Recording question

[miroslav]

I know that the guidelines are different in the DAW world but I want to follow "best practice" as much as possible.

 

Absolutely, Mudcat!

 

I think one can apply the analog guidelines in the DAW world and do very well by them (most cases).

 

The only point Scott and I were making ( I think I can speak for Scott on this) was not to suggest that old standards be tossed by the wayside in favor of some radical approaches...but rather that in the DAW...you can get away with some things that you couldn't in the analog world (and there some analog steps that just wouldnt work in the digital world).

 

My perspective is that a lot of guys are just diving into DAWs without any broad engineering knowledge. They just want to make some music.

Sothey get busy recording and editing and applying all kinds of processing...etc...and they get a nice *sounding* mix going...only to suddenly find out that when they are ready to "print", their final stereo level is quite HOT...or even going over.

So the suggestion that was being made was...rather than going back and redoing ALL those individual levels to get the master into a safe zone...within a DAW, you can just drop your master fader and it all ends up being the same in the end...level-wise.

 

During tracking...you can be conservative and use analog reference levels...or you can go a little on the hot side...it will all be workable in the DAW...just don't track over 0.

Heck...there are some digital guys that swear by always getting the hottest levels possible going in so that they get maximum signal/dynamic range.

There are a few different views on all that

But the one main point Scott and I were making is that as long as you haven't crossed "0"...you always have the ability to adjust your final levels at the end stage in a DAW, just as much as you can at the front stage.

No one was suggesting to toss out all the standards

 

[revolead]

Okay, thanks for the input guys. I haven't had time to check this post for awhile, but our J48 arrived on Friday and while it does not do what I initially thought (raise the input signal to line level), using it in conjunction with the phantom-powered ports generates some sweet guitar tones and cleans everything up, so I'll keep it. 200 bucks wasted in some eyes providing a signal fit for the gods in others.

 

Also, this heated discussion has me wondering, is it okay if your signal is coming in rather weak? I guess I fall into the category of people who expect the track to sound full volume when its being mixed in Cubase and/or Acid 6.0. This sounds like a mistake and not a good expectation. Granted if we were having the problems we were before, obviously one needs a line-level input, but at this point, it sounds like I need to cut down the recording levels anyway.

 

Thoughts?

 

Thanks,

Rev

[Scott Fraser]

Okay, thanks for the input guys. I haven't had time to check this post for awhile, but our J48 arrived on Friday and while it does not do what I initially thought (raise the input signal to line level), using it in conjunction with the phantom-powered ports generates some sweet guitar tones and cleans everything up, so I'll keep it. 200 bucks wasted in some eyes providing a signal fit for the gods in others.

 

Yeah. Some active direct boxes provide gain, most notably The Brick tube DI from Groove Tubes & the A Designs Reddi, but generally speaking direct boxes do not amplify the signal. Their intended use is to provide a match between high impedance pickups & low impedance mic preamps, as well as to balance unbalanced signals.

It sounds to me like you're putting instrument level signals into line level inputs on your sound card, meaning you have to make up about 20 to 30 db of gain in the DAW. This is going to result in a signal 20 to 30 db noisier than it should be, so some sort of preamp between the guitar & the sound card is called for here. A mic preamp between the J48 & the sound card would do, or some sort of guitar processor between the guitar & the sound card would get the signal up to line level.

 

Also, this heated discussion has me wondering, is it okay if your signal is coming in rather weak? I guess I fall into the category of people who expect the track to sound full volume when its being mixed in Cubase and/or Acid 6.0. This sounds like a mistake and not a good expectation. Granted if we were having the problems we were before, obviously one needs a line-level input, but at this point, it sounds like I need to cut down the recording levels anyway.

Thoughts?

Thanks,

Rev

 

Basically you need enough signal to get your levels up to full scale on the final mix. Good engineering practices have always dictated that you should add gain at the earliest possible point in the signal chain for lowest possible noise. Obviously if you add 20 to 30 db of gain to a guitar after it has been digitized it will be noisier than if the gain occurred right after the guitar, so regardless of one's recording level philosophy, you have to respect the physics involved.

 

Scott Fraser

[revolead]

Thanks, Scott.

 

I'm new to recording with actual nice gear. I've done some of it before, but everything sounds like crap, so between my bassist and I we have come up with a decent set up that will do for some demos.