My audio is clipping below 0. At around -12
I haven’t changed any settings so I don’t understand why this is happening. I’ve tried recording on another daw and it clips like normal at -0.
Any suggestions?
Does recording in stereo change this behavior ?
Well I can check that, but Id rather record in mono.
It is just a question.
If you record in mono from a stereo interface, the left & right channels are mixed (summed) to mono. With Audacity, the levels are cut in half (-6dB) so the mixed left+right won’t go over 0dB. But it should clip at -6dB (not -12) or if you use both inputs you should be able to get 0dB. The advantage is that you can trust the meters on your interface… As long as the meters/LEDs on your interface don’t show clipping you’re not clipping and the summed mono-mix won’t be clipped.
If you record in stereo (with one input) of course you’ll get one silent channel and you’ll need to convert your recording to mono. But, you’ll still probably have to adjust the level after recording.
I’ve tried recording on another daw and it clips like normal at -0.
Most DAWs record multiple mono tracks, rather than stereo, or a mix-to-mono.
Something Happened. Your fault doesn’t correspond to most normal failures.
I’ve tried recording on another daw and it clips like normal
What is “it?” What are you recording? What’s the other DAW?
Audacity is not a Digital Audio Workstation. It’s just a sound editor and it’s missing a lot of tricks a DAW can do. It doesn’t handle MIDI very well and has no automatic tools for multi-channel recording.
Koz
Ye, I’m really not sure what’s going on…I was looking at my sound settings…and went into the properties of my focusrite solo…under the levels tab, the mic was only at 40 so I pushed it up to 100…problem solved but now there are loads of crackling noises
I tried in Oceanaudio and there are no introduced artifacts…
I’ve played around with all the sample settings/channel settings…but it still keeps on occurring even when all the sample settings/channel settings are all the same
FYI - Low digital levels aren’t really a problem. (Pros typically record at -12 to -18dB.) If you’re getting that -6dB stereo/mono thing we know why and you can you trust the clipping indicators on your interface.
I tried in Oceanaudio and there are no introduced artifacts…
You can use Oceanaudio, or your Focusrite should have come with Ableton Live LIte. If you want to edit with Audacity after recording with different software, you can do that.
problem solved but now there are loads of crackling noises
If you zoom-in you should be able to see if the crackling is caused by [u]clipping[/u].
If it’s not clipping it’s usually [u]dropouts[/u]. Dropouts are about the only thing that can go wrong digitally while recording. Most other problems are analog or acoustic (or the performance). Dropouts are unrelated to recording level.
I assume the LEDs on the Focusrite aren’t showing clipping? That will show you if the analog-to-digital converters are clipping. (That’s the most common place to get clipping during digital recording.)
But it’s also possible to clip something in the analog chain. You can clip the preamp in your interface, or the head amp built into a condenser mic. That won’t happen with “normal” voice and other “normal” sounds but it can happen if you stick a microphone in front of a guitar amplifier or kick drum. Or, if you’ve plugged something else into your interface that “thing” can clip before the audio ever gets-into the interface.