ANALOGUE PROCESSING FAQ

Online analogue processing is a process that allows you the client, to experience high quality professional analogue equipment from the comfort of your own studio. We take your stem and process it through your chosen equipment. Delivered back to you are 3 processed stems to choose from each with their own unique processing applied. With the aid of knowledge and the industries best analogue mixing & mastering equipment we are able to achieve a sound that is sonically superior to anything you will have heard before. Catering for musicians and producers from every corner of the globe. No matter where you live, online analogue processing has never been easier to outsource to a professional engineer.

We recommend specific equipment for specific purposes. The Audiotales Designs 1951/1954 EQ, Vertigo VSM-2 and UnFairchild 670m MK2 are the most commonly requested units for this service.

  • Audiotales Designs 1951/1954 – Excellent EQ that has it’s own unique tone and sound. Perfect for vocals, drums and stereo mix.
  • Vertigo VSM-2 – The Swiss army knife of saturation. 2nd and 3rd harmonic saturation at it’s best.
  • UnFairchild 670m MK2 – The king of compressors. A direct clone of the original Fairchild 670M compressor.

Analogue processing is designed to give our clients access to our high-end analogue equipment within their production and recording process. This service is used a lot for vocal processing as well as clients wanting to add analogue elements to their song for sounds that are a focus point. Drum bus processing is a particular favourite of our clients.

All orders will be turned around within the time frame selected when placing your order. Turnaround time is based on days the engineer works between Monday to Friday. If you have a specific day you need your master back for, please let us know when placing your order.

  • 1 Working Day (returned next working day)
  • 2-5 Working Days (returned within 2-5 working days)
  • 5-7 Working Days (returned within 5-7 working days)

Yes, much like our stereo mastering service, we can process the stereo mix through our mastering chain giving you what is essentially a stereo master that can then be tweaked further and a limiter added to it. The huge benefit of this is that by receiving a fully dynamic processed master is that you can change the sound of the master and add any additional processing you desire. This means you can take the processed audio we return back to you and adjust it to sound exactly how you want it, then apply a plugin limiter to achieve your desired loudness and release your own analogue master.

All orders are delivered back to the client as 3 unique versions. The reason for this is so that the client has more to work with and can experiment with which stem works best.

  • Stem 1 – The ideal processing type we feel the stem should require for the best possible result.
  • Stem 2 – A more exaggerated processing type when compared to stem 1. This could include more saturation, or a more noticeable overall tone.
  • Stem 3 – A more subtle processing type that would be considered cleaner, a less night and day difference which is ideal if you want to add additional processing to the stems after receiving them back.

Yes, all stems are delivered back to you with a full dynamic range with plenty of headroom. This allows you to apply any processing you want to apply on your end after receiving the processed stems back and ensure they perfectly fit with your sound. We recommend sending your stems with minimal processing applied. This way you can apply additional EQ, compression, saturation, reverb, delay etc to the stem to make it your own.

The main benefit of analogue processing is that often many producers never add any analogue flavour to their music until it arrives to us for mastering. Using this service our clients are able to now apply analogue processing to the core elements of their song, bringing it to life in ways you just can’t achieve in the digital domain. Combined with our skills and expertise our clients benefit from a professional processed stem that will slot straight into the mix and sound full of life.

Orders / payment must be made before work on your stems begins. This ensures our engineers, take the necessary time and care required to return you the very best service.

There are no revisions included in this service, due to the amount of time it takes to process the stem through 3 unique signal chains.

If work has not yet begun on your audio, you can simply get in touch with us and replace the file.

If work has already been completed on your stem and you need to replace the stem for a new one. A new order will need to be placed and the work started again from scratch

Before sending your audio always make sure it is correct and the file you are sending is the audio you intend to be processed.

Your audio can be uploaded safely and securely via our upload form in your account here. Leave all processing active that you want to keep in the stem. You can alternatively bypass any effects or plugins and add them to the processed audio you receive back.

  • File Type: Wav
  • Bitrate: 16/24/32bit
  • Sample Rate: 44,1kHz – 96kHz
  • Headroom: -3db / -6db

Access Analog is a great service and it gives people access to analogue equipment via the internet. The one issue with this is that the person processing the audio (you) usually has very little knowledge of how to get the most out of the equipment and how to use it correctly. Our analogue processing service works in a different way and allows our clients to entrust us with applying the correct processing for the stem.

3 processed stems will be returned back to you, each with their own unique processing applied. It is important to deliver multiple versions of the processed stems in order to cover all possible outcomes.

Stems masters are returned in the following formats, if you require any others, please let us know: 

  • 96kHz 24bit wav
  • 48kHz 24bit wav
  • 44.kHz 24bit wav
  • 44.1kHz 16bit wav

Yes, if you have an idea of how you want the stem to be processed then please let us know in your order. We will ensure the stem is processed as close as is physically possible to the details given, and supply you with 3 processed stems that are variations of how we interpret the information supplied. A reference mix can be provided if you have one.

Yes, you can send a screenshot of a plugin emulation or a similar plugin showing the settings you want applied in the analogue domain. We can then copy the settings in or match them accordingly. 1 stem returned to you will include the processing you have requested and the other 2 stems will be variations of these setting with more extreme settings and another more subtle.

Yes, you can send a reference mix or a reference stem that we can reference against. This allows us to get as close as is physically possible whilst ensuring the stem is processed correctly for the best possible sound.

Yes, this is very much welcomed. Having the reference mix minus the audio we are processing allows us to treat the processing as if we are mixing the song into the rest of the mix. This is very helpful for us and allows us to achieve a sound that takes the rest of the mix into account. This is especially helpful when processing a vocal bus, drum bus or instrument bus.