This was taught to me by a producer out of Portland. He studied under Denny Purcell, and explained in detail how they make 2-track mixes sound HUGE and full without pumping compression/limiting. There is a device similar to a response-oriented preamp. This is an outboard device with solid state and/or tube processing, it is NOT software. Evidently it is very important to use high-end analog to digital converters, and you can't skimp on this aspect. There are also automated parametric equalization strategies, high-end limiters, compressors, noise gates and sonic analyzers utilized in professional mastering. Basically it boils down to spending extremely excessive amounts of cash to get the best gear producing the best sound. Software is gaining on outboard gear, but there is still no comparing the circuitry of multiple high-end processors with excellent go-between.
you can get close to big lable sound, but he's right about the highend coverters. some run as high as 10,000$. hard for the small studios to beat or come close to that sound. the software i wrote about can help some though. Some really great albums were done with alot less technology. When i work at the home studio, i have an analizing program that i take a sample of afavorite cd.analize its charachteristics,and edit my tracks to match the analisys.works quite well. there are ways to get around the highend gear, depends on how critical you are of the work.
