Just curious how many people insert a channel strip or some other bare bones FX like a comp. or eq with input controls as the first part of their FX chain. I had a situation were I needed to do this as my basic input level was over driving my Waves CAL3 Bluey even with that input level turned down. More I thought about it it seems like a good or at least not a bad idea. There also have been other times with several FX on a track where I like the sound and the mix but I am just slightly over driving one of the fx's. Easy fix seems like it would be to just turn down a pre-FX volume control to not upset the overall mix of all the fx's. Thoughts?
Channel Strips Pre FX volume control
- Thread starter songsj
- Start date
No. :>)
First up in any track work is to trim the gain (whether up or down) if needed, to get the clip's (file's) level into the system's nominal range.
Some use 'gain trim plugs designed specifically for this- that is one of the methods.
I wouldn't use an FX or eq or what have you for that purpose.
In my DAW there is an 'input gain slider (or knob), gain trim automation (on top of/in addition to the slider's level), both limited somewhat in range, and 'gain audio process' -which makes a new file, has lots of gain available, and rewrites the results to a new sized waveform picture.
Once a track's level is down into the system's nominal working range, where you now have plenty of headroom to play with, it's usually not something you'd have to bother with much.
Which brings it to... that goes for recording as well. If you track with levels into the system -shooting for 'nominal at the A/D converter - i.e. -18 to 20dBFS or so average, peaks safely below 0dBFS... Wa' la. Much less need to 'fix track mix levels. You'll already be 'there'.
