[review] TL Audio Fat Track

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steevio
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Re: [review] TL Audio Fat Track

Post by steevio »

NoAffiliation wrote:
steevio wrote: they are in the price range between project studio and Pro studio, and its a bit of a no-mans land really.
i hear what you're saying but doesn't technology get better and cheaper over time? i'd like to think companies can offer better products that are more affordable as time goes on. PC laptops/tablets are a good example (mac could do this also but it would hurt their marketing image to lower the prices)... And 2 grand isn't exactly cheap, think about all the project studios running on software, i cant imagine a hobbyist dropping two g's on a tube summing mixer
tube technology is old technology, and companies stick tubes in things these days purely as a marketting ploy.
it's very difficult to make tube gear that uses the tubes in a way that actually benefits the sound and do it cheaply.

the TLA EQ2 has tubes in the LP/HP stage that dont do very much, and yet no tubes in the actual EQ, which is all transistor and a little harsh to my ears. the benefits of the tubes are lost as soon as you push the EQ buttons in.
I'm not saying its a bad EQ, but it certainly isnt pro by any standards. I dont think TLA designs are particularly good designs thats all I'm saying. If i had the choice again, i would have saved up and bought something better that could sit in my studio for the next 20 years doing its job well.
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optX
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Re: [review] TL Audio Fat Track

Post by optX »

steevio wrote:
NoAffiliation wrote:
steevio wrote: they are in the price range between project studio and Pro studio, and its a bit of a no-mans land really.
i hear what you're saying but doesn't technology get better and cheaper over time? i'd like to think companies can offer better products that are more affordable as time goes on. PC laptops/tablets are a good example (mac could do this also but it would hurt their marketing image to lower the prices)... And 2 grand isn't exactly cheap, think about all the project studios running on software, i cant imagine a hobbyist dropping two g's on a tube summing mixer
tube technology is old technology, and companies stick tubes in things these days purely as a marketting ploy.
it's very difficult to make tube gear that uses the tubes in a way that actually benefits the sound and do it cheaply.

the TLA EQ2 has tubes in the LP/HP stage that dont do very much, and yet no tubes in the actual EQ, which is all transistor and a little harsh to my ears. the benefits of the tubes are lost as soon as you push the EQ buttons in.
I'm not saying its a bad EQ, but it certainly isnt pro by any standards. I dont think TLA designs are particularly good designs thats all I'm saying. If i had the choice again, i would have saved up and bought something better that could sit in my studio for the next 20 years doing its job well.
+1 on the tube marketing strategy.

I like the sound of the Fat Track, never had been disappointed. Summing several tracks through it definitely does something nice to the sound.
But yesterday I tried "premastering" through the Fat Track (as I always do) AND bouncing the same stereo file itb and comparing them. I could hardly hear any difference except maybe that the Fat Track`s bounce is a little bit distorted on some parts. This was a Rock`n`Roll song which I summed before that comparison during mix process via the Fat Track. Riding this thing two times yields to strange behaviour sometimes or better said to no behaviour at all.
Of course I did this test without usage of the build-in EQ. Most of the time I eq while mastering with Fat Tracks EQs.

On the other hand when I practise "premastering" with electronic music made from my friends I always get nice and audible results (tried the same thing with comparing the itb vs otb bounce).

I also realized that it`s sounding different when the machine is warmed up than just freshly switched on.

Nevertheless, I also think and believe that there are companies which are doing that marketing joke with the usage of tubes. I can`t say if the Fat Track`s tube is doing anything, I just know that the whole machine itself does something ;)
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