Analog vs Digital: Is One Actually Better?

Hey y’all!

At the ripe old age of 25 (jk), in my three years working in the music industry, I've spent almost all of my time producing and mixing in the box, aside from running guitar pedals into my mixes. I mix on an SSL UF8 because having physical faders and spending less time staring at a screen feels way more creative to me personally. But beyond that, I've never really been an "analog gal" in the sense of tracking through outboard gear or working on an analog console.

Maybe it's because I'm also 25 and chronically online, but I constantly see online discourse whether analog is actually better. Some swear it's all about the sound, while others argue it's really about the workflow and the way it encourages different creative decisions. It got me wondering where the truth actually lies… and if there is even a truth! 

That curiosity inspired this blog post, and I couldn't think of a better person to chat with than Safari's CEO, Noam. Having come up in the analog era before embracing modern digital workflows, he's experienced both worlds firsthand.

(Noam before plugins took over the world 😎)

Here's what he had to say in response to my questions.

Does Analog or Digital Create Better Music?

1) As someone who came up working in the analog world, do you feel one workflow has a creative or musical advantage over the other?

I don’t think one is inherently more creative than the other. Analog forces commitment. You have fewer options, so you spend less time second-guessing yourself and more time making music. That’s incredibly valuable.

At the same time, digital has completely democratized creativity. Today I can experiment with ideas that would have required an entire studio full of gear twenty years ago. That’s amazing.

The challenge isn’t the technology, it’s knowing when to stop tweaking. The best producers I know use digital tools with an analog mindset. They make decisions, commit, and keep moving. That’s where the magic happens.

Has Digital Changed the Quality of Music?

2) Do you feel the shift from analog workflows to modern digital workflows has changed the quality of music being made today?

I think it’s changed the process more than the quality.

There’s incredible music being made today that simply couldn’t have existed in the analog era. At the same time, we’ve lost some of the discipline that came from working within limitations.

When studio time was expensive and tracks were limited, musicians had to be incredibly prepared. Performances mattered because editing wasn’t really an option. Today we can fix almost anything after the fact.

Neither approach is better or worse. They’re just optimized for different things. I think the sweet spot is combining modern flexibility with the intentionality that defined the analog era.

What Gets Romanticized About Analog Music Production?

3) The analog era is often looked back on with a lot of nostalgia. What’s something you think is maybe a little over-romanticized about that time?

People tend to remember the magic and forget the headaches.

Vintage gear is noisy. Things broke constantly. Recall was a nightmare. If a client wanted a revision two weeks later, you were often trying to recreate a mix from handwritten notes and memory.

We also forget that a lot of engineers at the time would’ve loved many of the tools we have today. Unlimited recall, automation, undo, instant collaboration... These aren’t things that make us less creative. They remove friction.

I absolutely love vintage gear and still own a lot of it, but I don’t miss spending half the session trying to keep everything recallable and working.

Building a Hybrid Setup: What Gear Actually Matters?

4) For someone looking to build a hybrid setup, are there any things in particular you think are valuable hardware investments for the modern workflow?

I’d start with things that genuinely improve the experience rather than buying hardware just because it’s vintage.

Great monitors and room treatment will improve every decision you make. A quality audio interface is another investment that pays off every single day.

After that, I’d add one or two pieces of hardware that inspire you. Maybe it’s a compressor you love tracking through, a synth with a unique personality, or even a guitar pedal that encourages experimentation. You don’t need a rack full of gear. I love buying a piece of gear for a specific project. There is something romantic about that and exciting.

Ironically, after spending years chasing every piece of hardware I could find, I’ve found myself trying to recreate that same feeling in software, not the actual sound but the vibe and inspiration you get from some of these pieces of hardware. At Safari Audio, that’s kind of our philosophy. We don’t want to emulate hardware just for nostalgia’s sake. We want to capture the experience of reaching for a piece of gear that makes you smile and gets you creating without thinking too much. I think that’s what people are really looking for. It’s not analog versus digital. It's inspiration.

My Takeaways

Getting to chat with Noam was super insightful! I think it's easy to get caught up in the charged nature of the online "analog vs. digital" debate, but after this conversation, it feels like that's kind of an unproductive question to be asking- what works/fits best for you and your goals?

What stood out to me most was the idea of adopting an “analog” mindset, regardless of what tools you're using. Committing to decisions, working intentionally, and not letting endless options get in the way of actually making music we feel stoked about.

I also really appreciated the reminder that while we tend to romanticize the past, every era comes with its own trade offs!! While there is something undeniably inspiring about vintage gear, there's also something pretty incredible about being able to create amazing sounding music from a bedroom studio with a laptop and a few great plugins.

At the end of the day, maybe it’s not reallyyyy about analog vs. digital… or whether tubes are more magical than transistors. Maybe it’s about finding the tools and workflow that inspire you to create. ;)

I’d love to hear what you think! Are you team analog, team digital, or somewhere in the middle?

Feel free to drop me a line at abi@safariaudio.com - I’d love to hear your thoughts!