Ideal needle drop recording level

I find 0 too harsh....Was is the best level which won`t sound like a souped up CD...thanks...

 

The general rule for any digital recording is to get the peaks as high as possible without going over 0. You don't want to record too low because you would then be wasting bits (if recording at 16-bit). You should NOT get any distortion if you stay at or just below 0. If you do get distortion at 0 without going over, look to your converter or soundcard.

Creative cards, most notably the Soundblaster "live" cards have a buiklt-in limiter at around -1.1db, oe 89%. Attempts to record higher will result in distortion.

Recording too low will result in an increase of low-level distortion because 16-bit digital doesn't do low frequencies very well.

Record at 24 or 32-bit.

 

thanks...grant...I forgot to mention I`m running with a turtle beach card........

 

I do too. I don't hear any distortion at 0. I don't even hear any distortion on lightly clipped files (files with peaks that go over 0). If you do, something's wrong. Time to look at your speakers or amp.

 

For what it's worth, I'm using this old Sound Blaster 16 card (no, really), and it seems the analog electronics crap out even before digital 0. I don't let peaks go any further than -3 to be safe while recording. Sounds nice to me, aside from that.

 

Soundblaster 16? ...uh...ok...

 

It does sound better than an SBLive! though. Go figure.

 

Maybe it's NOT a SB 16 you are hearing.

 

My SBLive runs up close to 0, around -0.7 or so before flattening out the wave.

Most of the recordings I do, I have to turn the level all the way up and I still don't come close to topping out. However, the other day I was trying to record some of my Duran Duran 12"ers like the night versions of "Planet Earth" and "Girls on Film" along with the b-side songs and those are cut hot - I had to turn the recording level down almost a quarter of the way.

 

I keep my levels the same, no matter what I'm recording. Most of the records I record tops off about -4 to -3db's. I then amplify the sound wave to 0db with the software. I use to do it in percentages (around 98 or 99%) but I would occasionally clip with those setting. I then went with amplifying in decibels and I find that to work a bit better. I haven't clipped a sound file yet, since using decibels.

 

Joe, even if you normalize to 100% you are not clipping. You can't always tell by just looking at it.

I just hope you aren't making all those low-level recordings in 16-bit. If you are, you're not getting the true 16-bit resolution.

 

You're right, Grant. Even when it would go in the red, I never heard distortion. It was the fact that it went in the red, that bugged me.

I also like amplifying in decibels because it easier for me when I'm burning different sound files from different sources. If you normalize a lot of sound files together, it usually doesn't work. Some of the songs will still sound louder than others. Especially if you a mixes ballads with regular songs. Mono songs will always sound louder than stereo if they are on the same CD-R. I always go down 2 or 3 decibels on ballads and mono recording when they are mixed with stereo sources. That's just how I do it, it works for me.

 

Good call, Joe...

When making a "mix" comp, there comes a point where you have to set levels "by ear" rather than "by numbers"...just because a group of songs "sounds right" together...

Soundtrack albums can be especially difficult this way, matching up orchestral tracks (meant to be played behind the visuals) with the "pop hits" that play in montage segments or over the credits, etc...

I find that working in mono is quite helpful in matching levels between songs...I also have a pair of $20 Walkman speakers (i.e., all midrange, nothing else) that is very useful in this regard...

I can learn something about my work from any speaker I listen to, as long as I respect what it is telling me...

peace,

 

THis is why Cool Edit 2.1/Adobe Audition has a "Group Waveform Normalizer". It levels out the average RMS of all the wavefiles to your specification. I use it ALL the time!

If your meters are going into the red on non-clipped waves, you should check the meter balistics to compensate for DC Bias.

 

I've only gone in the red on a few occasions, except when I use to download mp3's but that was some years ago and another thread.

I just happen to prefer using decibels instead of percentages. I will try the Group Waveform Normalizer and see how that works out for me.

 

I might start doing this in the near future... I also own a Turtle Beach card. Aside from levels, should I try to record at a higher bitrate, and then use dither to drop it to 16-bits?

 

Yes, record at 32 bit float, do what your going to do, then dither down to 16.