Ergonomics of Classic Recording Studio Gear

Here's a link to a website featuring photos of classic 24 track recorders. Click on
the links on the left side of the page under "information" to
see photos of mic preamps, compressors, mixers etc.

Viridian is right. By today's standards DSOTM was recorded using near
primitive equipment. It just goes to show that it's the skill of the
musicians and the engineers and not the equipment that makes great
recordings.

Primitive doesn't mean it wasn't capable of excellent sound. DSOTM was recorded on multitrack analog tape and to make edits the engineers took a razor blade to cut and splice the tape. Compared to modern digital audio workstation where you can electronically cut and paste with unlimited levels of "undo" this bit of early 70s technology is primitive.

Here's some comments from one of the engineers, Alan Parsons, regarding recording DSOTM:

The album was recorded on 16-track and effects weren't so readily achieved in those days- nearly everything was done one way or another with tape. On one of the tracks we needed a long stereo echo and that was achieved by running one of the eight-track machines at 7.5ips [inches per second] and then feeding the replay output from the first two tracks into the input of the second two tracks and so on. The album was actually mixed for quadrophonic reproduction and we had echoes coming from all corners. The effects loop on 'Money' was also mixed to move around the speakers.

There's plenty of old equipment that is highly prized today for their sound quality, but that doesn't mean the equipment is better than what's available today. The old stuff was frequently very hard to maintain, the sound changed from one recording take to another, no two pieces sounded exactly alike (a critical problem for stereo recordings) and they constantly broke down. Skilled engineer still made wonderful recordings with this equipment, but people who actually worked with the equipment on a day to day basis aren't all that romantic about the good old days.

It's not unlike motorcycles. Would you rather have a mid-50s Triumph or one of their current bikes? If you want to use the bike to ride regualarly, the answer is obvious.

Regardless of what era it was made, a great sounding recording starts with four things. A talented musician, a good sounding instrument, a good sounding recording space and properly placed microphone(s). The mics and the rest of the recording equipment do not have to be very high quality. Good engineering will easily overcome the deficiencies of the equipment. One of the problems I see with how modern records are made is that they have lost touch with these four essential elements and engineers are trying to use technology to compensate. It's not the fault of the equipment, but how the equipment is being used that results in modern recordings sounding relatively bad. The equipment is only a tool.