Hey folks, if you're here from my Instagram page you'll find the Samply player below to listen and a link to download all the files.
If you haven't seen my instagram video, I'll explain what this is about:
Recently there was a podcast online with mix engineer Bob Horn who made the claim that the meters in Pro Tools "have a sound". His claim was that if you change the meters, it will make your mix sound better.
Immediately, users started sharing their opinions and the consensus seemed very divided. Some thought it was nonsense, others claimed they hear a difference and were stunned by the results. Of course, the caveat to this is that it can only be done through analog summing!
I received a few messages from some of my friends suggesting that I make an Instagram reel testing this claim. It took me a bit to figure out how to conduct this test and format it to work on social media. The video is a bit long but thorough and I feel it demonstrated the test well. In Part 1 (which has most likely led you here), I have a Pro Tools session of a song that I mixed for my client Tim McNabb. It is a very basic track so I thought it would be perfect for this experiment.
In this session I have my drum tracks routed out of Pro Tools into my API 8200A summing mixer. The stereo outputs are inputted back into Pro Tools via Line In 7-8 to an Aux Input.
The rest of the instruments (Bass, Acoustic Guitar, Lead and Background Vocal) are routed out into my Heritage Audio MCM-8 II. The stereo outputs of this are routed back into Pro Tools via Line in 5-6 to another Aux Input.
The outputs of these 2 Aux tracks are then routed to a stereo audio track for mix down.
When we are listening for differences in audio, engineers will often do what is called a "null test". Essentially you play back two "identical" audio files at the same time and flip the polarity of one. If the files are the same, they should cancel each other out or "null". If they aren't the same, the differences should be audible.
BUT, users claim that this test won't work with analog summing. They say that analog summing simply will not null. I'm not sure what the reasoning behing this is, perhaps it is the assumption that outboard gear or fx will be used and that they tend to be dynamic in nature, never producing the exact same results. For my purposes, I am not using any outboard gear and any internal fx or dynamic processing that I'm using has either been frozen in place or disabled to eliminate any possible differences aside from the meters.
To test this, I start by printing 4 bars of the song, each identical with no changes to the meters. I play them both back at the same time and flip the polarity of one. If they cancel out, it will demonstrate that analog summing DOES in fact null. This means that any difference in the audio moving forward is defnitely a by-product of the changes we are making to the Pro Tools meters.
My testing of the meters proceeds with a "blind test". I record the 4 bars of audio FOUR separate times. Before each pass I change the type of meters on the audio/aux tracks and the master fader. While the audio records I show the viewer what meters are being used (this information is obstructed in Part 1 of the experiment. Part 2 will reveal the unedited video).
The viewers are encouraged to use their critical listening skills and comment their thoughts on which pass sounds different. Did they hear a change on account of the meters or are their ears fooling them? I have provided these audio samples below in the Samply player. Just click on each version to compare them. They are also available to download via this Samply link or via this dropbox link so you can listen on your own audio system and decide for yourself. I will be posting the results in a few days once everyone has had a chance to listen and evaluate.
