Is peaking a bad thing?

[Farview]

well, I was referring to the processing that goes on to record something.
That's about all the Fostex does is record .... you can do some cutting and pasting and insert points but that's about it.
But simply recording is processing.

If all you are doing is using it for a tape deck, don't record that hot. There is no reason to. Your levels should be averaging about half way up the meters.

With stuff with a large transient, like drums and other percussive things, just set the levels so that the highest peaks are around -6dbfs

With stuff that doesn't have much of a transient, like violin, distorted guitar, vocals (hopefully), etc... play a power chord, sing a sustained note, etc... and set the recording level so it is about half way up the meter. (which is normally -15 to -18dbfs) That will keep you out of trouble, keep the mic preamps working in the sweet spot and give you enough headroom down the line to make everything run smooth and sound good.

 

[Lt. Bob]

If all you are doing is using it for a tape deck, don't record that hot. There is no reason to. Your levels should be averaging about half way up the meters.

With stuff with a large transient, like drums and other percussive things, just set the levels so that the highest peaks are around -6dbfs

With stuff that doesn't have much of a transient, like violin, distorted guitar, vocals (hopefully), etc... play a power chord, sing a sustained note, etc... and set the recording level so it is about half way up the meter. (which is normally -15 to -18dbfs) That will keep you out of trouble, keep the mic preamps working in the sweet spot and give you enough headroom down the line to make everything run smooth and sound good.

I don't have any troubles ...... I was just curious about the science behind it.

But that's useful for the newbies so thanks for typing it.