[ardour-users] It is not loud enough

Paul Winkler pw_lists at slinkp.com
Wed Oct 26 09:05:32 PDT 2005


On 10/26/05, Kevin Cosgrove <kevinc at doink.com> wrote:
 > I'm trying to increase the signal as much as possible during the
> recording phase.  The maximum peak indicators in the mixer window
> are really great for this.  But, what decibel level corresponds
> to clipping?  I notice that the mixer peak meters go quite a
> bit above 0dB.

I've always wondered about that too.

>  Also, waveforms are shown in the editor window.
> What scale is the magnitude of those waveforms?  Would 0dB be
> the top/bottom of the editor stripe?

Yes.

> Is it linearly scaled or
> logarithmicly scaled?  Knowing this will help me to achieve a
> maximum input level before clipping.

The waveforms are linearly scaled.

> If it matters, I'm recording drums and have a soft limiter on
> each channel which I've set to just start activating at what I
> think the maximum recording level before clipping would be.

I also like putting a bit of an overdrive plugin on the drums
(I've been using Fast Overdrive from the swh plugins set, might try
some of the others).

This increases apparent level and "fullness" a bit, somewhat like tape
saturation,
at the cost of also increasing treble and potentially making things harsh.

If I had mic preamps that overdrive nicely, I'd probably do it at that
stage instead.
(Mmm... neve.... drool, drool).  But I don't. Mackies sound OK for a
lot of things,
but they're really ugly if you clip them.

--
http://www.slinkp.com



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