Fader Levels

[TelePaul]

This is something that has puzzled me since I began recording music. The faders in Cubase go to +6 Db. But for some reason, I have the feeling that going beyond 0 on the track faders is bad. Similarly, on the master fader, I don;t want to go past 0 Db (what I heard described as 'unity gain') but I don't know the reaosn for this.

I don't know what headroom is, and don't precisely know what the noise floor is. I know this is very basic stuff that I should have learnt from day one, and I feel embarassed that I don't know it

 

[Flangerhans]

Well, really quickly, unity means the signal going out is not amplified or attenuated. Either side of that is cut or boost. What you want to watch out for is your final signal, which should always be below clipping. Noise floor is the level of noise, which all electronic equipment has, as opposed to the level that you are putting your signal out at. Headroom is how much level you have above your signal before clipping occurs.
I hesitate to post this, as I know that as an amateur with much to learn, I am likely to get all kinds of trouble over this vastly over-simplified explanation. However, I need larnin' too, so tell me how wrong I am as long as you can tell me why as well.

 

[Ford Van]

That extra 6dB of gain is so that you can turn something up in the mix, like a guitar solo, or certain lead vocal lines.

 

[Farview]

Where you put the track faders doesn't matter. Those faders are for setting the relative volume of the track. As long as the signal on that channel doesn't clip, you can put the fader anywhere you need to to get the mix right.

Flangerhans gave a decent description of noise floor and headroom.

If you observed proper gain staging throughout the process, you shouldn't have to mess with the master fader. But sometimes it becomes necessary to keep the mix level where it needs to be.

 

[Ford Van]

Where you put the track faders doesn't matter. Those faders are for setting the relative volume of the track. As long as the signal on that channel doesn't clip, you can put the fader anywhere you need to to get the mix right.

Flangerhans gave a decent description of noise floor and headroom.

If you observed proper gain staging throughout the process, you shouldn't have to mess with the master fader. But sometimes it becomes necessary to keep the mix level where it needs to be.

Well, actually, where the fader is COULD be an issue depending upon what kind of taper you expect from it while performing a fade out with that fader.

 

[TerraMortim]

just do the fade post bounce. Then it becomes a non issue =) I always like doing fades post bounce in stereo audio editing software anyway.

 

[Robert D]

Most mixers, be they real or virtual, have a trim control. If you're running out of fader because the track level is low you may want to use the trim to bring it up a bit so the fader is operating in a more normal range.

 

[xstatic]

just do the fade post bounce. Then it becomes a non issue =) I always like doing fades post bounce in stereo audio editing software anyway.

This works fine if you are trying to do a fade on the whole mix. This does not work however if you are trying to fade an individual track.