Emu XL-7 & MP-7 User's Group

Good Points rEalm

FWIIW (in my limited experience based on the hardware/software that I
own and work on) - I think some software will perform XXX operations
better than other soft/hard. I have experienced over the years what I
have subjectively considered to be "bad Normalization" and "good
Normalization)....

I am currently working with a Creamware SFP system and the Digital
Gain that is available in the SFP mixer is great (imo) - but I guess
what you are saying is that a more sure-fire QC method is
Normalization, not Digital gain...and I can see the logic there.

Which raises the question: In the E4 we do not have to think about
this exact subject in the same way given the variable HEADROOM setting
in the MASTER section (allows digital signal to be raised or lowered)
- do you know who this type of operation figures into all that we have
been discussing here?

curious to know your thoughts

thanks!

Ed

--- In xl7@yahoogroups.com, erik_magrini@B... wrote:
> the quality of Normalization does depend on the software that is being 
> used to Normalize, and of course we all know that in the N process the 
> audio takes a hit, so to a degree one has to weigh which hit they
prefer - 
> N or A/D.
> 
> >>>Hmmm, not sure I agree actually (though not sayig you're wrong
either). 
>  Normalization is a fairly simple operation, you're just adding more
bits 
> to the existing signal, not altering it or performing any
calculation that 
> could introduce truncation errors. <<<
> 
> I find myself continually more drawn to an analog re-recording of
the XL7 
> - and have not found noise to be an issue. 
> >>>Me neither, the analog outs are certain fine, and I too use those
most 
> of the time. <<<
> 
> That said - depending on what DAW software is being used one should be 
> able to boost the XL7 spdif signal before/during the recording.
> 
> >>>This is where you'll start to incure errors though.  Any time you
raise 
> the gain of a digital signal via software (ala, you raise the input
fader 
> in your DAW) you're performing calculations on the signal.  Truncation 
> errors can occur, so the signal will not be as clean as it you had just 
> recorded it straight and then normalized after the fact.  That being
said, 
> lets keep this all in perspective.  Truncation errors occur at roughly 
> round -144dBFS in a 24 bit signal, so it's hardly likely you'd be
able to 
> hear them.  If nothing else, the dither added during bit reduction
later 
> in the process will be louder than those errors.  The issue with 
> truncation errors is that it's cumulative, so the more operations
you do, 
> the more likely you are to hear them.  Again, these are VERY small in 
> terms of how they degrade the signal quality though. <<<
> 
> I hear time and again that the optimum place to aim for in a 24 bit 
> recording of individual tracks is -6 db (Bob Katz, the Metric Halo
guys et 
> al), for whatever that is worth.
> 
> >>>For recording individual tracks, yes I agree, you're only losing
1 bit 
> of resolution in a 24 bit signal, so it's no big deal (for those that 
> don't know each bit in a 24 bit signal is about 6dB of level).  My 
> comments were geared ONLY towards normalization, and I used the -2dB
as an 
> "upper" limit.  To be honest, if I record the XL-7 digitally, I just
leave 
> it at around the -14dB it's typically was recorded at, and don't even 
> bother to normalize. 
> 
> When I track individual instruments, I too aim for around the -6dB
mark. 
> Anyone interested in this geeky kind of stuff should definitely get the 
> book "Mastering Audio" by Bob Katz, goes into much more detail on
all of 
> these topics, very highly recommended. <<<
> 
> roll backward,
> rEalm
> 
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