Analog Secret - Exposed!

The sweet eluding analog vibe has intrigued men since the creation of digital audio. There are countless number of plugins to destroy your crystal clear digital audio trying to emulate analog systems. I for one like analog sound because the equipment looks cool.

Analog adds a flavor of cool

Time to crack the mystery for us mere mortals. What makes the analog sound? My non-peer-reviewed scientific method will reveal the secret. Read on, if you dare!

Method

The key to discovery

I spotted a mysterious knob labeled 'Analog', on a REDD console plugin by Waves. As I understand, the Waves guys are considered to be quite knowledgeable about things audio related, so my assumption is that they know what they are doing. Therefore, all we have to do to reveal what makes the analog sound, is to twist this knobby into max (knob goes up to 24!). Easy as pie.

Phase I - Setting up the experiment

To lay a foundation for the analog nature to grow on, we will first introduce white noise without any plugins. We will use Voxengo's SPAN -meter to analyze the frequencies with and without the analog twist. Below you can see the exiting results we get with only white noise. Not exactly a scientific breakthrough yet.

White noise

Phase II - Insert analog here

Time for the real deal. I inserted the REDD plugin and shakily adjusted the knobby upwards. My sweaty palms dripping with anxiety I saw the analog layer slowly forming on our carpet of white noise. Roll down and behold! The analog secret exposed.

The analog secret revealed!

Notice that the overall volume level is really really low. With higher volumes the analog effect was not visible. So the overall effect of analog is very subtle, but nevertheless the inner workings have now been shown.

Final words

Now we must carry the secret of analog sound. Share your wisdom or treasure it as your own. Use your knowledge wisely.

Please leave a comment, Is analog more than fancy equipment?