Alignment question - meter calibration

Geeez. I got lost in all the technical mumbo jumbo. And then mod angst entered in. :D
I just hook everything up and if it doesnt blow up, we're good to go. :D :thumbs up:

Sadly that approach doesn't really work when you are talking about getting the most out of analogue recording. Knowing how to line up the machine is important so you need to understand operating levels. It can be amazingly quick if you have the right tools and a decent recorder - probably only 10 minutes on an MTR90 where the meters are right above the adjustment pots.
 
Sadly that approach doesn't really work when you are talking about getting the most out of analogue recording. Knowing how to line up the machine is important so you need to understand operating levels. It can be amazingly quick if you have the right tools and a decent recorder - probably only 10 minutes on an MTR90 where the meters are right above the adjustment pots.

I think maybe you took my joke seriously?
:D
 
@ Blue Jinn,
Re read some of the posts and it turns out you have an msr16 paired with the 520?
Exact same setup as I have. The two go together like a hand in a glove.
I don't know why you're concerned with the metering on the 520. The important meters are on your deck.

Having it properly calibrated to the tape you're using is what matters.

I dont even pay attention to my board VU meters when tracking. What is going to tape is more important. But even then I'm not obsessed.

As I'm sure you're well aware, unlike digital, analog can go into the red without any ill effect.

There much to be said about trusting your ears over the meters in analog recording.
 
"
There much to be said about trusting your ears over the meters in analog recording. "

Er? But you can't hear that until it is too late?

Dave.
 
"
There much to be said about trusting your ears over the meters in analog recording. "

Er? But you can't hear that until it is too late?

Dave.

So then how is looking at the meters not "too late"...?

I use to be bothered by some gear because it had no metering. :wtf:
I've got 3 racked preamps that have no meters (among other gear)...but in use, I realized that it didn't matter all that much.
I mean, there's some comfort in staring at the meters, but if you're not listening to your signal, the meters aren't going to tell you if it's the sound you want.

Hey...why don't they have meters on microphones...? ;)
 
So then how is looking at the meters not "too late"...?

I use to be bothered by some gear because it had no metering. :wtf:
I've got 3 racked preamps that have no meters (among other gear)...but in use, I realized that it didn't matter all that much.
I mean, there's some comfort in staring at the meters, but if you're not listening to your signal, the meters aren't going to tell you if it's the sound you want.

Hey...why don't they have meters on microphones...? ;)

What I mean is, you don't listen off tape when recording so you have no idea how things sound unless you switch source to tape. I suppose if you have near perfect acoustic isolation twixt performer and control room you COULD put up with the delay?

Signal metering was "perfected" during the development of radio where that was the only clue you had as to how hard you were hitting the transmitter.

Mic PRE amps generally have meters. "We" of course use the PPM in radio. The BBC bods say VU stands for Virtually Useless!

Dave.
 
"
There much to be said about trusting your ears over the meters in analog recording. "

Er? But you can't hear that until it is too late?

Dave.

I have no idea what you're going on about.
There is such a thing as checking levels before you commit to tape. No such thing as too late.
Stick to waffles. :D
 
Signal metering was "perfected" during the development of radio where that was the only clue you had as to how hard you were hitting the transmitter.

Recording is not live radio...so there's usually at least a couple of test passes you do before the final take, and you should know how things sound by that point.

---------- Update ----------

Stick to waffles. :D

I want French toast with side order of bacon and some hash browns.
 
Recording is not live radio...so there's usually at least a couple of test passes you do before the final take, and you should know how things sound by that point.

---------- Update ----------



I want French toast with side order of bacon and some hash browns.

I think over the pond it's breakfast time around now. :)

I've found in recording you run the tests then back off a bit.

Say you tell the drummer to hit his snare at max velocity, set levels and back them off a bit, because you 'know' he's gonna hit it harder than that once he starts going.
A good to excellent drummer is much easier because of his control over dynamics.

Dynamics is one area where meters come in very handy.
Before I knew what a compressor was, let alone owned one, I used the meters to teach myself control over dynamics. This became particularly usefull with bass and vocals.

Watching the VU is great for mic technique visualization and adjusting bass attack.

Just keep that VU in the sweet spot.
:D
 
Hey...nothing wrong with looking at meters when you're setting things up or even during tracking...
...I think the point we're both making is that listening is more important that looking at what the meters are doing, because some signals will cause meters to peak and read high, yet the sound is perfect. There's no one spot that meters should be in always. :)
 
Hey...nothing wrong with looking at meters when you're setting things up or even during tracking...
...I think the point we're both making is that listening is more important that looking at what the meters are doing, because some signals will cause meters to peak and read high, yet the sound is perfect. There's no one spot that meters should be in always. :)

Agreed, my tape recording was done many years ago and was almost all 'live' one off events, shows e.g. There was no way to 'get a level' then do it again if the recording cracked up so meters were set up back at base so we knew where the levels were ref max modulation.

As you were..

Dave.
 
Dave is not that far off. The MS16 should be hooked into a channel switch box that then feeds a meter like the LMV181A (Leader Test Equipment) then the output not set for 316mV but the -10dBV as all Tascam equipment is specified for. Taking short cuts and doing calibration to machines in an abstract way make more a mess of them that not touching them at all. The current day tape to use on the MS16 would be either SM911 or ATR Master. You could also use SM900.
I worked on these at Chicago Factory Service and I always got excellent results back then. This was the Place in Arlington Height IL.
 
Ooo! I used one of those Leader mV meters at Blackstar! We also had a couple of the combined signal genny and mV jobs.

Dave.
 
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