raising gain all the way just to reach -18dbfs?

  • Thread starter Thread starter mixaholic
  • Start date Start date
-18 dbfs on the software meter is what you're shooting for. Are you exceeding that?
 
no its not exceeding that. its only reaching to like -10- -8 vu even when the gain is about 3 olock
 
I think you're looking at 2 different decibal scales between software and this mysterious vu meter. The firepod has no metering so what else is in the chain?
You want to average -18 dbfs on the SOFTWARE meter.
 
im using the software metering. thats what i was talkin about lol. the vu meter in soundforge. not the peak meter
 
quick the way u and chris described how your firepod works great for yall and u dont have to turn the gain up almost all the way, i honestly think that i was sold a defective firepod :mad: didnt even get warrenty
 
mixaholic said:
i have to raise it to like almost 4 o clock just to reach -18dbfs and im singing loud enough. if i put to 12 oclock and screem its still doesnt get to -18dbfs but the peak meter is high
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This is confusing me? Can you explain if there is only one meter in question?
 
I'm asking how you can have high peaks while not reaching -18dbfs?
 
ok in soundforge they have a db peaker meter and and vu meter (two seperate meters) i use both of them but i measure the vu from the mic input on the vu meter in soundforge. in soundforge the vu meter doesnt display by default u have to put it on
 
mixaholic said:
how come on my presonus firepod, i have to increase the gain input almost all the way to where its picking up alot of background and preamp noise even the slightest movement it will pick it up? anyone else use the presonus firepod for recording vocals? thanx
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You wouldn't happen to have a compressor or limiter in an insert, would you?

Cheers,

Otto
 
Have you tried uninstalling the Firepod drivers and reinstalling them? Sometimes these things go wacky. Also I don't know if you installed from a disk that came with it or if you downloaded the lastest driver from the presonus website but you should use the latest driver and update the firmware on your Firepod. All the downloads are on the Presonus site.
At this point it can't hurt to try.
Also once this is done, make sure you are using the Presonus ASIO driver in your DAW sofftware.
 
mixaholic said:
this firepod was the last one left at guitar center. i hope they didnt sell me a bad one. i bought it like three months ago but i only use it a couple of times cause i was out of town but it did the same thing when i tried it right when i got back. i dont have warranty or nothing on it either. any suggestions? or can it be the mic?
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What? that product has a 1 year warranty from the date of purchase, contact Personus and they will take care of you they have great customer service ;)
 
Dynamic mics require a lot more gain anway, so if you feel like you are not getting enough gain to begin with switching to a dynamic is definitely not going to solve it for you.

It's really hard to tell from reading your posts what the problem is. It still could be a number of factors besides a faulty Firepod. However, it seems like your confidence in the FirePod is shaken, so you should probably call or visit the dealer where you bought it and explain that you didn't have much of any chance until now to use it, but it doesn't seem to be working right and blah blah blah. Maybe they will exchange it, or you could return it and get another FirePod or FireStudio instead. Or perhaps send it to Presonus and have them go over it. Their customer service is good, I had to send them my Central Station and they were very nice to deal with.

Anyway, at that point, once you've gotten another FirePod or had this one looked at, if you are still having the problem you'll it is working correctly and you've eliminated that as the cause.
 
You are not reading the meter correctly.

What scale do you have it set for? The traditional VU scale doesn't even go down to -18. (you should be shooting for 0dbvu)

Unless you hold a note for any length of time, the VU meter will not sit at 0, because VU is a measurment of level over time.

The firepod is probably fine, you have just confused yourself using two different meters measuring two different things.
 
yea i installed the new firmware and everything already and it still does the same thing. i'm not albert im not using dynamic mics im using a condenser mic. i jus tried a dynamic mic to test but i heard it requires alot of gain anyways so it wouldnt help for the test. no i dont have a compressor inserted. i'm using the vu meter and 0dvu is what i am shooting for ford and it doesnt reach that even with the gain high and it picks up alot of background noise. i dont know but i will contact customer service as i tried yesterday but they only open from monday through friday. so i have 1 year warranty even when i didnt purchase the warranty? i might jus go back to guitar center with my equipment (shure ksm27 and firepod) and see what the deal is but i cant go for a while cause of car problems and its a hecka drive from where i live :mad: thank you all for your feedback :)
 
Stop looking at the VU meter in sound forge, it's useless for what you are trying to use it for.

Look at the peak meter, can you turn up the mic loud enough to get it to clip?
 
yea i can turn it loud enough to clip but when its at that point its picking up alotta background noise even the slightest movement
 
mixaholic said:
i'm actually not singing that low. how do people record lower parts and it sounds clear without background noise?
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The way to do that is to record at 24bit and have a small signal going in.
If you record a small signal at 16bit you prob wont get that great results.

Eck
 
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