I've seen lots of posts that say one should record all channels as close to 0db as possible (or something to that effect). How does this impact the real or perceived dynamic range of a recording?
As an average, most digital recorders have around 90db of headroom (the difference between absolute silence and the loudest signal the system can capture). This is your dynamic range. So, the closer you record to 0db, the greater your potential dynamic range will be; the higher your sonic resolution will be, and the lower your potential noise floor will be.