Mike--
If you are curious about whether there's enough "saturation" in the
quiet location digital recordings you care making with this setting,
there a way to find out. Pick a file with a very quiet background,
open it in your waveform editor, select a small portion that is only
background sound and measure the peak level. If the saturation is at
least -55 dB (based on typical 96db full scale displays) then the
record level you are using should not produce any quantizing noise
with a 16 bit recording. (To be clear, the peak for the background
only needs to be -55 dB or a number of smaller value with a negative
sign). The tolerance is greater for a 24 bit recording.
Some people argue that some sounds become harsher when digitally
amplified a great deal (opposed to gain boosts on the order of 10-20
dB). How much gain one typically uses with one's field recordings
might be something else to consider. To test this, play back some
music on your speakers and set the level to a comfortable level. Play
back some soft recordings and see how many dB you boost them in order
to get a level you like. If its more than 24dB, you might consider
increasing your sound file saturation in the field unless you often
encounter loud transient peaks in the environments where you record.
Rob D.
At 10:45 AM -0700 5/8/09, Mike Wall wrote:
>Guys,
>Thanks for the discussion. This is very helpful.
>When I set the gain around 56.7 dB and try to keep my paws off the
>input controls I'm always questioning my noise floor. Frequently, in
>quiet situations, my target sounds will only hit the -40 dBFS signal
>level (the first LED).
>Anyway, I'll stick with this 56.7 dB gain protocol and only deviate
>for experimentation.
>-Mike
>
>--- On Fri, 5/8/09, Charles Veasey
><<charlesjv easey%40gmail. com>charlesjveasey@ gmail.com> wrote:
>
>From: Charles Veasey
><<charlesjv easey%40gmail. com>charlesjveasey@ gmail.com>
>Subject: Re: [Nature Recordists] Recording Levels
>To:
><naturereco rdists%40yahoogr oups.com>naturerecordists@ yahoogroups=
. com
>Date: Friday, May 8, 2009, 9:47 AM
>
>very smart, thanks again.
>charles
>
>Martyn Stewart wrote:
>>
>>
>> I record the tone always at the beginning of each track, Charles,
>> then if I normalize or increase the DB in my DAW, i have a reference
>> point to return to if i need to revert to the original setting
>>
>> Martyn
>> ************ ********* ********* *******
>> Martyn Stewart
>> <http://www.natureso>http://www.natureso und.org
>><<http://www.natureso>http://www.natureso und.org>
>>
>> Redmond WA
>> 425-898-0462
>>
>> 47.65420118705451
>> -121.98158740997314
>>
>> Make every garden a wildlife habitat
>> ************ ********* ********* ********
>> Listen to the Birds and the Bees at
>> <http://naturesound.>http://naturesound. libsyn.org/
>><<http://naturesound.>http://naturesound. libsyn.org/>
>> ------------ --------- --------- --------- ---------
>> View a Nature Recordists Blog!
>>
>> <http://naturesound.>http://naturesound. org/nature/ Blog/Blog. html
>> <<http://naturesound.>http://naturesound. org/nature/ Blog/Blog. html>
>>
>> <http://naturesound.>http://naturesound. org/nature/ this_weeks_
>>recordings/ this_weeks_ recordings. html
>> <<http://naturesound.>http://naturesound. org/nature/ this_weeks_
>>recordings/ this_weeks_ recordings. html>
>>
>> P please consider the environment before printing this email
>>
>> On May 7, 2009, at 7:56 PM, Charles Veasey wrote:
>>
>> >
>> >
>> > Thanks Martyn,
>> >
>> > I definitely see the importance of keeping a consistent level in
>> > recording, which I wasn't doing. But what is the significance of
>> > setting
>> > the tone level to -30dB? You always record it at the beginning of each
>> > track?
>> >
>> > Charles
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > .
>> >
>> >
>>
>>
>>
>
>
>
>
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