Digital Levels vs Analogue Levels?

[uber_pirox]

Hey

Quick question i just thought of :

Why does digital gear always peak / never go over 0db on the meteres while analogue gear usually goes up to +6 or so ?

Cheers,
William

 

[Farview]

It's two different scales.

Digital is referenced to the absolute limit of what it can take (0dbfs)
Analog is referenced to the average level that gives the best s/n ratio and is the most linear. (0dbVU)

 

[uber_pirox]

Cheers for that Farview

Very helpful, will research it now

William

 

[mrT]

Did a question really just get answered helpfully WITHOUT any condesention... wow. This place just isn't the same anymore

 

[Massive Master]

If it helps the research - Most modern converters are calibrated to around -18dBRMS. Some are higher, some are lower, blah, blah, blah...

If they're calibrated to -18dBRMS, a sustained 0dBVU signal will give you -18dBFS (RMS) on your digital input. Of course, it (the digital meter) is reading peaks much faster than a VU meter - So, expect a 0dBVU signal at the preamp to "ride around" -18dBFS, with peaks up to around -12dBFS or so.

After that, don't let anyone tell you that you're "not tracking hot enough" -- Instead, tell them that they don't understand.