Level calibration

F

fstrat76

Member
So as I just finished installing and setting up all of my equipment for my studio space, I wanted to get a sense of levels across the different gear and considering some if it is daw, I wanted to match output to my -10 equipment and meters. At least get it close.

So I put a 1khz tone on the daw, set it to 0db output, setup the Tascam M2600 analog mixer to take the daw output and match trim and such to get a 0 level meter reading on the M2600.

Armed some tracks on the Tascam 38 and got zero VU. Checked all groups, inputs, meters etc. Reversed the process so if I need to transfer back to daw, I'd get similar level.

Great. All set. Not.

I forgot that a constant tone will produce consistent levels on all type of meters. The M2600 has LED's and the 38 has VU meters. So when I started tracking, to get the 38 VU meters to average around 0 to +3 VU, the M2600 meters were consistently in the red at +8 to +12.

Now I know that VU analog is an average reading. The analog M2600 can handle I think +23 without distortion. I know what my ears are telling me, that's what I'm going by.

The mixer and 38 are both analog and -10, but shouldn't the meters be closer in what they both display?
 
0vu analog = between -20 to -12 digital depending on how much head room you want to leave yourself. I'd suggest using 1Khz @ -18 and feeding that level from your DAW back to your analog gear with NR out of the picture.
 
As you say the VU meter averages quite a bit more than the LED meter. The difference between the two readings depends on the program you're feeding it. Each meter is reading the signal in a different way.

A snare drum hit will give a big difference. A constant organ note will probably give no difference.

If it sounds good, (ie: not clipping the mixer) is there really a problem?

Cheers Tim
 
Understood. I know the VU meters are mostly average.

Both are analog devices, both read 0 for a 1kHz tone.

For a guitar part, the mixers LEDs jumping to +8 to +12 you'd think would push the tape and pin the tape's VU needles occasionally but I don't see it much past 0 to +3 on the VU's.

I'm not getting distortion so I guess I'm good. Just trying to figure out the math or logic behind all of this as I'm really pushing the mixer LED meters to the max.

I just read in the manual the M2600 level meters are set to Peak/Hold. It says you can modify them to turn this off. Any benefit to this?
 
Peak meters are going to read the transients, VU meters will read the average. There is no way to make them read the same with anything percussive, or really anything other than a test tone.
 
fstrat76 said:
Understood. I just read in the manual the M2600 level meters are set to Peak/Hold. It says you can modify them to turn this off. Any benefit to this?
Click to expand...

As it is, you have the best of both. Both line up on a test tone, and on program, one is peak reading and the other VU reading. Good metering systems usually have both a peak and an average anyway so why change it?

Cheers Tim
 
Tim Gillett said:
As it is, you have the best of both. Both line up on a test tone, and on program, one is peak reading and the other VU reading. Good metering systems usually have both a peak and an average anyway so why change it?

Cheers Tim
Click to expand...

That's a good point Tim, I just thought constant +12 on the LED's seemed a little excessive, but as long as the peaks aren't affecting the recording then I guess I can use both meters to my advantage. Thanks.
 
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