S3Lx USB record level meter question

[[email protected]]

Does anyone know what meter setting I need to hit on the USB Media record output to get close to digital zero, as in close to a CD Master level output?

I did a Master LR recording to the USB drive so my LX Op could program the show, and set the level to just over ZERO, assuming that since I typically run my Master Mix well below this I would be approaching CD Master levels, but nope, not even close.

If the Zero level is not digital zero, what is it? Is there any intel out there what this meter level is actually referencing? Any insight how to find that sweet spot so my mixes get closer to Master levels would be very helpful.

thx

[vikingthor]

not sure on S3L, but on venue systems the metering is analog scale

[Valentyn]

So the idea is that if you have a signal at X dB and:
1. You route it without level changes (if Direct, use 0 Direct out gain)
2. You record it with 0 record gain (set on the Record page).
3. You play it back with 0 playback gain (set on Playback page)
4. Channels you routed playback to are also having 0 channel gain.

Then you'll get the same level X on playback channels as you recorded.

At the same time, X = +20dB (VENUE's max) should give you a full digital scale in a .wav file.

That's what I remember about USB record/playback.

[Kristo Kotkas]

What I would suggest you to do, in case you would like to have a hot recording right-out-of-the-box is to use a pair of Marixes for that (you need to make them stereo). And I would advise you to use another pair of Matrixes for your main speaker output. Say you have first pair of Matrixes set as PA L and PA R and the second pair of Marixes set as Rec L and Rec R. Then you route your main L/R to both of these Matrixes, you EQ only the first one - fix your PA without ruining the freq response of your actual mix (you would do so if you EQ the whole main mix, right?) So now you have un-Eq'd mix at your second pair of Matrix mix ready to be recorded nice and flat. Now, assign a brickwall limiter to this second Matrix like McDSP ML4000, Avid Pro Limiter or any similar limiter plugin and use it to bring up the level to the digital max that you like to get. And on the recorder settings page assign this Matrix to be your source for the recording. This way you will have a peace of mind that your recording will not clip as the plugin will keep guard for you. Just keep an eye on the limiter during the show so you don't squash it too much for it to become a total mess...

Hope this makes sense :)

[[email protected]]

Thanks all, I already have a Matrix set up as suggested, it was the +20db part of the equation I was unsure of. This helps a lot.

cheers

[Valentyn]

Originally Posted by [email protected]

Thanks all, I already have a Matrix set up as suggested, it was the +20db part of the equation I was unsure of. This helps a lot.

cheers

During S3L development, there was a discussion about gain levels. One approach was to have 0dB playback level gain to map to +20dB VENUE level, i.e. .wav full scale to map to VENUE's full scale. And another approach was to have record-to-playback loop using 0dB gains everywhere to result in the same level as it was initially. Finally, the second one was chosen. So the only one unexpected thing is the VENUE's metering scale having +20dB being equal to 0dBFS.