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#1
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Audio clip Waveform height to show 0dBFS correctly?
I can´t zoom/change waveform height to correctly reach top or bottom when audio is 0dBFS.
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iMac Pro - HDX2 - Mojave - AVID HD I/O x7 |
#2
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Re: Audio clip Waveform height to show 0dBFS correctly?
Why are you recording at 0dBFS? That's way to hot. And you're going to get digital distortion at that level anyway.
My levels are usually down around -20dBFS, or lower sometimes.
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Justice C. Bigler www.justicebigler.com Lenovo P50: quad-core i7-6820hq, 64GB, 2TB SSD, Win 10 Pro / Protools Ultimate 2023.6 / HD|Native-TB 2018 MacBook Pro: six-core i9, 32GB, 1TB, Monterey / Protools Studio 2023.6, / DVS / DAR, L-ISA Studio Home/mobile: Focusrite Red 8Pre+HD32R / Clarett 4Pre Road/hotel: Roland OctaCaputre / Apogee One |
#3
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Re: Audio clip Waveform height to show 0dBFS correctly?
option-cmd-[
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#4
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Re: Audio clip Waveform height to show 0dBFS correctly?
Tangentially, waveform height is no indication of signal strength.
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Take your projects to the next level with a non-union national read at reasonable rates Demos: brucehayward dot com SonoBus Source-Connect: brucehayward Options for Remote Direction |
#5
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Audio clip Waveform height to show 0dBFS correctly?
Quote:
The standard waveform view at default is -0 at top or bottom edge, -6 halfway from center to edge, -12 one quarter from center to edge. Simply viewing the waveform gives a real good indication what your average and peak levels are. Older versions of PT showed this clearly and concisely, but at some point (maybe when floating point files became supported) they appeared to have fudged in a little more space near the edges. But the default waveform view logarithmic visual relationship is still there.
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James Cadwallader Mac Studio, 64GB RAM, 1 TB SSD, Glyph 2TB USB3 HDD, OWC drive dock, Mac OS Monterey 12.6.8 Pro Tools Ultimate 2023.9, HD Native, Focusrite Red 8Pre Presonus Faderport, Pro Tools | Control |
#6
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Re: Audio clip Waveform height to show 0dBFS correctly?
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Probably because while you are at -0, there’s still a little bit of space left before the edge. It’s just a visual thing.
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James Cadwallader Mac Studio, 64GB RAM, 1 TB SSD, Glyph 2TB USB3 HDD, OWC drive dock, Mac OS Monterey 12.6.8 Pro Tools Ultimate 2023.9, HD Native, Focusrite Red 8Pre Presonus Faderport, Pro Tools | Control |
#7
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Re: Audio clip Waveform height to show 0dBFS correctly?
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Take your projects to the next level with a non-union national read at reasonable rates Demos: brucehayward dot com SonoBus Source-Connect: brucehayward Options for Remote Direction |
#8
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Re: Audio clip Waveform height to show 0dBFS correctly?
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Yeah, that’s the ticket!
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James Cadwallader Mac Studio, 64GB RAM, 1 TB SSD, Glyph 2TB USB3 HDD, OWC drive dock, Mac OS Monterey 12.6.8 Pro Tools Ultimate 2023.9, HD Native, Focusrite Red 8Pre Presonus Faderport, Pro Tools | Control |
#9
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Re: Audio clip Waveform height to show 0dBFS correctly?
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But seriously. You don't have to record "hot" or "low", you have to record "correctly". The main rule is not to clip. While 0dBFS is technically not (yet) clipping (no digital distortion), it all depends on how the meter is calibrated and how many FS-words it counts before showing you the red card (different story for bouncing with 0dBFS). If your peak is at -2dBFS, then chances are you did not clip on the way in. The only reason to operate in such a low range of -20dBFS is if you want to keep that much headroom for any "uncertainties" of the performer, or you have your analog equipment calibrated to +4dBu = -18dBFS (or for sentimental reasons). If you record in 16bit and your peaks are at -20dBS (or lower), then you have a 76dB left of headroom to the least significant bit and the nasty Quantization Distortion. This might be ok for a kick drum, but for any acoustic recording, maybe not. Recording a choir in a church with a nice reverb tail, then that end of the reverb might be gobbled up in that Quantization Distortion. Recording in 24bit, of course, a different story.
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Edgar Rothermich Author of "Pro Tools 2020 - How it Works" from the Graphically Enhanced Manuals (GEM) series http://DingDingMusic.com/ YouTube Channel Music Tech Explained https://YouTube.com/c/MusicTechExplained/ |
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