Signal Chain/Signal to Noise ratio question from Newbie

Thaddeus

Thaddeus

New member
Hi,

My signal chain is constructed as follows:

Microphones to Yamaha mixing board that has 48V and pre-amps
Thence through dbx compressor/gate
Thence through BBE sound enhancer (usually by-passed)
Thence through Graphic EQ
Thence into DAW (Sonar X3) via a Steinberg USB interface..

At each stage of the chain (except the BBE) I have the opportunity to boost or cut gain.

Here's the question:

Which provides the best signal to noise ratio at the DAW? Starting with the biggest, strongest signal right where the mics attach to the board, paring it down as needed at each stage to avoid clipping/distortion?

Starting with a medium signal and cutting or boosting it at each stage as needed to avoid clipping/distortion?

Or starting with a medium to low signal and boosting at each stage (nearly certain this could not be more wrong, but I put it out there).

thanks in advance!

Thaddeus
 
Hit the solo button on the channel on the board. Get the meter to dance around 0db vu.

Set the compressor to get the soundyou want. Take note of how much gain redution is happening. If you seem to average 4db of gain redutcion, add 4db of makeup gain.

Throw the BBE away

Remove the graphic eq from the chain. These are good for tuning stage monitors so they dont feed back, or trying to balance a live rig 10 years ago, but a graphic EQ really has no place in a recording setup like this. They are typically noisey and clunky. Think about it, it only adjusts the level of the same 3 notes in all the octaves. If you havr a big spike at 4.5k, you can't get it without pulling out both the 4k and the 5k. It's a sledge hammer where you should use a scalpel.
 
So the takeaway is: cut out everything from the signal chain I can, and keep the signal levels well below the 0dB level where clipping occurs.

The input about the EQ as sledge vs. scalpel was good too, thanks.

The 10 characters thing in post 2, however, was a little obscure. :listeningmusic:
 
Thaddeus said:
So the takeaway is: cut out everything from the signal chain I can, and keep the signal levels well below the 0dB level where clipping occurs.
Click to expand...

Yes. But those 2 statements are mutually exclusive. Whether you have nothing or 100 things in your signal chain, you should always be very far away from clipping no matter what.
 
It's 7 characters now c7.... times are a changing...:thumbs up:

(The minimum number of characters in a post OP, in case you're wondering...)

+1 to what everyone else is saying BTW...
 
Thaddeus said:
So the takeaway is: cut out everything from the signal chain I can, and keep the signal levels well below the 0dB level where clipping occurs.
Click to expand...

0dBVU (analog) is -22dBFS to -18dBFS (digital) depending on which broadcast standard you want to adhere to. Your tracking in Sonar should PEAK (not average) between -18dBFS and -12dBFS, which leaves headroom for multiple tracks and post processing.

Do a Google search for analog gain staging and digital gain staging.
 
Send me the BBE because they make a great insert on a Moog Voyager ahead of the filter.
 
I'm keeping the BBE. I only dial in a little sumpinsumpin on there and it sounds good in the bad attic space I'm recording in.
 
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