recording volume vertical scale

[dodds]

We recommend setting the recording volume so that the highest peak of a recorded signal will reach about -6 dB away from clipping. -6 dB is equivalent to a height of 0.5 on Audacity's default waveform display.

If the "1" level corresponds to the clipping volume, the "0,5" level corresponds to the half of this clippiong volume level, equivalent to -3db, -6db corersponds to 0,25, the quarter of this voume, so the waveform has not to cross the 0,25 horizontal ?

[kozikowski]

Audio signals go by volts, not power. 20LOG (v1/v2). By that measure 1/2 voltage is 6dB.

And the posting is correct. Average peaks for a live performance can soak up 6dB quickly, so it's very dangerous to go higher.

Koz

[dodds]

decibel is the tenth of bel : why do you indicate "20LOG (v1/v2)" and not "10LOG (v1/v2)" ? Do you mean that audio signals go by voltage square, Vexp2, not simply voltage ?

[steve]

In audio recording the dB scale that is generally used is "dBFS". You can read about it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DBFS