Blue Bear That Was a Great Article...

  • Thread starter Thread starter TripleM
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TripleM

Well-known member
on gain structure (posted in another thread that I didn't want to hijack :)). Unfortunately it revealed to me just how much I don't know (db, dbU, dbFS, etc.).

Anyway, I have a question. I use a Mackie 1202 vlz, a Delta 44 sound card and Cakewalk HS 2002. I noticed that the meters on the Mackie are not calibrated the same as what HS is showing. I've been paying most attention to the meters in HS, and trying to set my mic pre to the point where I'm "showing lots of red" (there's no yellow section in HS's meters) but not quite clipping.

Is that all I'm supposed to be doing? Are there other things I ought to be doing to get the cleanest signal?

Additionally, when I have the Delta set to +4dbU, my recording levels are VERY VERY low. I need to set the card to -10dbU to get anything usable. Is this what should be happening? I would think that if the Mackie is rated at +4, I should be able to set my card at +4.

Thanks in advance.
 
What do mean by "low"?

When you send a 0db signal (on your mixer's meters) to your computer, very likely it will read at -15dbFS, or thereabouts. This gives you about 15db headroom with which to record before clipping.

It's really all about understanding where the meters sit for *your* particular signal chain, and making level adjustments to accommodate your preferences. (ie, if you want to take better advantage of bit usage, then you can afford to make your output into your soundcard a bit hotter.)
 
Thanks Bear. As far as what "low" means...

It was few months ago, so I don't remember numbers and can mostly speak in only relative terms. What I do remember is I turned up the mic pre farther than I've ever done in the past - probably to about 3 o'clock. 9 o'clock is unity gain on the mackie, so it was a big boost. The resulting recording was barely audible. Visually, the track was a tiny, thin line. As I say I don't remember numbers at this point, but it was very quiet. I set the Delta to -10 and things were better. But was that the right thing to do? I don't know.

Anyway, that was my secondary question. I was more interested in the first part of my question about paying attention to the HS meters and not so much attention to the meters on the Mackie.

I'll test out to see if a 0db signal equates to about a -15dbFS (or thereabouts) signal on the recorder.

Thanks again.
 
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