"proper" level of DB when recording..??

[dobro]

http://www.recordingproject.com/bbs/viewforum.php?f=66

 

[Reggaesoldier]

Wow, this has really helped the sound of my recordings quite a bit. I have my pre, where the VU meters are barely moving yet my mixer's VU's are peaking just at 0. And into my DAW, its peaking right at -12. If Im doing this wrong, I don't know if I want to fix it because seriously its helped. Am I understanding this correctly?

 

[Massive Master]

That sounds about right.

The preamp meter hardly moving is interesting... I'd set that one *first* making sure that you're not adding a lot of output gain. Not as bad as hitting the preamp too hard, but not as ideal as keeping it in the zone...

 

[Farview]

I have my pre, where the VU meters are barely moving yet my mixer's VU's are peaking just at 0. And into my DAW, its peaking right at -12. If Im doing this wrong, I don't know if I want to fix it because seriously its helped. Am I understanding this correctly?

What are the meters on the input channels on the board reading? You might be running your preamp low and turning it up at the board. Make sure you are plugging the preamp into the LINE input of the board.

 

[Reggaesoldier]

What are the meters on the input channels on the board reading? You might be running your preamp low and turning it up at the board. Make sure you are plugging the preamp into the LINE input of the board.

They are set at zero, and I am using the line inputs. Thet trim for them is turned all the way down. This is right, right?

 

[Reggaesoldier]

That sounds about right.

The preamp meter hardly moving is interesting... I'd set that one *first* making sure that you're not adding a lot of output gain. Not as bad as hitting the preamp too hard, but not as ideal as keeping it in the zone...

Where is the zone?

 

[Farview]

They are set at zero, and I am using the line inputs. Thet trim for them is turned all the way down. This is right, right?

That is the way it should be. The meters on your preamp might just be calibrated wrong because everything else seems right.

 

[Farview]

Where is the zone?

The 'zone' is keeping the meters on your preamp hovering around 0dbvu. But everything else in your setup sounds right, so don't worry about it.

 

[Reggaesoldier]

The 'zone' is keeping the meters on your preamp hovering around 0dbvu. But everything else in your setup sounds right, so don't worry about it.

Cool thanks. I'll mess with it and see if I can change some things around, I know one of the channels has the high/low gain range turned on, But I'll see.