Audio clip Waveform height to show 0dBFS correctly?

[Firechild]

I can´t zoom/change waveform height to correctly reach top or bottom when audio is 0dBFS.

[JCBigler]

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.

[midnightrambler]

option-cmd-[

[The Weed]

Tangentially, waveform height is no indication of signal strength.

[Top Jimmy]

Originally Posted by The Weed

Tangentially, waveform height is no indication of signal strength.

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.

[Top Jimmy]

Originally Posted by Firechild

I can´t zoom/change waveform height to correctly reach top or bottom when audio is 0dBFS.

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.

[The Weed]

Originally Posted by Top Jimmy

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.

Allow me to rephrase: "Tangentially, waveform height is not always an indication of signal strength unless, if you have changed the waveform height, through the Zoomer Tool or keyboard+mouse shortcut, you reset the audio waveform height to default by Command+Option+Control+[ Mac, Control+Alt+Start+[ Windows.

[Top Jimmy]

Originally Posted by The Weed

Allow me to rephrase: "Tangentially, waveform height is not always an indication of signal strength unless, if you have changed the waveform height, through the Zoomer Tool or keyboard+mouse shortcut, you reset the audio waveform height to default by Command+Option+Control+[ Mac, Control+Alt+Start+[ Windows.

Yeah, that’s the ticket!

[EdgarRothermich]

Originally Posted by JCBigler

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.

Why are you recording at -20dBFS, that is way too low

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.