Here's a blind test for you, this is PRE mastering, no use of analogue in the mix except for summing. One has been summed digitally, one has had the main subgroups summed in analogue (using an SPL MixDream XP).

A: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_ptf08bafFwTjhaNGF6bU1yUUk/view?usp=sharing
B: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_ptf08bafFwNFpsZUtWdUpib2M/view?usp=sharing

I know I hear the difference, and the two definitely do not phase cancel, not by a long shot. Which is which?

Thanks for this comparison. The difference is that small to me, I know I never have to care about analog anymore. The difference isn't worth the investment for a hobbyist.

Funny topic. Lots of forums have a topic like this.

Many people say they feel limited when they would be familiar with music theory. That's the same like saying that they will be terrible drivers after getting their driver's license. To me it seems just an excuse to evade the learning curve.

You can still give in random notes in a piano roll when you know music theory.

Everybody can name people who write beautiful chord progressions and melodies without knowing music theory. I know these people too. Usually they know basic chords (on piano or guitar) but can't name them. So no, the don't know scales, augmented fifths and all that, but chords are the basics of music theory too.

And if somebody without knowledge writes good music, that's fine! But somebody with knowledge of music theory can do it faster.

Learning the basics of music theory is the best thing I have ever done.

What format is the track?

I encounter this all the time with mp3's, not with lossless audio.

It could be intersample peaks.

Hey,

My thought -while listening to this track- is that you indeed should be happy about the result. It's proper techno.

Maybe the 16th hihats can use some variation (parallel proces with a flanger, for instance, or a bit of panning) or some ducking.

Mix sounds pretty good, can you describe what you mean with other mixes being cleaner?

Maybe you want to put more (short) reverb on the hihats or something to create a feeling of wideness but the mix sounds fine to me.
I like my techno dark and dirty, as opposed to clean. Maybe that's why I like it.

I use d16's Phoscyon plugin to create 303 sounds and it has a built in distortion section.

But what windows 64-bit plugin would you advice for other 303 emulators, that don't have built in distortion?

Looking forward to your answers.

Dirk

But are a lot of the samples in packs already processed?

That depends on the sample pack. You should see in the description of the pack whether these are processed or not. No processing is the best, so you can shape the sounds like you want. All bragging about processing is marketing bollocks. How can a sample be 'mixed to perfection' if the creator doesn't know which sounds will go along with it?

Today I dragged a kick(and a few others) into the playlist instead of the piano roll like ive always doneand I noticed it didn't need any eqing, I boosted the low frequencies even just a tad bit and it sounded distorted. Why is it that samples need eqing and processing when dragged into the piano roll and they don't directly into the playlist?

Whether you drag a sample on the piano roll or in the playlist, it should sound the same, it's the same sample. It probably sounded distorted because the kick was clipping after adding the low frequencies.

Loomer Sequent is my favorite:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNkhI8JtGqk