What They Don't Tell You about Mixing with Hardware

Gear In This Video

My Gear:

Microphones

Rack Gear

Monitors / Headphones

Instruments / Amps

Camera Gear

[ScottGrammer]

It's been thirty years since I left studio engineering. But we used to have a saying: If you have empty space in your racks, you need more gear. If not, you need more racks.

[TyDanelley]

Colt, for recall, you should try Session Recall! I dont know if you've heard of them or not. But they basically just have a program with a lot of brand name gear in it that you pull up almost like plugins, but you can change the knobs to however you used your gear in the mix and then digital save it in the program. They're great! Saves you from always having to take pictures and make notes! I've been using it for a year or so now and have found it SUPER useful.

[TimDolbear]

Warm up time is the thing no one talks about. Our Manley Variable-Mu is so hot, its crazy and to use it it has to warm up for at least 30mins. Our tape machine (JH110B) is on 24/7 and its powersupply's fan is a space heater, always blowing. we have to keep it on all the time as it needs 2hours to warm up and settle in. 2screws in a studio o (on the bottom) is fine, people get a life.

[CreativeMindsAudio]

Good stuff!

Some of my thoughts:
Cabling: as long as it is quad cable and is durable enough for your needs, it doesn’t really matter. I often get custom mogami or canare cables (redco, or world’s best cables (though tbh they’re transitioning to making their own branded cables so i can’t recommend that right now, but their mogami/canare cables are great), proaudiola have great prices) because they’ve done me good. I’ve had too many monster and hosa cables die on me. Never once had a mogami or canare build cable have any issues and when i do it’s often with the connector more than the cable itself (gets banged up or solder got disconnected).

Heat: this is something soo many people don’t realize about a studio space. If you own a console it gets very hot. And cooling is expensive!

[randomguy]

One recall tip i have is if ive only got a few pieces of outboard gear on a session, I typically just place the inactive plugin version of my hardware on the insert or somewhere in the session.

[Tt-yrri]

Colt you are the best! You are our guidance!!

[digableskillz]

Bro, you are soooo very thorough in the way you explain reasons for the way you do things. I appreciate your content every time I watch bc you’ve addressed (in minutes) many things that I have had questions and no answers for, for years. Much appreciate all the game you give 🙏🏾

[donnythompson]

“Everything will need serviced eventually”…
Absolutely true.
I started out in the early 80’s, and with the exception of a scant few digital FX units in my rack, everything else was analog - the console, tape machines, OB gear…and I eventually came to find out what countless other engineers and studio owners who came before me already knew: it’s never a question of IF the gear in your studio will ever need servicing or replacement, only a certainty of WHEN. 😉

But, Colt also makes a solid observation about the modern age of audio production that we all work in, too, and it’s that modern, digital recording studios are in no way exempt from problems and related expenses, either…
Whether it’s having to update software to accommodate or take advantage of new features or functions, or adding, servicing or replacing hardware, or, updating outdated computers (or replacing them altogether), or, buying peripheral stuff like new interfaces to expand the number of inputs/outputs we need, or, having to service or replace things like mics, speakers, headphones, cabling, etc…
The fact is that modern studios are really no less prone to the potential for these problems (and expenses) than analog studios of the past were.

A few examples of this that I’ve faced in the last year or so, includes having to buy more RAM for my PC, because I found that over time, I was working with a lot more projects that were substantially VSTi based, and anyone who uses Virtual Instruments on multiple tracks knows that RAM gets wacked REALLY hard by VSTi’s, so, I had to purchase an additional 32 gig of memory on top of the 32 gig I already had…(“CHA-CHING!”)…

Another example; I recently bought Softube’s Console 1 Channel MK3 Controller (“CHA-CHING!”), but, as it turned out, the DAW I’d been using for the past 6 years (which I was totally fine with using, at least up until I bought the controller) wasn’t fully compatible with Softube’s newer controller technology, SO, I had to fork out MORE money to upgrade my DAW to a newer version in order to take full advantage of everything the Softube controller was capable of doing…
(and yet again, another “CHA-CHING!”)…🤦🏻

The bottom line is, that expenses for things like software updates and upgrades, equipment maintenance and replacement…these are all just a fact and necessary part of this expensive ‘biz that we were all crazy enough to want to be a part of 🤣, and whether we’re working solely in digital, or analog, or, in a hybrid scenario that combines the two, NO studio is immune to having to shell out money in order for it to continue to function. 😉

[keeppushin]

Great video, i was waiting to see how to connected it all to the computer thru the ins and outs.

[JoeOnKeys]

Excellent video! I'm just getting into the gear hunt for a solid hybrid setup, and I've been considering and questioning most of the things you just comprehensively answered. Your video has made the transition much simpler and significantly expedited. Thank you for sharing. 🙏

[digitaldiezel]

I love videos like this because it helps me to remember that I just do music for fun…

[DigitalRackGear]

Excellent video.  Well covered. Extra tip - have a dust-buster and try and keep the place relatively dust free and do a twice yearly deep clean of your space.... behind racks, vents etc. This will mean gear can stay cooler with those vents actually being kept free of dust.
I have a TT patch bay built into the mixing desk. Cabling is i. a massive expense for a studio and ii. the main point of management that is behind the scenes in a studio. I use Eurocable - never had it fail; winning.

[danniielle]

Great video! I fully agree on just about everything here, even the bottom rack screw thing (yes, much of my outboard gear has two screws).
As for space between gear, I have a few spots with space between gear but most is unspaced. I put silent fans in the back of my racks to keep things manageable heat wise. They make a big difference and make no audible noise.

[bikesandbeats]

6:12 man I just went ahead and put an LED bulb inside my 1176. Doesn’t look as “vintage“ but it lasts way longer and doesn’t cause any interference noise.

[rolandsolomon]

You are absolutely correct in regards to the cables. I bought a couple of Monster cables, which were not cheap, about 20 years ago, and wound up taking them back to the store because they were absolute garbage. They broke after only a couple of months of very light useage. I also currently have a ProCo quarter inch cable that's well over 50 years old and I had one end that needed to be repaired in all that time. I bought it in 1972. Long live ProCo. 😊

[studiovinden]

I love this perspective, fun to hear about! It's hilarious that people complain about the number of screws in the rack ears! I never use more than two screws in any gear. "HVAC" from a much, much lower budget studio in Sweden (freezing temperatures 3 months of the year) - I leave a small window open 24/7 all year to handie heat dissipation. 😅 Another low budget real world solution: I turn on my gear in groups to avoid tripping the main circuit in my house. 😊

[Feerlyss]

I build all my cables, and yes I use Mogami cable. A hell of a lot cheaper when you build your own, and eBay is a great place to get it by the foot in colors.

[mondojellykingsofficial]

On both stage & studio gear, we run everything through sinewave UPS units. It filters the power, keeps a consistent voltage to the equipment - and during power failures, we can close out and shut down before power surges or brown outs - which is important for more than just computers.

[braxal]

Wow! Watching your video now. It seems like it has been a long time since you post a video. I am so happy to see a video from you Colt!!!

[Whally]

2:06 and the fact of having soundproofed the space, adds a factor of increasing the temperature too, to be sure of cooking slowly in the oven! I experienced that, just by putting lots of foam in a small room of home studio