Allen Sides on Why High-end Gear Actually Matters

[@sweetwater]

What gear are you putting in your dream studio? Sound off in the comments about the studio monitors you’ve been eyeing, and be sure to head over to Sweetwater to check out the full suite of Ocean Way Audio’s premium gear 👉 sweetwater.sjv.io/OceanWay

[@jamesmiller4184]

Honest Allen Sides! I always think of him so because he was and surely must be still. Betcha still he has my (his) Marantz 9's I sold him way back in '68, kept in mint condition and likely still their original boxes too. Such great memories of listening to L.P.s on his gigantic speakers in a tiny little room at his house! It worked! Great sound! Great guy! 👍

[@jonashellborg8320]

It made a huge difference when I went from mid quality headphones to mid quality speakers. I could hear what was going on, and has since led me to do more with just level and eq, less with compression and other processors. The outboard eq work and preamp stuff is interesting, I know the real sound, like a singer, has a lot of information, the digital domain has storage limitations. On that last topic, I think everyone should at least once in their life hear a pure acoustic performance: guitars, pianos, drums, voices, and no microphones. It is absolutely wonderful.

[@klauth_Yksyn]

As amazing as Allen is with his technical virtuosity and perspective. The real gem in this video is Mitch. because he allows Allen the time and space to emote his realm of expressive prowess... without stepping on him... or putting a kink in the flow of the moment. as well as asking the most rewarding questions, giving the viewer maximum reward for their time.

[@Russplight]

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.

[@ronaldcoleman9370]

I 100% agree!!! These days, people are in the habit of squashing everything and destroys the music!!! Very educating!!! Thanks for this eye-opening video!!!

[@bornshamir7792]

My mentor says you cannot cut corners with SOUND . Sound matters and so does our converters.companies got to help us sound good! Bless all the hardware users.

[@vaportrails7943]

To me there are three levels of gear - bad, best, and good enough. Good enough is what matters, until you have enough money that you can get the best, which is a luxury. Mixing on headphones is not good enough. A decent set of monitors, like the Yamaha HS series, is good enough. The best monitors are extremely expensive, and only viable for those making a lot of money with them. And so on. For me, the thing that is most worth spending on is instruments. The source of the sound. When it comes to capturing, mixing and mastering the sound, there are mid-priced options that are good enough. The SM57 is the classic example.

[@meshplates]

1) have good taste. 2) be uncompromising. 3) good enough isn't. That AS' message, both musically and sonically. That isn't snobbery, it's passion.

[@theoriginaldjsheikh4952]

So much wisdom imparted in such a short time. Thank you for this!

[@neve2254e]

I absolutely love the Ocean Way Pro2a speakers. Great interview.

[@davem163]

Spectacular interview!

[@ndavies8]

Amazing perspective! Thanks Sweetwater!

[@L.Scott_Music]

I think high end gear should come with discount coupons for high quality cables. I mean, right? Sweetwater should do a mic technique video. And not just the obvious stuff but vocal control and the advanced stuff. So a compressor on a buss could be called a "Thrash Compactor- All crunch but no punch."?

[@marmaladecreammedia]

Great wisdom about handling compression on the mix bus! I find myself turning off the mix bus comp more often than not these days.

[@EmilianoCaballeroFraccaroli]

Great conversation!

[@thesearethesuns]

Interesting perspective on compression. I definitely have some new food for thought…

[@SluTubeTV]

Gave me a diff perspective on compression .,, 👌🏾

[@woolrich020]

Stopped listening when Allen claimed that EQ-ing ITB would sound worse due to "losing resolution" compared to EQ-ing analog before sending it to a DAW, because the "bitrate is much higher". This is 100% grade A B.S. I respect Allen as an egineer and legend in the game, but I think we've come to expect better from him, and Sweetwater.

[@Windiguana]

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

[@ihustle7970]

I have some mushy words from bad vocal takes, and when you said eq that section, remember seeing a eq in rx and now I understand a use for it

[@oladam404]

thank u allen, totally right....🍻

[@StereoAnthony]

First money I spent after a cheap interface was to buy a pair of proper monitors. It's also exactly what I thought at the time. If I'm not hearing things accurately, how can I do a good mix?

[@jeffreyhyder2429]

I was thinking the same when it comes to pop music. So much of it sounds like demo's and not music that should be on albums.

[@Slainbabyyc]

mitch's coke nail lol 12:43

[@simzamsa1]

We learn everyday, very educational video enjoyed it.

[@cylonvoiceguy]

A good room is the most important thing, and the least sexiest piece of gear to have followed only by having a patch bay (I need one of each!)

[@jacobclare58]

enjoyed

[@Windiguana]

I always try to keep and open mind and try to make advice from industry veterans translate, because well, there's always something we can all learn, but this is video is a bit out of touch. I also have to disagree and interject that a lot of today's recordings sound really great, they are just different to the things he is comparing them to, not lesser.

[@pocouturier]

we need a young engineer saying this. I think it's cool within the geek audio community but nowadays it's kinda irrelevant because the cheapest gear out there has proven it's now good enough to carry the emotion of a song. if what you're looking for is audio quality and you're passionate about it then sick but for the average listener they dont care that a neve sounds better than a focusrite, they really dont. they only react to the feeling of a song and altho good gear can enhance the experience, it certainly doesn't do it to the cost of it. it's so hard to make money with music that paying a compressor the price of a car doesn't cut it. speakers matters tho

[@Reggi_Sample]

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

[@LA7Rose]

Because it costs alot and makes him that money!

[@jloiben12]

It both matters and it doesn’t. Some of the best music ever made (produce/mix/master) was made on “low end” gear. Some of the best music ever made was made on “high end” gear. The thing higher end gear does is that it helps to raise the minimum quality of the sound. It makes it easier to make better sounding music.

[@swimmu]

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

[@MariJu1ce]

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

[@FromTheHipp]

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.

[@jloiben12]

@@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

[@Shayjammin]

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

[@thaexception3406]

Listen up

[@bco0t6]

It’s that elitist attitude that yester years generation seems to have because people of this generation are doing what they do without having to do things like “pay dues” or whatever other cliche they can come up with, an engineer at electric lady once told me to “beware of people who try to make things seem harder than what they are, just so they can make what they do seem more impressive”

[@marakima]

Tell that to Bruce Springsteen, who recorded Nebraska on 4 track cassette. It's the musical content that matters, full stop.

[@JesusMTossas]

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

[@elambassist]

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

[@johnnewton1830]

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

[@Windiguana]

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

[@johnnewton1830]

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

[@Sweetflyfilm]

99% of audiences can't tell the difference between mid-level gear vs high-end gear. Most don't care. I care but in 2023 it doesn't matter as much as it used to.

[@JohnHolsinger-h7m]

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.

[@Sweetflyfilm]

@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.

[@JohnHolsinger-h7m]

@@Sweetflyfilm 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.

[@Ryandgeorgi]

With all due respect.. Can this person even hear 16k?

[@Windiguana]

Nope 😂

[@naakaalastudio6655]

I will never understand compressor obsession.

[@stephenfell4338]

Hyperthetical really when later 😂76% of the worlds population listen to there music from a mobile phone , with speakers the size of a pea but not to listen to it wanting ultimate sound perfection , but to simply enjoy.

[@aerialcombat]

what?

[@mrbigg7255]

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.

[@johnnewton1830]

Please don’t go into the recording industry.

[@stephenfell4338]

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

[@Reggi_Sample]

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’

[@NuclearDeathWalk]

His nonsense about EQ - SMH.