where have my db's gone?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Paul881
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Paul881

Paul881

Look Mom, I can play!
Hey guys, I have a problem when recording audio with HS20002. S/c is s/blaster Live!5.1 platignum. O/s is win 98.

I set up record control so that the meters are all nice and peaky at about -3 to 0 db. The sliders are @ 0db as well. I record okay. But on playback, volumes are way down, peaking at around -20. Its only since I have installed the new soundblaster card in that I've noticed the problem. Please help!
 
What dbs?

I may be having a similar problem.
I'm using Pro Audio and have a SoundBlaster Live card, myself. I'm working on my first project. It has two tracks of audio and ten tracks of MIDI (written in musical notation for GM to perform).
I burned a copy for the first time last week, to listen to in the car, and the MIDI level is way down in the mix.
It sounds good on the computer - with headphones, with computer speakers, I even dragged out a 20-year old power amp and speakers, and hooked all that stuff up. It sounds good on that, too.
Whenever I'm listening to the mix in Pro Audio, it sounds okay, but the CD copy stinks no matter what I play it in.
Could it be that since I have no signal processing equipment (compressor/limiter) the spikes in the vocals are driving the other stuff down?
Could it be that there are some spikes in the MIDI tracks that are driving everything down?
Is there some trick to copying a .wav file?
Do I need to listen to, and maybe EQ the tracks AFTER converting the MIDI to audio, and before I save it as a .wav file?
What's the dang deal?!!!

rick
 
Open up the windows mixer (right click on the speaker icon) and make sure that Wave playback is turned up high enough.
 
Thanks, Tex.
I have adjusted the playback Wave volume, but haven't tried to make another copy - there are a few other changes I want to make first.
I have increased the tempo, from 100 bpm to 108, so I need to re-record all the vocals and acoustic guitar.
I also want to learn a little about EQ, so I have split the drums to individual tracks and plan to convert them to audio, EQ them separately, and combine them into a sub-mix.
I have worked on the kick and snare, and have come up with an acceptable EQ for each. I worked on the bass, and thought I liked the sound, but when I plugged it back into the mix it sounded worse than the original.
One other problem I have encountered is this: When the song reaches its dramatic climaxes, the level of the combined tracks necessitates raising the level of the drum tracks about 4db-5db (an estimate, based on a velocity parameter increase in the kick from 60 to 90, or more) in order to keep it audible. I wonder if this much dynamic range could be responsible for reducing the perceived loudness of the intro to a level I find disconcerting.
Forgive me for not replying sooner. I had forgotten that I posted a question on this subject.

sib
 
paul881:
i have sonar so this may not apply, but if record is set for peak measuring, and playback is set to show average levels it will seem like you aren't getting the levels recorded to disk.

sibleypeck:
Could it be that since I have no signal processing equipment (compressor/limiter) the spikes in the vocals are driving the other stuff down?

yes. it definitely could
 
I actually fixed the problem- but I don't know how! I think it may have been my s/blaster mixer levels, but that does'nt explain why I was losing so much in the recording. My record levels were fine, sounded fine in the monitor too. But just lost too much on playback. Curious eh? And no, the level indicators are set for the same in playback as record. But irrespective of that, the sound was lower too.

Sillypeck, I wouldn't have thought spikes in one track will affect the levels in another.

Performing EQ after midi conversion is a good idea too.

Getting the dynamics in a song is bloody difficult, when you get it right for the quiet bits, the loud bits are too loud and vice versa. Compression and EQ helps but as a beginner, I find it very complex and time consuming to get all the song spot on. If you are not careful, the compression kicking in is very noticeable.
 
Paul, what you are finding is that mixing is a tedious and painstaking task that requires a lot of patience. And that is just to make crappy mixes.

To make truly great mixes also requires an adequate monitoring system and experienced ears to be able to troubleshoot the mix.

If your compression is too obvious and "breathing" then try giving it a slightly slower attack and much slower release. If the release is too fast it will cut off as soon as the sound drops below the threshold and will sound very artificial.
 
Oh right, thanx Tex man. I had my settings for attack set fastest cos I was getting spikes but I was also setting release fast too. I guess the combination of both caused the breathing which is spot on as a description.

The frustration as a beginner is hearing what is wrong and not knowing what to do about it.

Thanx again, your post was a great help.
 
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