My first experience using Har-Bal
Posted: Wed Apr 21, 2004 11:21 pm
Hi all,
After much reading and reviewing, I purchased and installed Har-Bal this evening. My first test with it was to "re-master" The Doors tune "Cars Hiss By My Window". It's sparse - just guitar, bass, drums, and Jim in a straight-up blues track. The tune is a bit muddy mix-wise - after all, it was done in 1971.
So off I go, a fledgling Har-Bal-ist , figuring that if anything could put Har-Bal to the test (and myself), this would be it.
All told, I've spent about an hour on the tune - this includes several "user-error" incidents where I had to start again, getting used to the interface, concepts, etc. That's my fault, not Har-Bal's.
Within 40 minutes, I had cleaned out the "mud" in the original mix nicely - most of it was below 1k, which was not suprising.
One big problem remained, though. In cleaning out the mud, I lost the low-end harmonics of Jim's voice - a definite "not good". His voice went from robust to thin.
I had cleaned too much out the spectrum below 1k. I spent a few more minutes in the 500Hz to 1k range - an enhancement here, a nip there. Re-listen - A/B compare - rinse and repeat a couple of more times.
I've just finished the final tweak and I'm quite pleased with the results. The guitar and drums are very well defined in the mix now. Jim's voice is pretty much all there - the bass "booms" just a tad still but that was a tradeoff I had to make to get the fullest possible vocal sound.
And so I'm here. I rarely get effusive about a product, let alone post up anything, but my initial experience with Har-Bal has been very positive. I read all of the reviews and all of the K-v-R flame-fest before plunking down my money. The reviews were compelling - it's hard to argue with Sound On Sound and Craig Anderton, after all.
All of my doubts were erased in my very first Har-Bal session. I am by no means a "Stereo Mixmaster General" and I achieved some very nice results this evening. To anyone out there "on the fence", buy it - you'll be glad you did.
After much reading and reviewing, I purchased and installed Har-Bal this evening. My first test with it was to "re-master" The Doors tune "Cars Hiss By My Window". It's sparse - just guitar, bass, drums, and Jim in a straight-up blues track. The tune is a bit muddy mix-wise - after all, it was done in 1971.
So off I go, a fledgling Har-Bal-ist , figuring that if anything could put Har-Bal to the test (and myself), this would be it.
All told, I've spent about an hour on the tune - this includes several "user-error" incidents where I had to start again, getting used to the interface, concepts, etc. That's my fault, not Har-Bal's.
Within 40 minutes, I had cleaned out the "mud" in the original mix nicely - most of it was below 1k, which was not suprising.
One big problem remained, though. In cleaning out the mud, I lost the low-end harmonics of Jim's voice - a definite "not good". His voice went from robust to thin.
I had cleaned too much out the spectrum below 1k. I spent a few more minutes in the 500Hz to 1k range - an enhancement here, a nip there. Re-listen - A/B compare - rinse and repeat a couple of more times.
I've just finished the final tweak and I'm quite pleased with the results. The guitar and drums are very well defined in the mix now. Jim's voice is pretty much all there - the bass "booms" just a tad still but that was a tradeoff I had to make to get the fullest possible vocal sound.
And so I'm here. I rarely get effusive about a product, let alone post up anything, but my initial experience with Har-Bal has been very positive. I read all of the reviews and all of the K-v-R flame-fest before plunking down my money. The reviews were compelling - it's hard to argue with Sound On Sound and Craig Anderton, after all.
All of my doubts were erased in my very first Har-Bal session. I am by no means a "Stereo Mixmaster General" and I achieved some very nice results this evening. To anyone out there "on the fence", buy it - you'll be glad you did.