How much gain does an RE20 need to hit -9dB recording level in Audacity?

Parin

New member
I have an RE20 going into a True P-Solo Ribbon preamp, high gain mode turned on and all the way up (advertised as +76dB gain). I've then connected this to a dbx286s channel strip through the line input jack over a 1/4" TRS cable. In a normal speaking voice, this fluctuates between -21dB to -18dB. In order to get it to -9dB, I have to use the built in mic preamp on the dbx286s to provide an additional 10db of gain. Is this normal?
 
Yes it can be normal, depending on what your 'normal' speaking voice is. It's kind of like asking "how long is a piece of string?"

The RE20's are not very loud and do need more gain than an average condenser. Essentially, it takes what it takes.
 
Baring no unknown problems up stream, adding the gain in the DAW likely would actually a cleaner was to do it.
I've not had the need for a massive amount of gain for RE20's. One might wonder how quiet or far from the mic we're talking about here.

Also, -21 - 18 peak ..or? ..coming back around to why 76dB of gain would't be enough?
 
The chain is as follows:

-RE20 via XLR(female) to XLR(male) inputted into the True P-Solo Ribbon Pre, high gain mode engaged and maxed (+76db gain)
-Balanced output over 1/4" TRS into Line In on the dbx286s channel strip
-Output over 1/4" TRS from the output jack into channel 2 of the Scarlett Solo preamp, Line mode.

Clip 1: Gain maxed on P-Solo, no additional gain from dbx:
Vocaroo | Voice message

Clip 2:Same as above, but with around +10 additional gain from the dbx's built in preamp (around ~+86dB total):
Vocaroo | Voice message


You're using an XLR-XLR cable, right?

Yes: this connects the microphone to the TPS-Ribbon Pre. Then, a 1/4" TRS connects that to the dbx286s channel strip, which is then connected to the Scarlett Solo via another 1/4" TRS.

Where is the output of the 286s going, what interface or something else into Audacity?
Into a Scarlett Solo in Line mode over Channel 2, which uses a TRS input. I'm then using Audacity to monitor the output levels.

I've not had the need for a massive amount of gain for RE20's. One might wonder how quiet or far from the mic we're talking about here.
Around 3 inches away from the mic; Or rather, an inch (sometimes two in the worst case) away from my BSW REPOP pop filter.


There are two ways to connect the preamp to the dbx286s; via Line In, or via "Insert"; When I had it in "insert", there seemed to be plenty of gain, but it was more noisy. After reading a bit online, I think I'm supposed to use Line In instead. Now that I'm attempting to use Line In, I'm needing much more gain.
 
What happens if you plug the mic into the DBX's mic input and use it's preamp instead? Better noise performance or worse? Going from the line out of one preamp to the line in of another usually increases overall noise figures a little.
 
I'd do some test recordings, noting gain and distance, with the DBX out of the loop (physically), then repeat with the DBX in.
There's a possibility that it's impeding the signal in some way.

Also, if the scarlett only has combo line/mic then there'll be gain on the line input. You'll need to figure out where unity is manually so that you're not effectively padding the signal.

My re20 clips a presonus firestudio mobile at max gain (70db) with quiet speech @ 2-3 inches.
 
How much reduction do you see on the compressor?

Are you sure the expander is opening up all the way?

You have a lot of dynamics processing on the dbx that could be shutting down the signal level, if you aren't careful.
 
I tested things out with a couple of configurations:

The first: Mic to P-Solo to DBX Line in to Scarlett Solo
The second: Mic to P-Solo to DBX Insert to Scarlett Solo
The third: Mic to P-Solo to Scarlett Solo

The second and third configurations yielded approximately equal recording levels speak using a normal speaking voice around three inches away from the microphone. The first configuration seems to reduce the recording level quite a bit, but also enables me to use the preamp on the dbx to fix this. When I plug into the Insert jack, the dbx has no impact on the gain, and the preamp on it doesn't work; But, it also stops detecting microphone input entirely if I enable "process bypass".


So, what I'm taking away from this is, is that I should be using the Insert jack instead of the Line Input jack. Is that correct? I may have a misunderstanding of what "line level" means; I was under the assumption that the P-Solo was outputting line level, which would mean I would need to connect to Line In on the dbx.
 
Like I said before, I'm pretty sure the gain knob on the scarlett has effect even when using a 'line' input.
If unity happens to be somewhere around 12 o'clock, anything lower will be padding your signal down.

According to the dbx specs sheet, the insert and line should have the same level of output, so your findings are odd,
but note that any output taken from the insert will be unbalanced, so bets are off.
 
Well the good news is that the Solo's line input is quoted as handling up to +22dBu so there is little likelihood of overload.

The bad news is that VERY few AI speccs' tell you what input level you need for 'X' dBFS. The RE20 delivers 1.5mV for 1Pascal (~90dBSPL) so 'normal' speech would be some 10dB below that at 500 microvolts but since we are not told what level hits 0dBFS (say) all you can do is suck it and see!

But why do you want to hit -9dBFS? Normal tracking level is -20,-18dBFS.

Dave.
 
With a -18dBFS average level, a -9dBFS peak wouldn't be out of line.

Agreed ^ but OP said, "this fluctuates between -21dB to -18dB. In order to get it to -9dB,...." and 21/18 is really where he wants to be. I took it that he wants an average at -9dBFS?

Dave.
 
The writer should specify peak or average rather than let the reader guess.


Indeed they should BSG, but the vast majority of DAW meters only show peak (exception is Samplitude, Pk and 'rms' which is 'sort of' average) so I think we can forgive him! Then, by '-18dBFS' I think we mean that the PEAK indicated signal should be bouncing around that with rare excursions to -10 and V rarely -6?

Dave.
 
Indeed they should BSG, but the vast majority of DAW meters only show peak (exception is Samplitude, Pk and 'rms' which is 'sort of' average) so I think we can forgive him! Then, by '-18dBFS' I think we mean that the PEAK indicated signal should be bouncing around that with rare excursions to -10 and V rarely -6?

Dave.

That's what I do, watch the peak meter and make it move fairly regularly above and below the -18 mark, with maximum peaks something below -6. If the signal is spending most of its time above or below -18dBFS it may be worth adjusting. I set percussive sounds by highest peak.
 
Back
Top