gixxer2nv said:
I will be recording vocals from 18 mics.
Wow. 18 mics at once?
I would guess that most of us only has expreience for smaller number of concurrent input channels. But here is what I do with vocals:
I'm sure there are more than one ways to do this, but in the end, what you want is to make sure is that you don't clip the A/D conversion. Once you take the track into Sonar, you can then apply compression/expansion/gate as needed.
I use Apogee Rosetta, and I usually have soft limit engaged.
For vocals (one or two ch), I go through
Avalon VT737SP. The way-out-of-the-norm (some enthusiastic vocalists will always manage to clip the input at some point, especially if they feel comfortable in a group situation) peaks will be limited first by VT737SP. Then by Rosetta input soft limit. Alternatively, I may use AMEK9098DMA (2ch) with a couple of Aphex 651's or FMR RNC's or AMEK9098DCL.
The point is, some compression is applied to limit peaks (and of course, for sonic coloration).
This is for home recording situation for one or two vocal tracks at once. How you would do that for 18 inputs at once, well, I think you need a real console with built-in limiting/compression or some such. I must say I just don't have such experience, and I sure would like to learn myself.
So, do get back to us when you have figured it out, as we may learn something from your experience.....
