Audacity Forum

How does one set the record level to a particular decibel level. Waxy Cylinder tries to record at - 6.0 decibels (see below, and I apologize for not posting my questions on the forum earlier rather than contacting a staff member directly )

baron5nc



Re: amplify effect
Sent: Wed Jan 05, 2011 1:09 am
by baron5nc

OK. I'll copy this back to open forum because I have a question about how to record to a certain decibel level. Thanks!



Quote waxcylinder Re: amplify effect
Sent: Fri Dec 31, 2010 1:57 pm
by waxcylinder

Actually since posting that I have changed my amplification level - I now only amplify up to -2.0dB

I try to record at -6.0 dB or so to get a good strong signal but to avoid clipping. And then once all other processing has been doe my final step prior to export is to ascertain whether any amplification is needed.

To do that I just select the whole projectand use Effect > Amplify the dialog box which posp up shows me how much amplification is needed to get the max level up to -2,0 dB,

WC

BTW please keep these discussions on the main forum in future - that way your queries and our responses can also heal other readers of the Forum.

Have a good New Year.



amplify effect
Sent: Thu Dec 30, 2010 10:47 pm
by baron5nc

On a post last January you said in your workflow of converting vinyl to aac that you amplify if necessary. How do your determine if it's necessary to amplify?

Thanks,

baron5nc

Re: Workflow to take Audacity Projects to AAC in iTunes
by waxcylinder » Sun Jan 10, 2010 10:59 am

I don't use Normalize - as in Audacity that acts on each stereo channel independently and can thus destroy/damage the stereo image. (could be useful though if you have a setup where the L&R signals are not equal). And on that basis I personally do not agree with the advice to Normalize given in the "Your first recording" tutorial,

I do use Amplify for most recordings - and I take it to -0.6dB (rather than the 0 offered by default) - just to give it a bit of headroom. It is quite loud enough at that level - and some player devices have problems with digital recordings that peak at 0dB.

There has been much discussion on the forum in past year about Normalization version Amplification - a Search of the forum may help you find some of the threads.

Other folks on the forum favour Compression - often preferred for CDs made for in-car listening so that the volume remains more constant. Chris' Compressor seems to be a much favoured tool for this. Personally I never use compression - I prefer to retain the dynamic range put on the record by the engineers.

==========================================================

To elaborate on Step 1 in my workflow in this thread:
1.1 test sound levels and adjust to avoid clipping and provide a little headroom
1.2 export as a WAV file
1.3 pass the WAV through ClickRepair software to remove clicks and pops (CR will accept either 32-bit or 16-bit WAVs)
1.4 import the ClickRepaired WAV back into Audacity
1.5 identify the intertrack gaps and clean them up (fade-out/fade-in/silence/and possibly shorten) - and clean up start and end
1.6 Amplify if necessary to -0.6dB
1.7 For critical recordings - review the whole recording amd manually Repair any odd glitch not detected by ClickRepair (and there are never many that CR does not find)

and then on to:
2 label the tracks etc. ...

WC

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We recommend capturing at a fairly low dB level because low volume can easily be corrected. High volume can cause permanent, fatal damage to the show.

Everyone arrives with the idea that they are going the press record and walk away with a perfect presentation recording. You might by accident, but the rest of us record low -- particularly if you're trying to capture real life (singing or guitar playing) and then make the final show in post production.

"Post" can consist of managing the volume levels and compression levels, equalizing to help with squeaky or booming voices and almost always, some manner of noise reduction. Not all of us have a quiet studio.

If you do a really good job, and it's usually possible with the Audacity 1.3.12 tools, then you walk away with a finished show -- usually after taking ten times longer than it took to sing the song.

Ten to one is the generally accepted time allotment for production after a shoot. Some times less, some times more, but always around that number. If anything at all goes wrong, it's much worse.

Koz

I am recording from a main mixer feed that is going through a distribution amplifier to a number of mini-amplifiers. The main mixer gain is set for what is needed by those mini-amps. The problem is that even at .1 input level the volume is such that I have trouble keeping Audacity's recording within the recommended .6 level. Obviously I need to adjust the volume lower and that means moving the slider just a few pixels to make that adjustment. Is there a way to change the SCALE of the input slider to give me more fine control?

rhultman wrote: The problem is that even at .1 input level the volume is such that I have trouble keeping Audacity's recording within the recommended .6 level.

Are you using a "Line input" on your sound card or a "Mic input"? You should be using a Line level input as microphone inputs are far too sensitive (and often mono) and will be very prone to overloading if you feed it with a Line level signal.