Concerns with amplification

[kdoggity]

Hey all. Are there any phonic (sound) drawbacks to using amplification of sounds? I'm mainly referring to balancing sound levels. Most of the time, after recording acoustic guitar, I will lower to volume via an amplification reduction. Does this negatively effect the sound. I, personally, can't hear any difference in quality, simply in sound levels. Thanks for your time!

- Kirk

 

[Jimbo Jones]

yes, amplification reduction will negatively affect the amplitude of the track.

i'm sorry, i had to.

i can't wait for my fiftieth post.

 

[dobro]

kdoggity - it won't affect the quality of the sound, just the loudness of it. I know a guy who gets *amazing* sound out of computer recording, and he records all his stuff at about - 12 dB or something like that. Then when he's mixing, he brings levels back up to wherever he wants them, and it sounds great - no problems with noise floor. I think it's important to be recording at 24-bit for this though.

However, what *will* affect the quality of the recorded sound is the mic you're using and where you place that mic. Plus the preamp's a factor too.

And finally, I'd like to remind you that this isn't a Cool Edit question you're asking, it's a recording question. Recently people have been using this forum for discussion of issues other than Cool Edit, and I think it would be better if they took place in the appropriate forums.

 

[kdoggity]

dobro,

Contrary, it is a cool edit question. I had assumed, being that I posted in the cool edit forum, that people knew I was referring to the amplification feature in cool edit. While, obviously, amplification isn't exclusive to cool edit, my question was. But I understand your concern with wrong post placement (though, I'm not really sure why it would bother you, seeing as how it doesn't take up any more space to post in one forum than it does another).

That aside, I appreciate the feedback. I mainy post here because I know you'll respond insightfully, and it's frustrating to have to meander through all the "professional," advice so frequently given in other places.

 

[chrisharris]

yes, amplification reduction will negatively affect the amplitude of the track.

See now, that made me laugh, lol.

I wanted to add 2 more cents. There's really no need to increase or reduce the volume of a track by using anything other than a fader in the mix. I say this because anytime you do ANYTHING to a track permanently (like normalizing it, for example), you're making the program do some math, and there's a very slight loss of fidelity - and even if you work at a high bitrate, there is a cumulative effect of all the "processes" on all the given tracks.

It has taken me a very long time to get to this point, but I firmly believe now that the fewer "conversions" you do to a particular track, the better off you are in the digital world.

 

[dobro]

"But I understand your concern with wrong post placement (though, I'm not really sure why it would bother you, seeing as how it doesn't take up any more space to post in one forum than it does another)."

I'm not too bothered by it. But things are divided into forums here for ease of navigation and searches and finding what you want fast and not having to wade through stuff you don't want to wade through.

 

[Strryder]

There's really no need to increase or reduce the volume of a track by using anything other than a fader in the mix.

I agree, it is non destructive.

And I'll add... you could also use volume envelopes to change the output volume of a track during playback, like if you wanted the guitar level to drop a little during the verses.