I get that if I zoom in real close, the zero db line will appear. Yesterday, I could see the zero db line no matter what level I was zoomed in at. Today, not so much. I need that line. It helps me edit without having to zoom in so close every time to do so. I can’t find any settings and Google just gives me topics posted years ago that aren’t remotely helpful today.
You’re still not watching the zero line. You’re watching the background noise in your performance.
The missing zero line came up once before. Searching.
Koz
Looks like the zero db line to me. Except that it used to run beyond the clip’s boundaries and display no matter how close I was zoomed in.
Right This Second, I’m fussing with Audacity 3.6.1 installers—some of which seem to have vanished.
Koz
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It’s this bug: Track centre line does not appear until zoomed in a very long way · Issue #6912 · audacity/audacity · GitHub
A fix was committed 3 weeks ago, so it should be working again in the next Audacity release.
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Just FYI - It’s not 0dB, it’s an amplitude of zero = minus infinity dB.
With digital audio 0dBFS (zero decibels full scale) is the “digital maximum” so digital dB levels are usually negative. With integer formats, 0dB is the highest you can “count to” with a given number of bits. 24-bit files have bigger numbers than 8-bit files but everything is scaled to match your DAC when you play it so the 24-bit file isn’t louder.
(Audacity uses floating-point internally, where a numerical value of 1.0 is 0dB, and for all practical purposes there is no upper or lower limit. Audacity can go over 0dB but it won’t show on the waveform.)
Acoustical loudness (sound in the air) is measured in dB SPL (sound pressure level) where 0dB SPL is approximately the quietest sound humans can hear so SPL levels are normally positive. Negative SPL levels are possible but almost nothing on earth is that quiet.
Actual bug: Undesirable performance or condition experienced by multiple different people on multiple different machines.
Koz
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