From the mouth of Mau..."All,
A digital mix/track when done well is extremely clean & quiet, almost "thin" sounding. This is not a bad thing, but it is when you compare it to an analog mix.
Analog on the other hand, actually is dirty, but dirty with harmonics that often enhance the body of the sound. These harmonics are introduced due to the components used, noise reduction circuitry, valves, etc. Often handmade, analog units may have a different sound when comparing two of the same units by the same manufacturer. This also, is not a bad thing.
In my previous email I explained that you should experiment with saturation on the mix bus to get that analog sound, and no, you do not need an expensive plugin. Grab a saturator, and try mixing through it (put it on the master bus before you start mixing). I like the Voxengo VariSaturator, for its price point and functionality mostly. But I've included a picture of what saturation does to a sine wave for the visual people.
Remember, the effect is very subtle, but these are the things that separate great engineers, producers, from the beginners. Also, when enhancing audio, apply the enhancement in small doses, tweak it until it "feels good" not just "sounds right".
The plugin at the top right (inspector) shows the signal without saturation, below (bottom right) is the signal with saturation. Varisaturator is on the left. The sound is just a somewhat dull constant beep, but, with the saturation, that "extra something" is there.
Imagine it over the whole mix :-)
Good read as well (mix bus saturation is mentioned at bottom)
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