The Akai S-series samplers have an iconic sound, especially when used to trigger drum samples. 909s and 808s sounded crispier with a shiny high end in the Akais (90s MPCs as well). It was part of its charm and its one of the reasons everybody used them, and to some extent it still is. As for the 1080 it has a special quality few others can achieve and this includes all the same series that came after it, and some analogue synths too. It goes all the way down to 25hz. I have one too. If you have it mint and don't use it, gimme a reasonable price and i will buy it
So my point is, there is no such thing as an obsolete musical instrument. Just because it was created to make music and i can argue your i7 (and mine too) etc, was NOT. Computer based music creation submits the musicians into various lengthy procedures which have nothing to do with music in the first place. Is it worth it ? I'd say it is, but it is not the only way, and we should keep an open mind as to what people choose to use to produce their tracks. Because music comes from talent and inspiration mate and even the best gear/studios in the universe cannot substitute those.
Cheers

 

Last edited: May 10, 2017

I'm printing this wall of gear full size, and sticking it on a wall in the mixing room. Then at least I'll have a more vintage "feel" when I look around in my den of noize!

 

This is actually a nice idea

People often do it with 'brick' or 'wood' effect wallpaper, so why not awesome studio gear!

 

I've been doing things completely ITB for about 15 years, practically since the beginning of VST. I have always been an experimental type and a pioneer, so I was really exhilarated by it. What happened 2 years ago is that I realised I've been constantly trying to achieve that quality of sound we had in the 90s with our old studio, and no matter what I do the mixes just lacked more "life". Call it "3D", "warmth" or whatever, I don't like those audiophile terms. I'm a sound scientist of sorts, not a charlatan.

One thing that is IMO most important to achieve this analogue quality sound, is the way you track things into the DAW. It's also great to have at least some good quality outboard analogue processing for the sterile digital tracks. Maybe a summing mixer, too, but I'm not doing that at all even though I have a console. I'm tracking my hardware samplers/synths through a console and I think that might be a bit too much of the "goodness". Maybe if I invested in a really great and noiseless summing mixer like D-Box. But I just find it unnecessary now. It all sounds nice, better than all ITB and I'm enjoying myself more than ever!

I guess you also have to be inspired with the equipment you work with to be more creative. If you find working ITB enjoyable, then do it all ITB. Just remember that even a touch of some nice outboard gear on the master can make your mixes sound better, if you care about that. I am all for working ITB and I'm not "analogue enthusiast" nor "digital enthusiast", but I personally wouldn't do it any more without at least an outboard compressor through which I can track live stuff and resample VST instruments that I also use.

As a sound scientist I can tell you that what digital plugins lack is actually rather simple. They lack audio bandwidth and they lack a little randomness, both of which is possible to do nowadays so I'm kinda puzzled that I still have to use outboard hardware to get that. Why don't they add a little randomness [different for L and R] in noise, EQ and phase is beyond me. Plugins sound just too perfect!

The closest VST to sounding analogue is VladG's T-Analog Channel and I use it when I can't be bothered, or just can't use the outboard hardware. Every plugin should have a T-Analog Channel inside it! I'd really like to see it with more adjustable values for noise, crosstalk, EQ and phase deviation. Speaking of adjustable values, ReelBus have those and it can emulate hardware behaviour, not just tape.

 

Last edited: May 11, 2017

Thanks for mentioning this a few months ago, been using it ever since.

 

T-Analog Channel is magical. Very subtle on one channel, but a world of difference when you use it on many channels.

I just use it on those channels that I don't bother to resample. Usually when I'm working on a sketch song.