Meters...

[7string]

I use Guitar Tracks Pro 3 and today I was doing some mixing and accidentally RIGHT clicked on one of the track meters. Wow... something new! The first thing that popped up was a box with Current Meter -> and All Meters ->. So I clicked on Current Meter and another box popped up. This one had a whole bunch of choices. 12, 24, 42, 60, 78 and 90 db range. What the hell does that mean? Right now it is set to 42. Is that right?

So I clicked on All Meters and again a whole bunch of options came up. The only one's I was interested in was the Playback Meters and Record Meters. First there is Peak, RMS and Peak + RMS. Then under THAT there is the same options as above, 12, 24, 42, 60, 78 and 90 db range BECEPT! They're all after a "-" negative sign. THAT is set to -42 db range. Is that where it's supposed to be?

How should I set these up and WHAT determines HOW these are set? Would these settings have anything to do with WHY my mixes are so damned low in volume? I can put a regular CD in and can NOT stay in the same room because the volume is so high. I know that these are fully mastered and professionally recorded, etc. But when I go to mix my own recorded tracks the volume is so low it's EXTREMELY hard to hear. So I was wondering if one might have to do with another?

 

[snow lizard]

Range:

Being able to set your meters to operate in selected ranges allows you to set them according to what portion of the signal you want to concentrate on. More range means you can see activity at lower level signals. For example, a 0 - -90 dB range should expose the self-noise level of most systems. For example, a soundblaster or other such cheap card might show a signal level at around -40 dB with nothing plugged into it. A much better recording interface might show noise levels more around -80 dB or so (could be more) with the preamps hooked up and turned on, and mics plugged in and set to go. Obviously the meters won't show this if they're only set to a -24 dB range.

Used with lots of range, you'd be able to see (as well as hear) the self noise of different preamps at different gain settings, with or without mics hooked up. Basically it's a way of learning how much noise anything in your system will contribute to the signal under whatever conditions you have. -90 dB is very very quiet. A sudden jump to -84 dB would be like a mouse fart.

The area of the signal you generally concentrate on is much higher than -90 dB. Setting less range increases the room it has for travel. It's kind of like using a magnifying glass on the portion of the meter with more activity.

RMS vs. Peak:

RMS levels show the average level of a signal. The reaction time is slow, but RMS levels will be better at approximating the apparent sound level that we can actually hear. It's a closer visual representation of what our ears are telling us.

Peak meters are very fast. They're there to show transient peaks, or percussive type sounds that attack and decay very quickly. Some audio sources have a lot of transients and some don't. Usually there's a floating bar or something at the end of the peak meter that stays there for a second or so after the level has fallen so you can see where the maximum peak was. This type is handy to check that your peaks are not exceeding the total range of the system, but RMS levels are generally way more useful.

What determines how they're supposed to be set is you and your own preferance for what you want to look at. They have nothing to do with why your mixes are lower in volume than commercial CDs.

Commercial CDs use extremely excessive compression and hard limiting to force peak and RMS levels to live closer together. This enables higher RMS levels without clipping, or exceeding the entire range of the system. It sounds louder as a result, but that doesn't always mean it sounds better.


sl