Motu 896 meters vs. Cubase meters?

[affleckp]

OK I am a bit confused! I have heard that you should never exceed 0db on the input (Motu 896) meters which I understand to prevent distortion. I have also heard that you want to have the input signal as close to 0db without clipping to reduce excess noise. What should the meters in cubase be at when recording? Should they be well below 0db for recording then should the mix be increased in volume later? Or should they match the input levels? What if all the recorded tracks are say at -2db or less but the commutation of the tracks playing causes the master to clip? Thanks for you patients!

 

[Kevin Deschwazi]

Should they be well below 0db for recording then should the mix be increased in volume later?

Yes!

there are different schools of thought on this but I've found it's far more sensible to track at very conservative levels and leave the 'loudification' process 'til the mastering stage.

On most sources you want your levels averaging at around -12db, this gives your peaks plenty of room to jump into.