Allen Sides on Why High-end Gear Actually Matters 

Dude, I was about to comment the same point, however, you just articulated so well. Mitch spoke, listened, and then articulated our questions and thought process as producer, musicians, mixers, recording engineers so well. Sweetwater needs to create some type of In Studio talkshow with Mitch on a regular basis. EXCELLENT job Mitch & Sweetwater.

Yup, that's when I tuned out too. Shame, I typically enjoy learning from industry veterans.

Emotion of a song is carried by chord progressions, harmonies, tonal aspects, movement….. None of which a converter or pre (since you mentioned focusrite) has anything to do with. He says it in the video it’s about getting to the end result faster and not destroying dynamics to make sure it sounds and translates how it is intended

for example, billie eilish’s ocean eyes was recorded with a $100 at2020

@@swimmumaybe a popular song but man that does not sound good!

creativity is what you're referring to. thats different than sound quality. people with low end gear usually just make the most of what they have. and it usually ends up resonating because of the creator and his/her creativity. but you're absolutely lying to yourself if you dont think recording through extremely high end gear, through a board, to tape doesnt sound better than cheap bedroom gear. it does, unequivocally. what you prefer as a listener, however, is something totally different. high gear 100% matters as it pertains solely to sound quality and capturing accuracy of the sound.

@@FromTheHipp (1) This would be a really good argument if reality didn’t exist. As, here in the real world, what you are describing is not accurate. Because, again, as I originally said, it is about thresholds. If you are good at your job it doesn’t really matter. If you are good enough you can get it to sound how you want it to. CLA will make a better mix than you regardless of if he has to use Pro Tools stock plugins and you can use absolutely any gear that has ever existed. Quincy Jones will produce a better version of a song than you regardless of if he is using just 57s, R-10s, and AT-2020s, straight into an SSL 12 and you can use any microphone, preamp, eq, compressor, and other processor. Higher end gear makes it easier. Absolutely. But that doesn’t mean you are unable to get materially similar results with lesser gear. Well maybe you can’t because the only people I have ever heard say the type of things you just said are people who are chasing gear because their skills aren’t up to level. (2) You also refute yourself. “capturing accuracy of the sound” is rarely what people actually try to do when recording. Otherwise, we would not be using things like R-121s and 57s. Those aren’t accurate mics. Those don’t provide a flat response. Neves wouldn’t be popular as that add a ton to the sound. They don’t cleanly reproduce the audio. Fairchild 660/670s wouldn’t be sought after if what you are saying is true. Those don’t accurately reproduce the sound. But not only that, why is it that people can’t identify the differences, let alone identify which is the original and which is the clone, between many of the higher end equipment and their more affordable clones? Why are people not able to identify the difference between a Warm Audio 1073 and an original Neve 1073, let alone being able to identify which is which purely from the end result? Why are people unable to identify the difference between the original SSL G bus compressors and certain plugin alternatives, let alone being able to identify which is which purely from the end result? There are actual studies on this. And the evidence is clear. What you described is not in line with reality

@@swimmu they remixed and mastered it once the record popped off

This man Carrie’s a lot of knowledge , show us your 4 track cassette recordings….

Back in my day we had to record on wax cylinders uphill both ways on broken glass.

What is it we’re telling him? Did he record all his albums that way? Maybe it’s not the ONLY thing that matters?

Yup, the average listener isn't going to going to notice if it wasn't recorded using high end preamps

​@@Windiguana So our standard should be "the average listener?" Way to aim high!

It's a good thing self-respecting producers who are worth their salt aren't simply trying to satisfy the standards of philistines rather than trying to satisfy their own! What's more, quality, even if it can't be consciously identified and appreciated, does affect listeners, even if only in some unconscious way. Most people are listening to lossy audio through Bluetooth earbuds, and yet, even there, aspects of quality production manage to shine through.

@user-hv6tg9nr3c I tend to agree with you. However, there is a point of diminishing returns. Also, that mindset can come off as pretentious and elitest. Making it so only people who are fortunate enough or wealthy enough to afford the gear to be considered as the only ones who add value to the art form.

@@gritHouseStudios Lo-fi is its own kind of sound and of course can sound good in the right hands-no arguments there. For those who can't afford the best of the best, you just gotta make do with what you got. Plenty of good things can come of it so no one should feel discouraged or excluded per se. Technology has come a long way and decent sound can be achieved without spending all that much. However, certain production styles/techniques simply require expensive hi-fi gear and can't be arrived at any other way, and without the gear one can't contribute to that particular style (unfortunately, there's just no way around it)-that doesn't mean artists can't make contributions to any given genre with less, far from it. These questions are quite complex, though, especially when musical genres are not always entirely separable from their production styles.

what?

Their loss. Once you’ve had a great sound system in your car or home or wherever, it’s hard to listen to just the phone.

Please don’t go into the recording industry.

@@johnnewton1830 been it it for 49 years and it’s still 50% hype

Not at all since phone speakers don’t try and be full spectrum they focus on the midrange with a low cut of around 500hz it actually details those middle frequencies more than your average budget to mid tier full range commercial speaker or monitor. Many producers use the ‘phone listen’ just as much as the ‘car check’

Nope 😂