Yamaha HS5 Nearfield Monitors — $200
Yamaha H8S Subwoofer — $450
Universal Audio Apollo 8 — $1,000-$2,000 (depending on if used or new)
Apple Logic Pro X — $199
Audio Technica AT2020 Mic — $99
Keep in mind this album just won a grammy for best Engineered album. This gear seems pretty pitiful. But I cant help but wonder if they had recorded this at Octave records with Gus Skinas at the controls in DSD if it would’ve sounded way better! And I bet Gus wouldve done a surround mix too! Such a missed opportunity!
They did a great job. That is a really good record no matter haw it was made. It was a favorite of mine as soon as it was released. Nice to see someone young and fresh putting together cool recordings.
And she is set to perform the title song for the new James Bond film, “No Time To Die” also. It will be interesting to see how that turns out. She is the youngest artist to write and perform a Bond theme. Pretty impressive!
I’m not all that up on current releases, as I’m on the road, but a) I heard the album and was not impressed, and b) understand that she has been groomed for this success.
A situation very reminiscent of Alanis Morisette’s success with “Jagged Little Pill”, recorded on ADAT, a format scoffed at by The Studios at the time. (1995)
Happy to see anyone cut through the crap, whatever decade it happens to be.
The article was about compression by loudness, not about recording gear.
What’s wrong with that gear anyway? Apple is used for many professional applications and Yamaha monitors are utilized in many studios.
And even if it would have been lesser quality gear, it proofs that when performed by artists and people who know what they are doing, which I agree certainly also applies to Gus Skinnas, has way more influence on sound quality than your audio gear or file formats.
Yes, off course our Audio gear matters. But the artists skills and recordings quality by people that know what they are doing (artists by themself) matters more than file format or judging by the brand and type of equipment to which I reacted.
For me, the most interesting thing in that gear list is the microphone. So cheap! The next most important thing for sound quality is the ADC, and there doesn’t seem to be anything to criticise about the one they used. After that it’s all numbers, and your choice of gear makes zero difference – what matters is the creative work applied to it, and I reckon this pair have earned their success.
This album has some of the best new music I’ve heard in years. It’s very rare for me to like something that the kids of the day are into.
I’ve been on the road for a month. Got back yesterday and had a good listen to Billie’s album.
Not bad at all, and very interesting. Much better than I had recalled. The difference, I think, was a more casual first pass as opposed to last night’s closer listening.