Better results using as last insert in Pro Tools?

Auto-Align
1

Hi, I’m demoing Auto-Align and to test it out I’m bringing it into mixes where I’ve had issues struggling with phase. One session in particular was a typical multi-mic drum set where I was struggling with room vs. overheads and snare, and another session which was a DI guitar track run through multiple re-amps.

On both sessions, using ARA to insert Auto-Align (selecting the tracks, choosing Auto-Align in the elastic audio selector, grouping them accordingly, clicking Align) resulted in “flamming” of the results, and an overall sound that wasn’t an improvement over the original. The guitar tracks in particular were a little tighter but thinner; the drums were unusable.

On both sessions, inserting Auto Align as the first insert on each track (selecting the tracks, opening the Auto Align insert, grouping the tracks accordingly, clicking align, playing the session) was a massive improvement to ARA. However, inserting Auto Align as the last insert on each track was an even bigger improvement, and the only method I’ve been able to consistently hear the results I was expecting.

My questions are: am I doing something wrong using the ARA method? Maybe inserting after the mix is more or less finished is a wrong approach? Is there anything wrong with inserting as the last insert? (The only thing I would imagine here is needing to re-run Align with any major plug-in changes.)

Thanks for any assistance!

2

Hi @rogerwilco2000,

Thanks for your message.

Our general recommendation is to use Auto-Align 2 early in the mixing process and apply it on the raw tracks.

If your mix was already done, perhaps it makes sense to use Auto-Align 2 after the processing,
as you said, you would need to re-align if you change/remove any of the plugins that come before AA2.

If you want to get a feel for Auto-Align 2 ARA in general, I’d suggest creating a new empty session, importing your unprocessed drum tracks, and inserting Auto-Align 2 ARA-- see if you hear an improvement once the tracks are aligned.

If the result doesn’t sound good, it would be great if you could send us your tracks to support@soundradix.com, we’d be happy to take a look.

Thanks,

Oran