SuckedOrange
New member
My first post will be a question that may be a no-brainer to most of you. However, to put it in context, my long-time method of home recording (until recently) has been to hang a single microphone from a ceiling fan blade and run it through a compact Behringer mixer into a cassette 4-track, so I’ve got some basics yet to learn.
This is my current set-up: MXL V88 > Mackie Onyx 1220 (not a 1220i) > WaveLab 5 (via the 1220’s FireWire card) on a PC. I don’t work with several tracks or even with overdubs that often, usually just with capturing ideas in mono or dual-mono. I record them in WaveLab, save the transfers as .wav files, and burn them to CD-R’s – that’s it.
The problem is that any digital recording I make this way ends up sounding way too quiet. “Too quiet” is defined here not as “quieter than a professional studio recording”, because I know there’s an inherent difference. But, compared to what I’m hearing in the Onyx’s headphone amp, and despite the fact that the meters are where they should(?) be, what gets played back is just not all there – as if the volume’s been halved. I mean, it’s really quiet.
For the record, the trim on the Onyx’s FireWire card is all the way up, and I have tried different mics, cables, software, etc.
For example, I’ll strum a chord on a guitar, and both the Onyx’s meters and WaveLab’s meters will read -2 dB. That chord will sound great through the headphones while being recorded, but then sound completely limp when played back, even though it still reads -2 dB. If I turn down the headphone amp a little, then turn up the gain a little, that same chord will again sound great through the headphones while being recorded, but then sound limp and distorted when played back because, of course, the meters will likely have exceeded 0 dB.
Obviously, there’s something I’m not getting about digital recording. I don’t think the Onyx’s FireWire card is defective because I’ve had this same issue with a stand-alone CD recorder – but not with cassettes. Now I’ve been told that the solution is a compressor; my question is whether or not this is the case.
Also, if it is, where would compression best belong in the signal chain? As a pedal alongside delay and reverb between guitar and amplifier? As outboard gear alongside equalizer and pre-amp? Or as software in WaveLab compressing recordings in real-time (if that’s possible)?
Any advice to clue me in would be most appreciated; I’ve been spending too much time trying to figure this out and not enough time actually recording, which everyone knows is frustrating. Also, if this question has already been answered in another thread, just link me there.
Thanks!
This is my current set-up: MXL V88 > Mackie Onyx 1220 (not a 1220i) > WaveLab 5 (via the 1220’s FireWire card) on a PC. I don’t work with several tracks or even with overdubs that often, usually just with capturing ideas in mono or dual-mono. I record them in WaveLab, save the transfers as .wav files, and burn them to CD-R’s – that’s it.
The problem is that any digital recording I make this way ends up sounding way too quiet. “Too quiet” is defined here not as “quieter than a professional studio recording”, because I know there’s an inherent difference. But, compared to what I’m hearing in the Onyx’s headphone amp, and despite the fact that the meters are where they should(?) be, what gets played back is just not all there – as if the volume’s been halved. I mean, it’s really quiet.
For the record, the trim on the Onyx’s FireWire card is all the way up, and I have tried different mics, cables, software, etc.
For example, I’ll strum a chord on a guitar, and both the Onyx’s meters and WaveLab’s meters will read -2 dB. That chord will sound great through the headphones while being recorded, but then sound completely limp when played back, even though it still reads -2 dB. If I turn down the headphone amp a little, then turn up the gain a little, that same chord will again sound great through the headphones while being recorded, but then sound limp and distorted when played back because, of course, the meters will likely have exceeded 0 dB.
Obviously, there’s something I’m not getting about digital recording. I don’t think the Onyx’s FireWire card is defective because I’ve had this same issue with a stand-alone CD recorder – but not with cassettes. Now I’ve been told that the solution is a compressor; my question is whether or not this is the case.
Also, if it is, where would compression best belong in the signal chain? As a pedal alongside delay and reverb between guitar and amplifier? As outboard gear alongside equalizer and pre-amp? Or as software in WaveLab compressing recordings in real-time (if that’s possible)?
Any advice to clue me in would be most appreciated; I’ve been spending too much time trying to figure this out and not enough time actually recording, which everyone knows is frustrating. Also, if this question has already been answered in another thread, just link me there.
Thanks!
