levels and compression

[dobro]

Hi. I don't come in here much, but I've got a recording issue that's really bothering me, and useful input would be...well, useful.

I learned that I should track as hot as possible, so I've used either compression or limiting when tracking to prevent clipping. But recently Lt Bob talked about how he doesn't compress his stuff at all, and Sluice talked about how he recorded at much lower levels than a lot of people here and yet when he brought the gain up later on, it wasn't too noisy. So last night I tracked some vocals without any compression or limiting, and it sounded good and there was less sibilance than usual. But those levels! Really hard to prevent clipping, cuz I don't have good enough singing control. So, should I just turn the level way down, and have the peaks hitting at -12 instead of -3?

I was in a pro studio last week watching some voiceovers, and the engineer decided to track it at 16-bit and the meters were hitting about -12 dB. I asked him why so low, and he said it wasn't low, because he wasn't going to have to boost the level much. But he highlighted a quiet section of the track and then *did* boost it 10 dB to show me the sound, and there was loads of hiss. Ouch. Now, was that cuz he was tracking at 16-bit? Does tracking at 24-bit allow you to record at lower levels?

I want the answer to be yes.

 

[Blue Bear Sound]

Does tracking at 24-bit allow you to record at lower levels?

I want the answer to be yes.

You get your wish....!

At 24-bit, there's no need to worrying about pushing the level to maximize bit resolution at all. Levels hovering around -15 to -12 will be just fine (plus you get the added benefit of not abusing your headroom)...!

 

[Shailat]

I don't know what that engineer was doing.....

Compression doesnt have to be agressive and it CAN be transparent (to a degree).

Compression during tracking is one thing, During mixing is another.

I don't see any problem if your using a good compressor to gently limit some of the peaks. You shouldnt compress the whole signal but you can compress somewhat any peaks that will clip. This isn't going to make a major impact on the sound as long as your carefull.

The sibilance you mentioned. This should be a warning that you might be overcompressing, unless !!!.... it's the singer with a physical problem (mouth/teeth structure). Make sure your compresor isn't working most of the time ! a 2-4dB reduction at the loudest parts will do.

 

[Dethska]

What's a good compressor/ limiter to use when tracking in the under $500 range? I'd imagine you'd want it to be fairly transparent. Are there some standard models/brands? RNC? Meek?

 

[cavedog101]

I guess there would be so many schools of thought on this as to start a whole BBS for tracking levels.
I came from tape.Analog only.And most of my studio is still analog, so maybe this wont apply to anyone elses situation.

I'm not happy unless I can see a couple of yellow lights at tracking.Now mind you, this doesnt apply to ALL instruments or voices.I dont want my banjo or mandolin to get in the yellow and certain guitar passages.

Vocals ,however, I like to ride right on up there into zero land. this seems to give a dynamic at mix that i dont get at -10 and below. I never let it get square and clip just a bit edgy.

Did I mention that I'm recording to harddisk? From analog sources.

Anyway, at mix I turn it down a bit and everything gets in at unity.This seems to be the area where I see the largest dymanics.

BTW. I never compress at tracking except the DI bass and only 3:1 or so.......

Sometimes on the vocal I will use two mics and two channels.Check it closely for phase and proceed.I try to use two completely different sounding mics and do comparitive mixing at mixdown to get a 'blend'....as usual...ymmv

 

[Aaron Cheney]

I always try to avoid recording with a compressor. My own experience is that most of the compressors you might expect to find in the average home studio will degrade your audio just by being in the signal path, even if they are in bypass mode. I spent a lot of time A/B testing a straight vocal signal against vocals through various compressors in bypass mode, and it was a little shocking. It's sort of the same reason why so many people bypass the EQ section on their Mackie mixers: it just avoids one more set of cheap (relatively speaking) components your signal has to go through.
High-end compressors are a different story. Sadly, I don't own one.

If you have an experienced singer, they can usually control their dynamics with their delivery and diction. Sometimes you have to use a compressor, but as already mentioned, it's best to use it only to control peaks, not to squash the signal.

Aaron
http://www.voodoovibe.com