Steve - pre tube mastering

[indy mike]

Hey ho, Steverino! In the dark days when you hadn't seen/heard the tube light and mastered via solid state monster truck amps, what were you using equipment wise? Fer example, when you got all the Buddy Holly stuff located and ready to roll, what were using when you cranked it up? Do you ever get the urge to not run through tubes these days - sort of a "maybe this is too lush and not like the tape sounds" kinda feeling??? :eek:

[Steve Hoffman]

Mono Mike,

I just used whatever was at the studio, probably big ol' Crown amps and Westlake monitors. They sounded great actually...

I didn't go tube until 1992...

[indy mike]

Ahhh, Crown from the Hoosier State power I recognize, but Westlake???? Forgive the ignorance here, but what sorta monitors were/are those??? Lotsa drivers needing space heaters to get 'em thumpin'? :cool:

[Steve Hoffman]

'Bout like this Mikey:

http://www.westlakeaudio.com/manufacturing/pro/tm3.html

[Metralla]

You're looking at it upside down. Check it out - big eyes, but it's scowling. Doesn't like the sound?

Regards,
Metralla

[Steve Hoffman]

Nice photo. Reminds me of a girl I haven't seen since my high school reunion.

She looks pissed (as usual). :D

[indy mike]

Hmmm, with those horns a whomping big amp wouldn't seem to be necessary. Our audiophile friends are probably cringing - "I'll bet they don't image worth a damn!!!" Betcha you could have fun at a party with those evil looking, Henry Sneep scowlin' faced speakers...

[Steve Hoffman]

Actually, they sound quite wonderful (in a recording studio kind of way).

They are very expensive.

[indy mike]

Those wooden horns are pretty and definitely not cheap! Whddya mean in a studio kinda way? I'm conjuring up images of the JBL's with the 5" white midrange cone here...

[Steve Hoffman]

The sound in a studio is all about slam with tonality a second, and things like pacing and soundstaging non issues.

A good system at home should be more delicate and lifelike.

In a studio, when you turn it up, it better wail, or the client will be very unhappy.

Problem is, engineers forget that no one has Westlakes at home, so their work will not translate well outside of the mixing room.

That's where I come in I guess...

[indy mike]

Ahhh, translator! I spend the day doing that with my kids at school - gotta speak the right language to get any results... Too bad folks feel they gotta get flattened by the sound - god knows we mere mortals have any real need to be bulldozed since our hearing is still reasonably intact! :D

[Pinknik]

I'm conjuring up images of the JBL's with the 5" white midrange cone here...

Yamahas actually (NS10's I believe). Notoriously bad speakers that tons of big time albums have been recorded and mixed on. I read an interview with an Joe Ferla once who said that the mastering engineer's job is often to correct the mistakes of recording engineers who recorded/mixed with NS10's.