Question on levels/gain

G

guitardude

New member
Hey Everyone,

So here is my situation..

Everytime I record I have to really turn crank my firebox to get a good level..(yellow peak). When i play back the recording that i did it doesnt sound quiet. You can hear alot of gain from firebox maybe? When i hear others people recordings i never hear this. What can i do to make this a little more quieter? Or noise reduction. I've always had this problem...

Thanks!
 
You don't need to have your pre's that hot at all. My meters are usually bouncing at about half way. You're not giving yourself very much headroom and you're pre's are loud because you're cranking them too much
 
So mastering will just make it louder appropriately then? Its just very low. The sound waves are very small as well...
 
Unfortunately, yes, it'll probably get (way too) loud during the mastering phase.

But also yes, that headroom is immensely important at every stage. If you're getting levels that dance around -18dBRMS, that's plenty hot for individual tracks (and entire mixes for that matter).
 
Thanks! Appreciate the feedback. I never mastered either yet really so maybe that is why i think it has to sound a "certain way"

Just recording acoustic guitar and vocals project too.

Certain mics react differently too to preamps im sure? I using a ST55 by Sterling Audio..heh.
 
Don't sweat the little wave forms. I use to be just like you thinking I had to get everything fat and my waves needed to be big but after "seeing the light" so the speak my mixes have gone way up in quality. Much less harsh sounding than before. If you want you mixes louder just turn your monitors up. :D
 
I dunno peeps, having to really crank the input almost points to some kind of goofy gain staging issue...
Are you doing some goofy gain staging? If so, stop it.
 
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