[QuikDraw]

I can't say if you were getting optimal levels or not. Easy to check. Just put your system in pre-fader mode and watch the meters as the session plays. This will show the levels that were actually recorded to disk. Unless of course you've done some gain manipulation with audiosuite or outside processing. Pre-fader metering gives the exact same result as leaving the fader at 0.

If you were metering post-fader while you were tracking you would not see your actual levels if you moved the fader of the rec enabled track. If you pulled the fader up then the meter would indicate a hotter level than actually went to disk. If you pulled the fader down then the meter would've indicated a level lower than what actually went to disk. If you left the rec enabled track's fader at unity then you were seeing the actual level being recorded and there's no problem.

The deal is, the faders only affect the monitoring volume of the tracks, not the recording level. You have to set the level before the signal hits the PTLE software in order to set your record level. Moving a track's fader doesn't do anything at all to change the level that's being recorded. Problem is, the optimum recording level is not always the optimum monitoring level. So you'll set your levels and then move the fader so that it sounds good when you're playing the part with whatever else is playing back. A lot of the time you'll want to track good and hot, but you'll have to pull the fader down in order to hear the rest of the mix. Once you pull that fader down you are no longer seeing the level that's being recorded unless you're in pre-fader mode.

I don't know which mode PTLE defaults to. It is a remembered setting. If I'm in one session and I set it to pre-fader metering and then I open another session it will still be in pre-fader metering until I change it. So if it's in post fader metering mode now and you've never changed it then you've been metering post-fader all along.

It's simple really. When you're tracking you meter pre-fader. Period! You need to know the level going to disk. The level of anything that's not being recorded at that moment is irrelevant. You need to know the level of what's going to disk on the rec enabled track(s)! Metering post-fader while tracking is just not a good practice. It's like driving blind-folded.

When you're mixing you meter post-fader. If you're not recording anything then the levels that are coming from the disk are irrelevant. You can't change the levels that are on the disk (in real time anyway) so why meter them? You need to know the level that's hitting the mix bus post fader. Post-fader metering also shows the level post inserts, so you'll see the results of any plug-ins or outboard units you may have.

Your Master Fader meters always show post fader levels. They are metering what's hitting the bus so that's what they show. They are not affected by the pre-fader metering setting. They work the same regardless of that setting. That's why it's important to be in post-fader metering mode when mixing. Your Master Fader meter might not indicate any clipping, but you might be clipping individual tracks or busses. You'd want to know about that. If you clip a signal and then send it to the mix bus it will still sound clipped even if the bus itself is not clipped. Of course, you can't always hear clipping, so it might not be that critical to make sure that there's none going on in a mix, but you would want to know about it still wouldn't you?

This is one of those rare instances where I think there is a rule that should always be followed:

Tracking = Pre-Fader metering
Mixing = Post-Fader metering

Don't stress too much about what you may have been doing in the past. Does it sound good? Then it Is good! But now you've learned something for the future. It's an automatic response for me. If I rec enable something I go up to the menu and make sure I'm metering pre-fader. If I take all the tracks out of rec mode then I go to the menu and make sure I'm metering post-fader. You'll get so you don't think about it much either once you're used to doing it.

And to directly answer one of your questions... Pre-Fader metering doesn't affect what you hear, only what you see. So you don't set your level and then switch back to post-fader. While tracking you leave it in pre-fader mode. Moving the fader will change what you hear, but the level you set is the level that will hit the disk. And you'll see the level that's hitting the disk, but you'll hear the level you set with the fader.

Happy metering! [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img]

Mike