nate_dennis
Well-known member
Massive Mastering Article said:dBFS: Deci-Bel (one tenth of a Bel) Full Scale -- On the digital recording scale, -0dBFS is the hottest signal you can have. "All ones." Top of the scale, can't get hotter, etc. Always "minus" as you can never go higher - So the reading will always be a specified amount below 0.
Line Level / 0dBVU: Just what it says. Line level. 0dBVU on an analog VU (volume unit) meter. Pro (+4dBu) or consumer (-10dBv) level, it's line level. We can also refer to this as RMS (Root Mean, Squared), or a level over a specific amount of time. You *can* go above or below 0dBVU. It's simply a nominal level to which basically everything audio is related to.
Headroom: The space between a nominal signal (in this case, line level) and the point where the circuit fails. In digital, basically anything under full scale (-0dBFS) would be considered headroom. In analog, it's the space between 0dBVU and the point where the circuit clips (failing completely). In analog, there can be a big difference between "headroom" and "USABLE headroom." We'll get into that in a bit.
Forgive my lack of technical terms . . . . but . . . .
On my 488mk2 the meter section has one for each channel, and a stereo master section. When the stereo master section hits 0 is that 0dBVU or 0dBFS? My goal is to create GOOD recordings, not necissarily LOUD recordings. I always hear "hit your tape hard" then some say "not if your running DBX." All of that considered . . . . to get the most out of deck, should i pushing past 0? I'm sure I should know all of this but, alas, I don't. Thank you for helping and not laughing in my face. (But feel free to laugh at me in your chair!! LOL) Thanks again.