Reaper Levels

[weaverra]

Where should vocals and instraments be hitting on the meters while recording. Right now normal is at -30 which matches our board for a normal signal.

[bladeaudio]

In general with digital recording you want to try and get as close to 0 without actually hitting it. That being said, if you do reach 0 and distort you will ruin the recording so its better to be on the safe side for a live recording where you don't get another take.

How do your recordings sound? Is there a lot of noise after you normalize the track?

If you are recording with a 24 bit system you will have a lot more headroom (less likely to distort) then a 16 bit system.

[cmchamp]

From other threads, it depends on the gear being used for recording, the quality of the converters, etc. In other forums, it is generally acceptable to think of -12dBU on a digital meter as 0dBU on an analog channel strip. I have found that keeping peaks around -12dBU helps keep the the rest of the signal chain from saturating and keeping individual channel faders closer to 0.
C.

[pdc]

Originally Posted by bladeaudio

In general with digital recording you want to try and get as close to 0 without actually hitting it. That being said, if you do reach 0 and distort you will ruin the recording so its better to be on the safe side for a live recording where you don't get another take.

How do your recordings sound? Is there a lot of noise after you normalize the track?

If you are recording with a 24 bit system you will have a lot more headroom (less likely to distort) then a 16 bit system.

This is not true. This is the old analog guys way of perceiving digital recording.

Send 1kHz from your console, via the internal signal generator or an outboard device, at unity (+4). Depending upon your converters, you will be hitting the input at -12, -14, -16, -18dBBFS. A good converter will have calibration features. You will notice that NO CONVERTERS DEFAULT INPUT VOLTAGE IS NEAR 0. If you record all of your tracks near 0, you will overload the mix bus, you will cause your plug-ins to crap out, and you will cause your DAE to run out of headroom fast. Recording this way is exactly why CDs sounded so bad for so long (not including poor mastering).

You likely have 24-bit converters because nobody makes 16-bit anymore. Towards the end of their existence, they were really 24-bit converters operating at a true 16-bits. 24-bit converters are not true 24-bit, but that is another subject. Now, input settings and recording levels are a matter of dynamic range. Recording levels are a sliding scale in digital. It is all centered around the dynamic range of the sources recorded.

Recording a cymbal. for example, with a dynamic range of 12dB only requires 2-bits to represent that wave digitally. Thats 6dB for every bit. If you use up 22-bits to represent 6dB, you are not getting a more accurate representation of that signal at all. You are wasting bits and system resources.

You should not be normalizing the tracks...ideally. If you have to normalize, you are doing something wrong most of the time. Normalization does very nasty things to your signal, adds distortion, etc.

[weaverra]

Originally Posted by bladeaudio

In general with digital recording you want to try and get as close to 0 without actually hitting it. That being said, if you do reach 0 and distort you will ruin the recording so its better to be on the safe side for a live recording where you don't get another take.

How do your recordings sound? Is there a lot of noise after you normalize the track?

If you are recording with a 24 bit system you will have a lot more headroom (less likely to distort) then a 16 bit system.

I know this is an old thread, but I am back on this again.

Yes there is noise. We are using a M7CL with the Dante running into Reaper. When the signal on the M7CL Pre Fader is at -30 DBFs or (0 Dbu) it barely shows on reaper. Typically the loudest the board ever register is -30 at it's loudest. I have to boost the actual slot output to almost +24 on the output attenuation to get a full level. I know I have the wireless lapels and their receivers set correctly. I get nearly full bars on the TX Audio indicator on the receiver.

[pdc]

This is where Yamaha's inferior gain structure and mix engine is evident. The industry standard(s) for representing +4dBV (0) in digital is -16 to -18, not -30. The reason they do this so you don't overload their mix engine. It allows them to claim higher headroom and lower distortion specs. To get around "0" in Reaper, you will need to be -16 to -18. I would guess you have lots of noise, because you are sampling too low, and when you compress it or normalize it, you will be hearing lots of artifacts not part of the signal.

[Tim Padrick]

-30 is not the Yamaha recommended level. It's -15 (give or take a few dB depending on the console model).

[weaverra]

I went in tonight after church and did a little test. I increased the gain on all the inputs to reflect around -18 average. Recorded audio was much better! Also everything sounded brighter and more vibrant. Especially on the piano! Sounded so different. On 3 of the lapels though I get radio interference when the gain is above -39 on the input. I am going to probably replace the cables. Otherwise everything seemed better.