MrWrenchey
Member
Yeah, this guy is claiming your "headroom" is where your noise is, and the more headroom you see VISUALLY on a recording, that headroom IS your hiss.
He's going nuts.
Yeah, this guy is claiming your "headroom" is where your noise is, and the more headroom you see VISUALLY on a recording, that headroom IS your hiss.
He's going nuts.
bouldersoundguy
Well-known member
If your waveforms looks like the "really weak" one they are probably just right. Let go of the false idea that your signal is low. If you are getting hiss it may well be a problem with your playback system rather than with the recording side of things.
The high levels of finished mixes is done at the very end of the process, in mastering. At every stage before that you should be leaving yourself plenty of headroom.
Forget everything the guy in the video said. He is profoundly misinformed about audio.
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mixsit
Well-known member
Yikes. He has 170 vids posted? Oh my. I seriously hope the rest aren't that far a out of whack.
JimmyS1969
MOODerator
Maybe we should form a lynch mob?
M
mixsit
Well-known member
Will there be... snacks?
IDK, no biggie/why the F should anybody care etc.
But really you see how hard it is for folks comming up (remember them days..?), to get straight good info, not to mention the crap out there, ultimately ya have to undo to get a guy' steered right.
JimmyS1969
MOODerator
E-snacks!
M
MeanMrMustard99
New member
Thanks for all the advice guys...
I was just unsure if my signal was too low and I'm trying to get the best quality I can possibly achieve with the money and equipment I have available (which I imagine is far ahead of what the Beatles had in 1964 equipment wise lol).
Should I have a separate preamp that plugs into my interface??? I understand that my interface (ZoomR24) must have preamps in them, but the zoom being a multi recording device (Recorder/Interface/Controller/Sampler) I question how well it is equipped to act as my interface?
Also I plan on purchasing my first condenser mic, either a Audio-Technica AT2020 or AT2035. Also what would you consider a more crucial purchase, a set of studio monitors or better headphones???...any help, words of wisdom, or info would be greatly appreciated
Cheers
I was just unsure if my signal was too low and I'm trying to get the best quality I can possibly achieve with the money and equipment I have available (which I imagine is far ahead of what the Beatles had in 1964 equipment wise lol).
Should I have a separate preamp that plugs into my interface??? I understand that my interface (ZoomR24) must have preamps in them, but the zoom being a multi recording device (Recorder/Interface/Controller/Sampler) I question how well it is equipped to act as my interface?
Also I plan on purchasing my first condenser mic, either a Audio-Technica AT2020 or AT2035. Also what would you consider a more crucial purchase, a set of studio monitors or better headphones???...any help, words of wisdom, or info would be greatly appreciated
Cheers
snow lizard
Dedicated Slacker
The Zoom has mic preamps. The levels you're describing are good recording levels. That youtube guy with the video is giving pretty bad advice that just isn't true. You need sufficient headroom for things to sound clean.
I've never heard of "headroom distortion" before. The way he describes it is a contradiction. It just doesn't make any sense.
There are a lot of preamps out there that would probably be an upgrade from the stock ones in the Zoom. The thing is, is it worth it for you to spend the money? Everything in front of it has to be in order or you could end up spending a lot of money and not be able to notice a difference.
Meanwhile if you want better recordings you have to figure out if it's even the preamp that's holding you back. Having a really good monitoring setup in a room with some acoustic treatment is a big step towards being able to hear your mixes accurately. A nice preamp won't fix that for you.
In order of importance I'd say a solid monitoring chain is close to the top of the list. Headphones physically inhibit you form being able to hear things you need to in order to make a mix translate well to anything it might be reproduced on. After that, consider everything that goes into the source to make the recording.
Song, arrangement, performance. Has nothing to do with gear. Even modest gear doesn't do a whole lot to limit creative potential or proficiency. Can these areas be improved?
If you're recording instruments is there anything that can be done there? New guitar strings maybe? Better guitar? Amp? Intonation?
After that the mic is going to have a pretty big influence on the capture, but it's a guessing game until you can hear what you need to improve on. The monitors are essential. Mic placement is going to have a bigger effect on the sound than what mic you have. After you learn a few basics about polar patterns and microphone response, proximity effect and all that kind of stuff, you need to experiment. Moving the mics around changes the sound big time. Once you've exhausted the possibilities with the Zoom and a 57, it might be time for some upgrades in these areas.
That's how I'd approach it anyway.
I've never heard of "headroom distortion" before. The way he describes it is a contradiction. It just doesn't make any sense.
There are a lot of preamps out there that would probably be an upgrade from the stock ones in the Zoom. The thing is, is it worth it for you to spend the money? Everything in front of it has to be in order or you could end up spending a lot of money and not be able to notice a difference.
Meanwhile if you want better recordings you have to figure out if it's even the preamp that's holding you back. Having a really good monitoring setup in a room with some acoustic treatment is a big step towards being able to hear your mixes accurately. A nice preamp won't fix that for you.
In order of importance I'd say a solid monitoring chain is close to the top of the list. Headphones physically inhibit you form being able to hear things you need to in order to make a mix translate well to anything it might be reproduced on. After that, consider everything that goes into the source to make the recording.
Song, arrangement, performance. Has nothing to do with gear. Even modest gear doesn't do a whole lot to limit creative potential or proficiency. Can these areas be improved?
If you're recording instruments is there anything that can be done there? New guitar strings maybe? Better guitar? Amp? Intonation?
After that the mic is going to have a pretty big influence on the capture, but it's a guessing game until you can hear what you need to improve on. The monitors are essential. Mic placement is going to have a bigger effect on the sound than what mic you have. After you learn a few basics about polar patterns and microphone response, proximity effect and all that kind of stuff, you need to experiment. Moving the mics around changes the sound big time. Once you've exhausted the possibilities with the Zoom and a 57, it might be time for some upgrades in these areas.
That's how I'd approach it anyway.