Did you know that you probably just are listening to 19 or 18 bit sound?
It seems to me that the monitor level knob just is a digital level, just as the master fader. So this volume is probably just adjusted by recalculating the volume digitally after the master fader. But what does this mean in practice? Dividing a digital value by 2 is performed by shifting all the bits one step to the right, leaving the first bit unused. So if you set your monitor level at 50 and have 20 bit converters, then you now will listen to at most 19 bit sound. Here is a little table:
Monitor level: (And when having your master level at 100)
127-101 Should distort the sound if you have mixed optimally.
100-51, You are AT MOST listening to all of your bits! On the VS1680, this is 20 bits.
50-26, You are AT MOST listening to all of your bits MINUS 1, on the VS1680 this is 20-1=19 bits.
25-13, You are AT MOST listening to all of your bits MINUS 2, on the VS1680 this is 20-2=18 bits.
12-7, You are AT MOST listening to all of your bits MINUS 3, on the VS1680 this is 20-3=17 bits.
6-4, You are AT MOST listening to all of your bits MINUS 4, on the VS1680 this is 20-4=16 bits.
3-2, You are AT MOST listening to all of your bits MINUS 5, on the VS1680 this is 20-5=15 bits.
1, You are AT MOST listening to all of your bits MINUS 6, on the VS1680 this is 20-6=14 bits.
And as if that isn't enough, this table also applies to all other faders on the VS! (At least roughly). So if you have a tracks fader at 23%, the master fader at 79% and the monitor knob at 41%. Then take 100*0.23*0.79*0.41 = 7.45... According to the table, you can at most hear 17 bit sound from that channel. Chanses are however that you didn't use all 20 bits when recording it, so it's probably more like 16 bit sound. (If all other channels are quiet). If you have another track playing at level 100 in the same time, then these two would be mixed together... So if you want to know how many bits you are listening to, you should take the track sounding with the highest volume and calculate it in the same way.
It doesn't really matter what mixing algorithm that is used for this table to work. If a sound is of a specific volume (percentage) on a digital bus, then it simply works this way.
/Anders
It seems to me that the monitor level knob just is a digital level, just as the master fader. So this volume is probably just adjusted by recalculating the volume digitally after the master fader. But what does this mean in practice? Dividing a digital value by 2 is performed by shifting all the bits one step to the right, leaving the first bit unused. So if you set your monitor level at 50 and have 20 bit converters, then you now will listen to at most 19 bit sound. Here is a little table:
Monitor level: (And when having your master level at 100)
127-101 Should distort the sound if you have mixed optimally.
100-51, You are AT MOST listening to all of your bits! On the VS1680, this is 20 bits.
50-26, You are AT MOST listening to all of your bits MINUS 1, on the VS1680 this is 20-1=19 bits.
25-13, You are AT MOST listening to all of your bits MINUS 2, on the VS1680 this is 20-2=18 bits.
12-7, You are AT MOST listening to all of your bits MINUS 3, on the VS1680 this is 20-3=17 bits.
6-4, You are AT MOST listening to all of your bits MINUS 4, on the VS1680 this is 20-4=16 bits.
3-2, You are AT MOST listening to all of your bits MINUS 5, on the VS1680 this is 20-5=15 bits.
1, You are AT MOST listening to all of your bits MINUS 6, on the VS1680 this is 20-6=14 bits.
And as if that isn't enough, this table also applies to all other faders on the VS! (At least roughly). So if you have a tracks fader at 23%, the master fader at 79% and the monitor knob at 41%. Then take 100*0.23*0.79*0.41 = 7.45... According to the table, you can at most hear 17 bit sound from that channel. Chanses are however that you didn't use all 20 bits when recording it, so it's probably more like 16 bit sound. (If all other channels are quiet). If you have another track playing at level 100 in the same time, then these two would be mixed together... So if you want to know how many bits you are listening to, you should take the track sounding with the highest volume and calculate it in the same way.
It doesn't really matter what mixing algorithm that is used for this table to work. If a sound is of a specific volume (percentage) on a digital bus, then it simply works this way.
/Anders