Preparing for Vinyl
Posted: 19 Jun 2018
No matter what we get on it, in the past 4 years, I've learned the following:
- There's a definite low end and a high end limit (for example below 30 Hz needs to be silent, likewise above 17000 Hz)
- Even your mono sub frequencies need to be decreased (otherwise it won't work); and higher frequencies need to kept at bay as well (unless you like harsh noisy distortion)
- Not only there can't be (the anyway needless) sub frequency content in the side channel (differences, or "stereo"), even bass frequencies either need limitation, or be wiped out entirely
- Extra wide sounds won't work either, so there can't be any super jumps in the side channel
- Impacts after silent sections, aren't really tolerated either
- The more bass, the shorter the track needs to be
EDIT: - The RIAA equalization curve always gets applied which adds a huge boost to the highs
- As the track gets to the center of the vinyl, it's better to put more quiet passages there, with less high frequency content and less bass. (Old LPs used to put vocal tracks last for this reason.)
- Dry gating won't do much good, and might be impossible to recreate on vinyl
- Needless to say, don't clip, or limit, put the loudness war elsewhere, cause you'll end up much quieter on vinyl, actually! Tops saturate extreme peaks like clicks, even that with multi-band processing
~ There will be noise, there will be distortion, and as the vinyl gets to the center, high frequency response will decrease
I mean, I would love to hear my own work on vinyl, but all these limitations are off-putting.
Not only that, but we barely ever get enough information for the preparation.
How hard is it to say what we can squeeze into specific frequency ranges either in the mono or side channel?
Like what, should we make a 96 dB high pass filtering at 80 Hz, and -144 dB HF @ 640 Hz in the side channel? Squash the shiz out of everything above 5120 Hz? Maybe hard limit what's left in the side channel to the song's average mono audio levels?
Ranting, ranting...
It would be great to know such details, since I would design sounds from scratch, keeping these limits in mind. Would be great to know what I can squeeze into specific ranges, instead of adding some average filtering. I mean, if already I create everything from scratch, then it would only make sense.
I JUST WANT THAT SHIZ TO SPIN! D x ...and push the limits to the limit (as long as it's not too destructive!). : P
- There's a definite low end and a high end limit (for example below 30 Hz needs to be silent, likewise above 17000 Hz)
- Even your mono sub frequencies need to be decreased (otherwise it won't work); and higher frequencies need to kept at bay as well (unless you like harsh noisy distortion)
- Not only there can't be (the anyway needless) sub frequency content in the side channel (differences, or "stereo"), even bass frequencies either need limitation, or be wiped out entirely
- Extra wide sounds won't work either, so there can't be any super jumps in the side channel
- Impacts after silent sections, aren't really tolerated either
- The more bass, the shorter the track needs to be
EDIT: - The RIAA equalization curve always gets applied which adds a huge boost to the highs
- As the track gets to the center of the vinyl, it's better to put more quiet passages there, with less high frequency content and less bass. (Old LPs used to put vocal tracks last for this reason.)
- Dry gating won't do much good, and might be impossible to recreate on vinyl
- Needless to say, don't clip, or limit, put the loudness war elsewhere, cause you'll end up much quieter on vinyl, actually! Tops saturate extreme peaks like clicks, even that with multi-band processing
~ There will be noise, there will be distortion, and as the vinyl gets to the center, high frequency response will decrease
I mean, I would love to hear my own work on vinyl, but all these limitations are off-putting.
Not only that, but we barely ever get enough information for the preparation.
How hard is it to say what we can squeeze into specific frequency ranges either in the mono or side channel?
Like what, should we make a 96 dB high pass filtering at 80 Hz, and -144 dB HF @ 640 Hz in the side channel? Squash the shiz out of everything above 5120 Hz? Maybe hard limit what's left in the side channel to the song's average mono audio levels?
Ranting, ranting...
It would be great to know such details, since I would design sounds from scratch, keeping these limits in mind. Would be great to know what I can squeeze into specific ranges, instead of adding some average filtering. I mean, if already I create everything from scratch, then it would only make sense.
I JUST WANT THAT SHIZ TO SPIN! D x ...and push the limits to the limit (as long as it's not too destructive!). : P