Recording advice regading input levels...

[AlexHall74]

OK, I just got my rig hooked up and I/O is working.

Now for a silly question from a music hack from Florida.

My rig: PIV PC 1 GB RAM, M-Audio 2496, Behringer UB-1204, Virus KC, Tracktion2 = sequencer, etc..

When recording in the digital domain I know that 0 dB is the max signal one can record without clipping.

My question is, should I be trying to get as close to 0 dB as possible or just stay under it?

I am looking at the input levels when playing my Virus while getting ready to record and the damn levels jump around alot (depending on the patch and the pressure applied to the keys, etc).

The L and R of the signal differ greatly as well, so if one is damn close to 0 dB, the other might be down at -30 dB.

Does anyone have any quick rules of thumb to help me straighten this out in my head?

Thanks in advance for any insight offered. 8)

-Alex

[gimpoid]

To set the gain or input levels on the mixer....
1.press pfl/solo(prefaderlisten) on the appropriate input channel
2.adjust gain/input sensitivetyuntil meters read within the yellow(3 to 6 on the meter scale) this allows for an extra 10dB of headroom/safety margin
3.release pfl/solo and repeat on all other channels.

eq effects the gain setting so if you change eq levels recheck gain levels.
once you optimise these levels you mixer should give best signal quality with minimum noise and distortion
master output fader should be set to a max of 0 on the scale if you need more output turn up your amp.
hope this is relevant info :)

[AlexHall74]

OK, thanks!

I'll try this out and see if I get it straight.

I'm pretty sure I know what you are explaining.

Cheers!

-Alex

[jasedee]

Alex,

You need to set yourself a target "Unity". When using analogue tape, Unity is at 0dB VU. When using PPM meters it is telling a very different story.

Set it about -12dBFS to give yourself enough room for sudden peaks, and hence avoid clipping.

Sometimes using a compressor to tape will help with healthy levels.

Good luck mate!

[AlexHall74]

Jase wrote:
Sometimes using a compressor to tape will help with healthy levels.

Thanks for the additional inf Jase!

It looks like I need to ask Santa for an FMR RNC.

:wink:

-Alex

[Hollowcell]

My question is, should I be trying to get as close to 0 dB as possible or just stay under it?

Always best to leave yourself a little margin for error. The great thing about 24bit is you have a alot of depth to play with after.

The L and R of the signal differ greatly as well, so if one is damn close to 0 dB, the other might be down at -30 dB.

It's times like these when a compressor comes in handy. But if your in a studio, and it's not so important to get the wave recorded in the first take, you can get away with plugin compression - specially if recording in 24bit. Some of the dedicated dsp compressors are indeed very good too.

It looks like I need to ask Santa for an FMR RNC.

Play around with plugins first Alex. You have to remember you can't take the compression off if you use it pre-recording. Once you have sorted how compression works, then maybe it's time for an outboard.

These days, with the standard of plugins, it depends a lot on what source material you are recording, plus also the recording environment (tape, studio, live) whether you need a nice outboard compressor/s.

Of course there are other reasons too - e.g. warm nice sound and compressor characture. But the amount of money you need to spend to get these things is far beyond the reach of the home studio.

[AlexHall74]

Rock on, HC! Great advice as usual.

I will definitely play with compressor plugins first.

I'll just have to remember to keep the input levels down a bit until I get the feel of it.

Tracktion 2 came with a few compressors bundled in with the sequencer.

Do you recommend any particular plug-in comps, HC?

I imagine Waves products are good as I have heard their plug-ins raved about for quite a while now.

I won't have budget for an outboard comp anyway until after January.

Thanks, Steve!

-Alex

[Hollowcell]

Do you recommend any particular plug-in comps, HC?

I imagine Waves products are good as I have heard their plug-ins raved about for quite a while now.

I don't mind some of the waves ones, PSP vintage warmer isn't bad and also Izotope seem to know what they are doing.
But honestly since buying my outboard compressor I don't really use plugs for mixing so much any more - If I feel a track needs more compression I usually route the track out on different outputs to the desk and compress from there.

If I was running DSP based plugin compression (like the UAD stuff) I would probably use plugins a bit more though. But my outboard compressor definitely does a better job than the regular plugins.

I do like the waves Mutli-band L3 at the mastering stage though. It really can get levels up quite transparently.

Hope that helps ya a little bit.

EDIT:
Take a look at these brief tutorials on compression at SOS. I read these a while ago when I was starting to really experiment and they helped me.

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/1996_articles/apr96/compression.html
Compression and Limiting.

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/Aug02/articles/multiband.asp
Multiband compression.

[AlexHall74]

Awesome.

I'll read those SOS articles at work today.

:wink:

-Alex