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Proper Recording Levels
What should my proper recording levels be? I've read many opinions and I'm not sure what is the right one. Some say record using Prefader turned on and the input level should never hit Yellow. Others say it should be Halfway into the Yellow Others Say it should be almost clipping. I have peak turned on in the Mix window and right now it's set to -10db
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Macbook Pro Mac OS 10.10.3 Mbox 2, Pro Tools 11 |
#2
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Re: Proper Recording Levels
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Chris
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Help Us Help You ______________________________________ Chris Pro Tools 2024.3 Focusrite LS56 Focusrite Pro40 (2) TC Electronic Studio Konnekt 48 Avid Artist Mix/Control Slate Digital VRS8 Analogue Tonebuss 24 Channel UAD-2 OCTO Core Accelerator UAD Volt 2 macOS 10.15.7 32 GB DDR4 RAM 4.01GHz Quad-Core Intel Core I7 NVIDIA GeForce GT 740 2 GB |
#3
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Re: Proper Recording Levels
Exactly - to those of us with a tape background, the first thing to learned with digital audio is that there is no need to record as hot as we did when we burned in tape.
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#4
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Re: Proper Recording Levels
That took me a bit to get use to Having learned to record to tape was a hard habit to break
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-Systems Engineer, Systems and Sound Designer, Recording and Mixing Engineer |
#5
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Re: Proper Recording Levels
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What people don't realize is that 0dB VU (+4dBu) is only -18dBFS on most PT interfaces. So when you're just into the yellow in PT, you're actually running your analog gear right where it wants to be. |
#6
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Re: Proper Recording Levels
Quote:
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#7
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Re: Proper Recording Levels
Metering is the same, if you mean the lowest is in the bottom and the highest is on the top
Seriously though, Analog and digital are two different animals. If you go over digital zero, it sounds nasty. That is an absolute limit, and we need to preserve some headroom to be safe. Analog though, that is kind of relative. Yes there is a reference level but what does it mean? Your voltages are the same as everywhere, but then again there are lots of different sounding analog gear and different sounding tapes and if you stay safe or ride rough those are different sounds. In digital domain that sound shaping does not happen. Only thing you need to worry is never go red. So that's why yellow is the new red. Hitting yellow is just as good as hitting 0 VU and it just leaves you plenty of headroom so you don't have to worry about levels at all. Really. Not at all, if you stay low enough. And if you want numbers, here you go: - best AD converters have about 120dB dynamics - 24 bit digital word has 144dB dynamics ==> if you use your converters to their fullest, you have about 24dB headroom In other words, anything hotter than -20dBFS is just amplifying noise and leaves you less headroom.
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Janne What we do in life, echoes in eternity. |
#8
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Re: Proper Recording Levels
0dB VU (+4dBu) is -18dBFS
+1
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WombatStudio.Org • Digital Recording, Mixing and Mastering in Gibbsboro, NJ • USA "It's not the gear ... it's the ear" |
#9
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Re: Proper Recording Levels
This is a really good tutorial on levels: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-Qm6NFIY2E
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#10
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Re: Proper Recording Levels
Glad to help with the little I do know in this area.
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