Quote:
Originally Posted by O.G. Killa
What noise? Your mic preamp that you are cranking up is going to have more noise in it than your protools system. Most mic preamps have a noise floor of about -90dB, protools is around -118dB to -120dB. Your mic and mic preamp will have AT least 30dB MORE noise in it than your DAW. So, if you are trying to record at louder levels the only thing you are doing is putting MORE NOISE into your tracks because you are turning your mic preamps up to get the signal as hot as possible without clipping.
If you are recording into a DAW, you are NOT USING TAPE. There is no need to record as hot as possible since there is no tape noise/hiss to compete with. You are only going to make your recordings noisier by turning up the preamps.
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OG, I hate to say it but I absolutely disagree. Digital noise is just as prevelant as it was on analog tape. It's different noise but it exists all the same. I have beautiful mic pre's (avalons and focusrite ISAs) and they don't make tons of noise, but the reason is because I give them hot signals to begin with. Yes, if you whisper a track off a synth into a mic pre and then boost it to hell you are going to get mic pre noise.
The other thing I am talking about is RF noise, noise from unbalanced cables, bad power noise, cell phone noise, cross talk, there are so many different ways noise can become part of your mix, and like I said, as soon as you compress and boost the output gain, you are going to boost the noise that always exists in your recordings.
Now headroom is another thing entirely, and so is dynamic range, another reason to record hot so that you can fully benefit from the dynamic range of sounds - example is a synth sound with a cool reverb or delay built into the sound that slowly fades away into nothing.
Another reason is that I paid good money for my preamps and the sound of a good tube really helps any mix as far as I am concerned. Sterile digital recordings need all the harmonic help they can get.