Recording levels

::XeS::

::XeS::

Member
Mar 30, 2005
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Hi
Yesterday I was convinced about some ideas regarding the recording levels.
Time ago I read different James Murphy's posts when he said that the right tecnique for the best results (expecially at 24bit) is: raise the gain while you don't have clipping or distorsion and when you find the max position you can record. Unfortunatelly I didn't find the discussion..
Now I have doubts because I've read other opinions regarding the levels...I've read that 24bit have less noise problems and we can turn down a lot the levels for more room, w/o noise troubles when we'll turn up the faders...

Anyone have some ideas?
Thank you
 
me personally i like doing it the way James does it...i went to recording school and thats the way they taught us. also there are some books and they almost always tell you to bring the gain up to get the loudest before clipping. thats how i've always done it and it works for me.
 
It's probably true that with digital 24bit recording it doesn't matter nearly as much, but I think it's a good idea anyway, just be absolutely posative that you don't clip, since you have no reason to push the signal if you're recording digital (that I know of).
 
i shoot for it to peak around -3dB so i have extra headroom and i'm not worrying about clipping constantly. a lot of guys seem to do the same.
 
I aim around -12db to -8db usually. Even when I tell the drummer to hit his hardest when I set levels - it's always different once they are tracking and getting in the groove. Plus, at 24bit you don't loose anything.
 
I don't think that with 24bit you don't loose anything.
For example Audiophile have posted some tracks to mix...he recorded at 24bit at very low level...and when you raise the fader at a reasonable value (to earing with the right volume) there is a lot of noise and hiss. So I think that the Murphy view is more correct..what do you think?
Another question: when you raise the gain to find the "clip limit", do you listen the input track (direct monitoring) or the track through the daw?
 
if you get around -3db thats about right with drums, i like to compress and very lite gate and limit. what i think some peeps do is set their levels then start recording, what you should be doing is set your levels then have the player play a song as if they were going to if they were recording, watching the input levels and adjusting when needed. when you are satisfied with the play through then record.
 
Getting as hot a signal as possible gives a the converter more to work with. I used to always try to get as hot as possible 'going to tape' (Pro Tools) But after reading bob katz book I must say I've backed off a tad. I've found an improvement in things when I go to mix.

Its on page 64 of his book. I mean its not law what he says but its a good argument put forward...
 
::XeS:: said:
I don't think that with 24bit you don't loose anything.
For example Audiophile have posted some tracks to mix...he recorded at 24bit at very low level...and when you raise the fader at a reasonable value (to earing with the right volume) there is a lot of noise and hiss. So I think that the Murphy view is more correct..what do you think?
Another question: when you raise the gain to find the "clip limit", do you listen the input track (direct monitoring) or the track through the daw?
Click to expand...

If you read the thread where you got the track, I had already used a little compression and gating for the files that I posted... it was the first thing I did once the tracks were in the daw... I did it that way because at the time, it was the first serious attempt recording... I was a noob... and yes, I recorded it all at 24/48.
 
OK.. you are misremembering or have been quoted very poorly about what i said....

high recording levels are most important with 16bit.

it's less as important with 24 bit.. .BUT i still recommend recording very healthy levels so that you use a a good amount of the bits for a higher resolution file and a favorable signal-to-noise ratio... this is what i have always said.

i have also read Bob Katz book and i don't believe that anything he says is in contradiction to what i have said. you cannot simply record low levels and expect to have a high resolution recording.

you know my AIM is posted here so i''d appreciate if you'd check with me before misquoting me.

hit me up if you have any more questions.
 
-3 is a decent "general figure", but nothing more.. in fact on some very dynamic sources that you don't want to compress while recording it would be bad to go that low because the low level parts of that dynamic track would then be too low for good resolution and S/N ratios. better to just come right up to zero without clipping on the peaks so that the lower level parts of the signal are a few db hotter and therefore higher resolution with better s/n ratio. very non-dynamic sound sources, like heavily distorted rhythm guitar, are fine at -3 or even a bit lower if you want (w/ 24bit recording) because they have very small dynamic range so nothing will get too low.

so you see, stating "absolute figures" when it comes to recording levels is not the best way to roll.
 
Anyone disagree with the philosophy to put a limiter in the recording chain and set the signal level so that "stray peaks" (maybe 3-4 per Song) are caught by the limiter?

I've done that often and never experienced any audio degradation, since only very little of the audio signal hits the limiter at all.
 
i use an 1176 on bass and vocals in front of tools for exactly that reason, so you can get a decent signal without fear of clipping
 
yes... you can always compress or limit as you record... but sometimes you may not want to commit to compression as you record and/or/because you are not sure exactly how dynamic you may want a part to be in the final mix or how you may want to the transients affected, or maybe you don't have the compressor/limiter you need for the task at the tracking facility.. .any number of reasons. i surely hope you guys aren't calling me to task on basic Recording 101 principles... good grief. lol.
 
haha hell no
generally very gentle with how i do it
except on rock vox, coz 1176ing them helps get the right vibe in the cans too
 
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