AudioBanter.com - View Single Post - Someone says "anything over -10db in digital video is distortion" and y

In article writes:

Well *many* is one of those vague words that seems to mean
something... ;-)

That's why I used "many" rather than "most."

Almost all of the pro interfaces I've used (over 30) have
had at least -10 and +4 as options.

Yes, but what digital level is represented by -10 dBV or +4 dBu?
That's where you need the missing control, so you can set it for
-20, -18, -14, -12 or whatever you want.

One recent big nasty
surprise was the fact that the AP 24192 lacked the slectable
input sensitivity feature that graces virtually all of the
rest of the M-Audio line. But, it does a pretty credible
+4, and that is *the* pro standard, right?

Right. What's its calibration? Put in +4 dBu and how many dBFS do you
get? Whatever it is, you take it or leave it (or compensate for it
elsewhere). That's my beef.

The way almost every audio interface stacks up is that the
the stated sensitivity is way under FS. IOW a -10 input will
generally put FS someplace around 2 volts, and a +4 input
runs from 2.5 to about 8 volts for FS.

Well, for the "+4 input" that's about a 10 dB range in calibration -
not very standard, is it?

I don't see a lot of marketing grease in fudging specd
output levels.

No, but they want to make the S/N and noise floor numbers as good as
they can. One way to do this is to eliminate any unnecessary gain or
gain control element on the input or output.

If you haven't noticed, I recommend a paradigm for recording
that really doesn't require a lot of attention during
tracking.

It depends on what you're tracking. You can get away with that
sometimes. If it works for you, fine. But not everyone will be happy
with set-it-and-forget-it.

It's very hard to do metering right in real time. So, why
make it a critical sucess factor?

Program? Metering? I thought we were talking about real meters here.

Besides, level setting need only be very approximate during
tracking - that's one of the things that headroom is for.

No, headroom is so that you can accommodate dynamic range of
performance, not accommodate unpredictable performance. One good
example of wanting to ride a fader (or preamp gain) is when a
performer goes from singing to talking. There might be a 20 dB
difference that it's good to make up at the front. It's just good
engineering practice.

Real time adjustments make mixing more confusing and more
work later on. Bad form for tracking except in dire
emergencies.

Good real time adjustments make mixing easier. Good tracks practically
mix themselves.

I see real time adjustments as a skill I only practice when
I'm doing live sound.

I'm ALWAYS doing live sound, even when recording in the studio.

--
I'm really Mike Rivers )
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