Scarlett/Audacity clipping issue

M

MikeHammond

New member
I've encountered an issue, and I wonder if anybody else has seen or conquered it.

I'm using a Rode NT1-A with a Scarlett Solo interface. I'm recording voice only for voiceover projects with Audacity.

When I tell Audacity to record in Mono, my waveforms get clipped at an amplitude of +/- .5 (or -6db when viewing in logarithmic). When I switch Audacity recording mode to Stereo, the problem goes away, though I do end up with an unwanted empty second channel that I need to throw away in post-production.

Is this an Audacity issue? A Scarlett Solo issue? An issue of using them together? I have a workaround, but I'm wondering what the pros are doing that I'm not that avoids this issue.
 
My first question is, why are you recording that close to 0 dBFS?

It sounds like it might be an Audacity thing. I don't have that problem with my 6i6 in Vegas Pro.
 
I found I needed to set my gain lower than I wanted to avoid the artificial clipping at -6. The net effect was needing more amplification in post-production, bringing up my noise floor above what I'd like to see.
 
You should not be seeing any increase in noise floor unless you've got an issue with the Scarlett. You room's ambient noise floor is probably 40dB higher than any noise from the Scarlett or mic, and the relative signal to ambient level shouldn't change with your gain setting.

As for what the pros are doing, they aren't using Audacity for recording. It's a nice quick and dirty editor, but a proper DAW would be preferable.
 
What a good entry level DAW on a budget? I'm only doing voice-over, so features that help create music are just a distraction at this point for me
 
They're all going to have those features. We all just learn the ones we need for whatever we're doing.

I find Reaper pretty usable. It's $60, I think. The demo is fully functional.
 
For free, you have Cakewalk by Bandlab and Ardour. Reaper is free to try and will run without registering, but it's well worth the $60 for a license.

All have capability to do music, but you don't need to use those functions. However things like EQ, compression, noise reduction and noise gates can be very useful when doing voice over work. You can also do extensive editing work.
 
I'm experimenting with Reaper now. I've been able to record from my mic - I can see the waveform. I'm not sure how to play it back. I've got USB headphones connected to the laptop and I want to listen there, but I'm not hearing anything. I assume I'm missing something obvious.
 
Audio interfaces are designed to handle all the audio inputs and outputs, and they typically have a dedicated ASIO driver for that purpose. Using USB headphones defeats that function. You can use them, but you will probably have to go into the audio properties and select a driver other than the Scarlett ASIO driver, like the Windows Classic Wave Driver. Then you should be able to see your headphones as an available output.

[Edit] To select a different driver, go to Options->Preferences->Audio->Device. To see the available outputs, use the Route button by the master fader.
 
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This is something that baffles me a little, as an amateur.

I converted my walk-in closet into a sound-treated recording booth. It's not tiny, but there's limited room.

In design 1, the XLR cable ran from the mic to the interface and laptop outside the closet. The problem was that I couldn't see the interface or laptop, so getting good levels was a challenge, and I couldn't wear a headset to listen to what the interface was hearing.

I redesigned, and in design 2, the interface came in the booth with me, and a long USB cable ran from the interface out to the laptop. That allows me to eyeball levels on the fly with the halo around the Scarlett gain knob. But if I should be doing playback through the Scarlett, and not from laptop hardware, that's going to be a problem.

What's the best solution to my chicken-and-egg problem?
 
Put the interface by the computer, set the level there with plenty of headroom so you never approach 0 dBFS and record without worrying about it. Getting finished product levels is done in a later step.
 
I suppose it is a matter of what you want to extend. If the workflow dictates it, perhaps extend a monitor with wireless keyboard and mouse into the closet. Add a headphone extension cable and you'd have pretty much everything. This way, you can operate the DAW while doing voice work, leaving the computer out of the booth.
 
Extending something seems important, particularly if a client wants a live directed session...

Without a major closet reconfiguration, it would be hard to get a monitor and controls in there.1000010898.jpg
 
MikeHammond said:
I found I needed to set my gain lower than I wanted to avoid the artificial clipping at -6. The net effect was needing more amplification in post-production, bringing up my noise floor above what I'd like to see.
Click to expand...
Their indicators from -7 to -2 is amber, and -1 to 0 is red.
 
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