On Tue, 22 Jan 2008 13:25:14 -0500, Paul Stamler wrote
(in article ):
"Emiliano Grilli" wrote in message
...
I have another question 
The manual instruct me to feed the recorder with a 1 khz tone at the
"desired operating level" when calibrating the inputs.
I'm using csound for generating the tone, and the opcode ampdb (http://
mitpress.mit.edu/e-books/csound/fpage/pub/csbook/Manual4.0/valcnv/
dbamp.htm) for setting its level.
If I understand correctly this level is going to represent 0 VU on the
machine's meters, is that right?
What is considered a good value for this operating level compared with
0db digital?
That's going to depend on your sound card and how many volts it puts out for
0dB digital, and what you're going to use the Revox for. The following
assumes that the sound card will be the source of whatever you record on the
Revox -- in other words, you're dubbing from the computer into the Revox.
Really, the issue is what kind of "nominal" level you record at. If your
*average* level is, say, -14dBFS when recording digitally (this would be the
level a VU meter would read), then that should correspond to 0 VU on the
Revox. The Revox is measuring average level, while the digital system works
only with peak levels.
If it were me, since I use -14dBFS as a nominal level in digital, I'd
generate a 1kHz tone at -14dBFS and set the Revox's nominal 0VU level to
that signal. How many actual volts that might be will, as I said, depend on
your sound card.
If, on the other hand, you'll be recording from your mixer into the Revox,
then it's probably a good idea to set the VUs for +4dBu (about 1.23V) input
level 0 VU. That's a good world standard. Do your level monitoring on the
Revox, not the mixer's LEDs.
Peace,
Paul
Just an observation. As we get farther and farther away from analog tape
recording, it becomes increasingly important to remember that there was a lot
of craft involved in setting a machine up and maintaining it.
At this point in the analog tape machine life cycle, there are fewer and
fewer people who have the experience to know how to work on the machines.
Be careful of anyone pushing analog tape technology as a great way to record.
They may not have the skills to keep their machine in spec. Then too, the
circuits in analog tape machines are getting pretty old. Unless they have
been carefully maintained down to components on the boards, they can sound
pretty nasty.
Regards,
Ty Ford
--Audio Equipment Reviews Audio Production Services
Acting and Voiceover Demos
http://www.tyford.com
Guitar player?:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RZJ9MptZmU