At 10:24 AM +1100 12/19/02, Simon wrote:
>
>What is the theory behind the -6dB recommendation? I assumed that you
>would want each individual recording to peak as close as possible to
>0dB without clipping.
Exactly. Please, keep in mind that digital meters do vary, and I was
making a general statement. If you are using 24-bit converters, it is no
longer as important to try to squeeze out every last bit of resolution.
Transients become more of an issue, and according to some, even more of an
issue at higher sampling rates.
>My Protools interfaces do not have adjustable gain, neither do a lot
>of effects boxes that are set to various different reference levels,
>guiatr/-10line/+4line/etc..
The Digidesign boxes without adjustable gain are less suited as "front
ends", even when dealing with "+4" line level signals, which vary greatly.
Most people use them with mixers or pre-amps of some sort.
>It would be nice have a module that has these sort of inputs with
>attenuation and a meter to see how close to the motm 10Vp-p the
>incoming signal is, and have high quality circuits/components to keep
>the audio path as clean as possible.
While I'm sure we all have high hopes for Paul's module, there are plenty
of devices that can already do that.
>Out of interest, how do the audio levels of the different motm
>'compatible' modulars such as oakley/blacet/jh/etc. compare to the
>10vp-p of motm?
I don't know about Blacet -- I have a uW panel and no kit, and a TM kit but
no panel :) The Oakley mixer can output levels way beyond 10Vp-p, so care
should be taken when using it.
>I use the Avalon DIs to get the signal as hot as possible without
>clipping going into the Protools interfaces, since the interfaces
>have no gain adjustment.
>
>The Avalon U5 DIs are solid state, and designed for as pure a signal
>as possible, without artifacts (I think).
Yes, they aren't overpriced stomp boxes like Joe Meek :) While people to
attribute a subtle "sound" to the Avalon stuff (eg. improved bass
articulation) they are clean, which is more or less my point. The main
function of a direct box is impedance matching, which unlike a guitar, you
don't need to interface MOTM with line-level inputs.
If you want to get levels as hot as possible, you are always going to need
a way to adjust that, regardless of the source.