Unity gain in VSTi , or DAW???

Jay C

Jay C

New member
so i was in another tread and got on to the topic of vst drums and output into DAW volume levels.. i was under the impression that turning up the vst mixer faders to unity then controling in the DAW would be the best aproach. then was mentioned that the signals will be clipped if i turn vst to unity... so i guess i'll start with 1 question,,, should the DAW faders be at unity and adjust in the vst.. b/c i can't see one or the other not being set at unity...

i'd love to hear what others are doing..
 
Hey,
Jay C said:
then was mentioned that the signals will be clipped if i turn vst to unity...
Click to expand...
The signals may be clipped. That just depends on what's going on in your VST.

With analog signals, at least, the DAW fader is irrelevant. If you clip on the way in, that's before the fader, see?
So you use your gain and other input variables to get the level right for conversion.

Whether it's strictly necessary or not, I treat VSTS like analog inputs. I make sure the output of the plug isn't clipping, and I start my mix with each DAW fader at unity.

Of course, the more stuff you add to the mix, the more likely it is that you'll be pulling faders down from unity, but that's kinda what they're there for, right? ;)

I generally don't get caught up in it. As long as nothing clips, and nothing's so quiet that noise can be heard, I'm happy.
 
Steenamaroo said:
Hey,

The signals may be clipped. That just depends on what's going on in your VST.

With analog signals, at least, the DAW fader is irrelevant. If you clip on the way in, that's before the fader, see?
So you use your gain and other input variables to get the level right for conversion.

Whether it's strictly necessary or not, I treat VSTS like analog inputs. I make sure the output of the plug isn't clipping, and I start my mix with each DAW fader at unity.

Of course, the more stuff you add to the mix, the more likely it is that you'll be pulling faders down from unity, but that's kinda what they're there for, right? ;)

I generally don't get caught up in it. As long as nothing clips, and nothing's so quiet that noise can be heard, I'm happy.
Click to expand...

thanks again man.. LOL.. i didn't want to hijack the other thread but think this is worth exploring a bit... i certainly getting into this tonight. lol.. probably 2 days of tweaking ahead of me now. lol..
 
No probs. I wasn't trying to be petty; Just clear.
In the other thread I said "I'm sure someone will happily correct me" or something like that.

See, there's always a lot of talk about how 'internal clipping' is OK in certain situations.
By internal I mean if you clip a plugin or something....Not converters.

Thing is, I don't know anything about that, so I'll leave it to one of the uber nerds. ;)
I just play it safe and clip nothing.
 
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