Do plugins "work better" when the average digital level is higher?

[mixsit]

Yep. there is no relevance. I was referring to the numbers Barry had posted as being arbitrary because there is no standard for the numbers he posted in the digital scale verses the analog scale even if i did somehow apply to analog modeled plugs.

Gotcha. I figure he was just trying to inject (some) 'nominal for line level. (We're only off 3 either way.

Here's something from the UAD '33609 that plays right into this.

"Headroom
The hardware Neve 33609 can accept an analog signal level of approximately
+26dBu before undesirable signal clipping occurs. As the signal increases
up to this point however, desirable audio-path nonlinearities and
“good” harmonic distortion characteristics occur. This musically pleasing
“warmth” at higher levels is what gives the unit much of its revered sonic character.
Because analog mixing consoles can typically output high signal levels,
audio engineers often take advantage of the ability to “push” the hardware
33609 into the colorful arena.

The plug-in is calibrated internally so that 0dBFS at its input is equivalent to an input level of approximately +26dBu on the 33609 hardware, where the coloring is more prominent.
The result is that a typical signal within a DAW will drive the UAD Neve 33609
into these “virtual” higher levels, resulting in fairly high amounts gain reduction.

Headroom Switch
The Headroom switch is provided to accommodate applications where high
amounts of gain reduction are not desired. Headroom simply lowers the internal
operating level so that the plug-in is not “pushed” into gain reduction as much.
Headroom can be set to 22db, 18db, or 14db.
At 22dB, signals will push the plug-in into gain reduction (and more non-linearity and “good” harmonic distortion) more easily. Set the switch to a lower value when less gain reduction and color is desired.

The numbers on the switch indicate where 0dBFS falls relative to nominal +4dBu.
For example, with 22dB of headroom, 0dBFS corresponds to +4dBu + 22dB = 26dBu.
With 18dB of headroom, 0dBFS corresponds to +4dBu +18 db = 22dBu.
The headroom selected will cause the plug-in to behave as though it were a hardware 33609 connected to a nominal +4dBu interface with the selected amount of headroom.
Industry standards for most DAW interfaces are +14dB and +18dB headroom. The +22dB setting approximates some analog mixing environments, and allows the entire useful dynamic range of the 33609 to be exercised. "

 

[Tim Gillett]

-10 average or peak?
Actually it seems if you mean average levels around -10 for a lot of sources that's rather hot already. If -24--18 average is a good nominal target range for tracking (it is for me), your peaks are often already -10 or greater.

I meant peak of course but the title of my thread referred to average levels. So if we had tracked with a peak level of -20dbFS, the argument goes that peak normalising to -10dbFS would help plug ins to work better.

What scares me a little is that the person who presented this argument seems to have picked it up from an accredited Audio Engineering course.

 

[mixsit]

I guess if your track was -20 peak it might be worth bringing them up just for practical (work flow')reasons -in addition to how some plugs might sound.

 

[Tim Gillett]

Sure but they were saying raising it helped all plugins, not just the obviously level dependent ones.

 

[aaronmcoleman]

No. It is a lie. You don't need high in the box levels for anything (that I know of...correct me if I'm wrong).

In the box, levels of -18, with peaks around -12 or -6 max, are just fine. The only reason I ever raise a level is, as mentioned before, work flow, to get all the tracks close to each other in volume.