VF-16 ADAT Transfer / No Gain

[mark4man]

Why is there no gain control with an ADAT transfer? Is it because it is pure digital signal, w/ no conversion? I wanted to utilize ADAT Optical to transfer a half-dozen synchronized tracks from my VF-16, to my sampling & sequencing software (Cakewalk.) I am able to do this with a recently aquired GINA 24 Sound Card/Audio Interface. I assigned & then recorded the tracks in Cake as I played them on the Fostex, but there is no gain control on either end. On the VF-16, the Channel Faders control only the monitor (headphones.) On the GINA 24, there are no Faders on the ADAT Control Surface.

Is there any way to accomplish this, or am I just going to have to be especially careful to set perfect levels when I record?

Thanks in advance.

mark4man

[Blue Bear Sound]

There is no gain via digital I/O unless you have a specialized converter (something like the M-Audio SAM).....

The idea is to transfer the signal WITHOUT as is.......

And it's ALWAYS a good idea to set the proper recording levels ALL THE TIME!

[mark4man]

Thanks much.

On proper recording levels...the musicians I have been working with lately are prone to hitting me with surges & transients. I always have my Faders at 0 VU; & the Trim adjusted carefully to catch these spikes, but where minimal clipping has slipped through, I could always get away with a slight gain reduction in transferring those tracks to the PC via analog. Obviously, with digital transfer, that's no longer an option.

So my question is: will Limiting (real time) work? I don't believe in compression (for instrumentation, anyway); but if I could eliminate those random spikes, it would be helpful. Thanks.

mark4man

[Blue Bear Sound]

On many recording devices, a 0 VU signal is calibrated to about -15dbFS (sometimes 12dbFS), giving you about 12-15db of headroom before a digital over occurs (depending on where the meter sees an over)....

The catch is, recording that low a level in the digital realm means you aren't taking advantage of all the bit resolution.... not such a big deal at 24/96, but at 16/44.1 it can be!