M
Meb
New member
Hello everyone!
Okay, I'm not completely new to recording, but my technical knowledge needs some improving. There's some some things I've always been confused about and I thought I'd try to finally get them cleared up.
I get confused about +4 and -10 levels, balanced/unbalanced cables and whether they are 1/4 inch plugs or XLR matters, how hot to track into Cubase, whether I should do all my level adjusting with my preamp or with my soundcard, or whether I should also use my soundcard faders to adjust level, etc.
Here's my setup:
Studio Projects C1 microphone-> Studio Projects VTB-1 preamp->Layla 20 bit soundcard->Cubase SX
I'm using balanced 1/4 plug Monster Cable to go from the VTB-1 preamp to the Layla 20 soundcard.
Here's how I've been doing it. I've been just leaving the Layla's input faders alone and at -10dBV, and doing all my level adjusting with the VTB-1 preamp's input gain and output level. For vocals, I generally end up setting the VTB-1's input gain to about 40, so that the level meter is hitting +8 some, but never +15. Then I adjust the output levels on the VTB-1 usually to about +8 until the output level meter on the VTB-1 is also hitting +8 some but never +15, all the while, monitoring the input level into Cubase to try to get reasonably close to 0 dB. But, what confuses me, is when I record a vocal take, I'll see that the waveform has been chopped off on the peaks but several dB BEFORE ZERO so I'm pretty sure it's not clipping in Cubase, but somewhere before I get there. So, I back off on the preamp until that goes away, but then my level into Cubase isn't as hot as I'd like
It's been hard for me to determine where I'm clipping. Am I overdriving the input of the preamp? Pushing the output too hot on the preamp? Pushing the Layla too hard? I'm usually recording at 24 bits into Cubase. I'm confused about whether I should be using +4 or -10 in Layla. I'm using the Balanced cable from the preamp into Layla, but it is 1/4 inch plugs on both sides and not XLR. Does that effect whether I choose +4 or -10 in Layla? I thought since I was using balanced cable, that I should choose +4, but I can't get as hot of a level into the Layla if I choose +4, so I've been choosing -10 to get a hotter level, but I'm not sure what I should be using. Also, just so you know, I haven't been using the Tube Blend on the VTB-1. Should I not be using the Output of the VTB-1 to set my level into Cubase, but rather use the fader in the Layla, or a combination of both? As you can see, I'm confused....
Also, since Cubase does all of it's internal processing at 32 bit float, should I be so concerned about recording real hot? I've tried to search for answers on this and other forums and tried reading technical books, but I am still confused. Can anyone please clear up some of this for me? I'd very much appreciate your input and knowledge.
Thank you very much!
Meb
Okay, I'm not completely new to recording, but my technical knowledge needs some improving. There's some some things I've always been confused about and I thought I'd try to finally get them cleared up.
I get confused about +4 and -10 levels, balanced/unbalanced cables and whether they are 1/4 inch plugs or XLR matters, how hot to track into Cubase, whether I should do all my level adjusting with my preamp or with my soundcard, or whether I should also use my soundcard faders to adjust level, etc.
Here's my setup:
Studio Projects C1 microphone-> Studio Projects VTB-1 preamp->Layla 20 bit soundcard->Cubase SX
I'm using balanced 1/4 plug Monster Cable to go from the VTB-1 preamp to the Layla 20 soundcard.
Here's how I've been doing it. I've been just leaving the Layla's input faders alone and at -10dBV, and doing all my level adjusting with the VTB-1 preamp's input gain and output level. For vocals, I generally end up setting the VTB-1's input gain to about 40, so that the level meter is hitting +8 some, but never +15. Then I adjust the output levels on the VTB-1 usually to about +8 until the output level meter on the VTB-1 is also hitting +8 some but never +15, all the while, monitoring the input level into Cubase to try to get reasonably close to 0 dB. But, what confuses me, is when I record a vocal take, I'll see that the waveform has been chopped off on the peaks but several dB BEFORE ZERO so I'm pretty sure it's not clipping in Cubase, but somewhere before I get there. So, I back off on the preamp until that goes away, but then my level into Cubase isn't as hot as I'd like
It's been hard for me to determine where I'm clipping. Am I overdriving the input of the preamp? Pushing the output too hot on the preamp? Pushing the Layla too hard? I'm usually recording at 24 bits into Cubase. I'm confused about whether I should be using +4 or -10 in Layla. I'm using the Balanced cable from the preamp into Layla, but it is 1/4 inch plugs on both sides and not XLR. Does that effect whether I choose +4 or -10 in Layla? I thought since I was using balanced cable, that I should choose +4, but I can't get as hot of a level into the Layla if I choose +4, so I've been choosing -10 to get a hotter level, but I'm not sure what I should be using. Also, just so you know, I haven't been using the Tube Blend on the VTB-1. Should I not be using the Output of the VTB-1 to set my level into Cubase, but rather use the fader in the Layla, or a combination of both? As you can see, I'm confused.... Also, since Cubase does all of it's internal processing at 32 bit float, should I be so concerned about recording real hot? I've tried to search for answers on this and other forums and tried reading technical books, but I am still confused. Can anyone please clear up some of this for me? I'd very much appreciate your input and knowledge.
Thank you very much!
Meb