TravisinFlorida said:
what i don't understand is why no one here actually tests their own gear to find it's limits (i haven't come across any tests any way). if you hear a difference, you hear a difference. if you don't, you don't. simple isn't it?
I myself can't speak to what was talked about here more than two years ago since I have only been here for about two years, but I can say that this topic of recording chain levels has been a hot one as long as I can remember here.
The thing that gets my attention often,Trav, is reflected in your quote above (don't take that the wrong way, I'm not coming down on you), is the implication that pushing to the "limits" is a good or a necessary thing. It's really all still a hangover from the days of limited signal to noise ratio when every dB of dynamics had to be squeezed out of the gear in order to keep the noise floor in the basement where it belonged. It's simply not the issue it used to be, and pushing gear to the limit before it starts misbehaving just isn't the advantageous tactic it used to be.
(The Big Irony these days is that we have more S/N ratio than most of us can use in our gear, even in the mid-range stuff, yet everybody prefers to squash the shit out of their recordings anyway, certainly to the point where those 144dB of digital and 100+dB of analog range are simply wasted.)
The best analogy I can think of is that most of us that own 6-cylinder or better automobiles that are 5 years old or less have speedometers that go well over 100 MPH and drive trains that will oblige us if we wish to push those gauges that high. But is that really how we want to drive it? (OK, I know some of you out there will respond with a resounding "Yeah dude!"
. I also know that those are often the same ones who want to push their RMS to -5dBFS
.)
But for most of us, we know that it's far better in terms of quality of experience, fuel economy, safety, maintenance costs, and legal practicality to not drive the kids to school and head over to Guitar Center at 115 miles per hour. It's no different with our gear. Just because we have a box that can be pushed to +8VU before we can hear it distorting doesn't mean that we
should drive it that hard.
Running the signal at an even keel can go a long way to providing a better mixing, mastering and listening experience down the road.
G.
.
), i find it hard to believe that no one has mentioned it before just a year ago, if they knew about it before then. after all, big heads like to boast about knowing important things. the majority of the big heads have been here well over a year.
