying to get a network setup before I’m out of a job. Luckily based in Los Angeles. Thank in advance for any pointers or help!


r/audioengineering 1d ago

Discussion Any other Slate VSX fans here? Which rooms do you use?

0 Upvotes

I have an untreated apartment, so I went all-in on the Slate VSX ecosystem. It's been really helpful. Before I was using Sonarworks, but I didn't realize how inaccurate it was until I got the VSX. I spend the vast majority of my time mixing in Human Linear, but I like the Howie mastering room and Desert Studio. Do you have any favs?


r/audioengineering 1d ago

Discussion Mastering Style Desk

1 Upvotes

I’m on the hunt for a skilled woodworker in the Nashville area to make a custom mastering style desk. I have one currently but the build quality isn’t that great and the company isn’t in business anymore so I can’t get new/replacement pieces even if I wanted too! If you know anyone please tag them down below or send me a PM !

TIA


r/audioengineering 1d ago

Home studio users/artist

7 Upvotes

How do u tackle getting the final part of your song to be more polished and wider/louder.

(my mix imo isn’t bad) I feel as if it’s missing that end stage production level when I’m trying to master the song as whole.