aux levels

[borntoplese]

okay... so i create an aux track for reverb, and bus it to my channels... all is good, but... my aux track peaks all the time. there are no peaks in my recording. but sure enough, every time i create an aux track it peaks. i use it mainly with the waves plugins... if that helps anyone. the thing is, i dont really hear it peak, i cant really tell though, maybe some FAINT distortion... but that could be my imagination... but the peak lights light up like crazy. not only does my main aux track peak, but the the bus fader view(when you click on the bus in the sends section, that fader that pops up) that is peaking too... but nothing is peaking anywhere else. if i use the same reverb... the waves renaissance reverb as an insert on a track... there is no peaking at all. im confused.

[tsd]

reverb adds volume to the track. most reverbs have an input or output volume control. (i think D-verb default setting is -4db so that could be the reason for different results) turn it down a little!

[Seeee]

slap a master fader on your bus and check the aux's input level.

[randyT]

The waves plugs come up in a default setting that has the direct (unaffected) signal at 0.0db. This could be your problem. It causes clipping like your are seeing when used as an aux effect. It will also cause un-explained shifts in your stem levels because you will tend to back off their levels due to extra level that is coming through the aux and hitting the stereo bus. Then you go and adjust your reverb send and go "gee how come i had to reset my stem levels again. Turn the direct signal down to -infinity. Most other reverb and delay plugs don't have defaults set this way so it kind of catched you off guard.
hope this helps...

randy

[borntoplese]

Turn the direct signal down to -infinity. Most other reverb and delay plugs don't have defaults set this way so it kind of catched you off guard.
hope this helps...

randy

okay... i'm knew to all this, so how do i turn my direct signal down?

[borntoplese]

one more thing. i went into the verb plugin and turned the gain control all the way down. and still... the bus track was peaking. the main fader doesnt come near to peaking, and the aux wasnt peaking (still higher than it should be though). why is the bus peaking??

[randyT]

Open up the plugin and you should see a button and a level control for "Direct". Clicking the button so that the light turns off will completely turn off the direct (un affected) signal. The level control can be used to set it to different levels but off is better in when used in an aux track.
The signals adding together on the bus can cause it to peak even though non of the individual track are peaking. When two asyncronous signals are present on the same bus at the same time the power goes up 3db. When they are syncronous (in phase) the power goes up 6db. However, having the reverb direct signal blasting through the reverb aux channel can cause all kinds of unexplained levels issues so address that first and then re-evaluate your level settings.

randy

[borntoplese]

Open up the plugin and you should see a button and a level control for "Direct". Clicking the button so that the light turns off will completely turn off the direct (un affected) signal. The level control can be used to set it to different levels but off is better in when used in an aux track.
The signals adding together on the bus can cause it to peak even though non of the individual track are peaking. When two asyncronous signals are present on the same bus at the same time the power goes up 3db. When they are syncronous (in phase) the power goes up 6db. However, having the reverb direct signal blasting through the reverb aux channel can cause all kinds of unexplained levels issues so address that first and then re-evaluate your level settings.

randy

okay... well, i took the plugin off the track completely, so i dont think its the plugin. maybe i am setting up the aux track wrong. in the sends section of the track i choose the bus number that i want... then on the input of the aux track i choose the asigned bus number. is this all there is to it? or is there something that i am not doing.

another thing:
i took the plugin off, and just had the aux track. i took EVERY fader in the whole session to unity, muted the aux track, and started playback. everything was fine, no peaking on the tracks, no distortion, nothing. then i unmuted the aux track. the volume JUMPED up considerably. thats when the distortion and popping kicked in. even when the aux track wasnt peaking, it was distorting. the aux levels are sooo much higher than the track levels though. if track 1 and 2 are right in the middle, barely getting into the yellow, then the aux track is hard in the yellow, and peaking often.

i dont know what my issue is. could this have something to do with, pre/post fader or something? im not too clear on what that is, but it might have something to do with this.

i might add that i am VERY new to pro tools, and a recent newcomer to audio. im taking engineering classes right now, but we dont work in pro tools, at least not this semester. so have some knowledge, but im by now means an expert.

hope someone can help!!

[randyT]

You are setting up the aux track correctly but consider what happens when you feed tacks into the aux at unity gain. All the tracks that are already hitting the stereo bus are now hitting it again via a second path. This is exactly what I was trying to get you to avoid by removing the direct (un-affected) signal from the aux path. You should only have the reverb tails coming through the aux track. The reverb tails are at a much lower level normally than the direct signal. So if you remove the direct signal and leave the reverb level at 0.0, you can control how much reverb a particulat instrument gets by adjusting the send fader for each track. But since the direct level is so much higher than the reverb tails, if you leave it at 0.0 coming through the aux track you'll be blasting the stereo bus by the time you hear any reverb kick in. Your aux track is working as I would expect given the test you described.
Here are the settings from one of my mixes

drums
track send level = -6.4
TrueVerb Aux Track level = 0.0
TrueVerb Direct Level = OFF
TrueVerb Revrb Level = 0.0
TreVerb is set for a short .8 second decay time

randy

[borntoplese]

You are setting up the aux track correctly but consider what happens when you feed tacks into the aux at unity gain. All the tracks that are already hitting the stereo bus are now hitting it again via a second path. This is exactly what I was trying to get you to avoid by removing the direct (un-affected) signal from the aux path. You should only have the reverb tails coming through the aux track. The reverb tails are at a much lower level normally than the direct signal. So if you remove the direct signal and leave the reverb level at 0.0, you can control how much reverb a particulat instrument gets by adjusting the send fader for each track. But since the direct level is so much higher than the reverb tails, if you leave it at 0.0 coming through the aux track you'll be blasting the stereo bus by the time you hear any reverb kick in. Your aux track is working as I would expect given the test you described.
Here are the settings from one of my mixes

drums
track send level = -6.4
TrueVerb Aux Track level = 0.0
TrueVerb Direct Level = OFF
TrueVerb Revrb Level = 0.0
TreVerb is set for a short .8 second decay time

randy

fogive me for being slow, but like i said, im new to this. so your saying i need to have the reverb tails coming through the aux track? how do i do this? and what exactly is the track send level? is that the "main" fader in the mix view? or is it the fader that pops up when i click on the bus in the send panel?

and how do i remove the direct signal? could you explain this for me?
thanks for all youre help!!