is it just me or...

[d3drocks]

or is Riffworks hard to get a good mix with?

case and point, 2 of my songs. one made with Riffworks T4, other with FL-Studio 8 XXL Producer Edition:

http://www.riffworld.com/Members/d3drocks/major-rock-jam/


http://www.soundclick.com/bands/page_songInfo.cfm?bandID=731104&songID=6706155 (FL-Studio


i spent the same amount of time on both.
you will notice that the compression (well, maximization in this case) is much more steady in the song I did with FL-Studio.

dont get me wrong, I absolutely love how riffworks is for recording. it makes guitar much easier to get a seamless loop.

im still planning on buying riffworks (first i need a Better PC, as this one likes to commit suicide every few weeks now) because of the way it handles recording, but it just seems to me that FL-Studio gets a better mix. (i also do the drum programming myself in FL-Studio, which makes song writing a bit easier for me. that may be different for others)

anyways, the songs use the same guitar tones. the only difference is one is set to clean and EQed bright in FL-Studio, and that same one in riffworks is set to max overdrive, with a wah and chorus depending on the parts.
all guitar was run through a Pod-XT.

this may be just me (being attracted to complicated things), i Don't know.

[davenz]

Well, all I can go by are some of the tracks said to be recorded with RW in the Rumbles and Riffcast. Check out Butcher from the Black Sea (Doug Metzger) and anything at all by gfolkers; dinopoop comes to mind. If these aren't simply stellar mixes, I don't know what is. By choosing these I don't mean to demean any of the other junkies here who know RW inside and out, and it shows (I am just a tourist myself) but these are just two outstanding compositions that I believe were done mainly with Riffworks (though to be completely honest I'm not sure if anything else was used).

Dave.

[cwight]

Well you are not comparing like with like. In order to do a comparison such as this, you'd need compare the same piece of music. There's no doubt that riffworks does not have the same level of control and sophistication as Fl-studio, they are different products. Most people who use riffworks so so because of its simplicity and ease of use. I look at the interface for Fl-studio and think no thanks. There are plenty of really good computer recording packages and you go for the one that works for you. However, you can get really excellent results with riffworks, and the ones Dave suggests are good example. I notice on the riffworks example you linked that the comments say something about the sound, and it does sound dull and lifeless, so I suspect you are doing something wrong. Also, you really can't compare the instant drummers with the flexibility you get being able to programme then yourself, but again it's horses for courses, and you should use the programme that suits you best. the track you did in Fl-studio btw sounds great...

[d3drocks]

Well you are not comparing like with like. In order to do a comparison such as this, you'd need compare the same piece of music. There's no doubt that riffworks does not have the same level of control and sophistication as Fl-studio, they are different products. Most people who use riffworks so so because of its simplicity and ease of use. I look at the interface for Fl-studio and think no thanks. There are plenty of really good computer recording packages and you go for the one that works for you. However, you can get really excellent results with riffworks, and the ones Dave suggests are good example. I notice on the riffworks example you linked that the comments say something about the sound, and it does sound dull and lifeless, so I suspect you are doing something wrong. Also, you really can't compare the instant drummers with the flexibility you get being able to programme then yourself, but again it's horses for courses, and you should use the programme that suits you best. the track you did in Fl-studio btw sounds great...

i get what you are saying. i love how riffworks handles recordings. im going to have to figure a way to work with both fl and riffworks. (its an issue right now, cause i heard that rewireing doesnt let you record in riffworks).

but i also love the sound i get out of fl-studio. now, instant drummer can be EQed to sound good, so rewiring in that instance wont be an issue.

and thanks

[blue4u]

my suggestion to you, fwiw:

create, write and track (record) with RiffWorks
mix and master with other full featured DAWs like Reaper, Cubase, Live, etc. where you can use VST plug-ins to control each layer in real time.

until RiffWorks has full VST support on input AND output you will have limited ability to get a dynamic mix. people have had decent success here in making great sounding demos but if you are going for that extra effort to make a commercial sounding record you need more flexibility with compression and other effects plug-ins. it really depends on the song and how many layers you are recording as well. some songs just lend themselves to better mixes or at least, are easier to mix.

also, some instant drummers really need EQ to fit in the mix. using the No Equal effect in RiffWorks, try boosting a few dB around 10 to 12K, cutting some around 300Hz and a give slight boost around 100Hz. this has helped me out more than a few times

[blue4u]

on another note...I suspect that RiffWorks only records 16-bit wav files regardless of what your audio interface is capable of. I'm not sure about this but if that's the case then you are going to hear a quality difference when you stack several layers together. I notice a big difference between RiffWorks and Reaper when it comes to playback. things just always sound better in Reaper but don't ask me why that is???

[d3drocks]

on another note...I suspect that RiffWorks only records 16-bit wav files regardless of what your audio interface is capable of. I'm not sure about this but if that's the case then you are going to hear a quality difference when you stack several layers together. I notice a big difference between RiffWorks and Reaper when it comes to playback. things just always sound better in Reaper but don't ask me why that is???

that could be it.
FL-Studio handles up to 32 bit .wav files (and i suspect Reaper does too).