thebiglongy
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Help with general gain staging
Rite i dont really know where to begin but being as this is the cakewalk forum and sonar 6 is my OS of choice for the moment.
Firstly, when i load in softsynths (fm8, bfd, reason...and someothers) should i leave the track fader on unity then turn down the softsynth so it doesn't pass -6 (entering red) or should i just do the opposite and turn down the track fader down to -6 or wateva until its no longer peaking?
For recording bass i have a yamaha bb415 bass connected to a zoom b2.1u, this in turn is running from the DI out into my allen & heath mixer. This in turn goes into the m-audio 2496 and into sonar.
What would be the best way to get a good level with minimal noise?
Any help on this topic would be great.... as this will obviously improve my recording qualities to help with the final mixdown.
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skullsession
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RE: Help with general gain staging
2007/08/12 19:32:22
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Set your levels to your target (whatever that is for you...I usualy shoot for -12) with the console fader at unity gain in any instance. Adjust fader to taste afterward.
Good luck!
HOOK: Skullsessions.com / Darwins God Album "Without a doubt I would have far greater listening and aural skills than most of the forum members here. Not all but many I am sure....I have done more listening than most people." - Jeff Evans on how awesome Jeff Evans is.
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thebiglongy
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RE: Help with general gain staging
2007/08/12 19:40:00
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Sorry for sounding a noob, but that is what i am.... could you clarify that for me please so i know which faders on what your talking about?
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droddey
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RE: Help with general gain staging
2007/08/12 19:42:25
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I could be wrong, but with soft synths, I look at it like this: - The synth is generating bits. It can generates them at whatever output level you want. - The track fader is throwing away bits. So if you turn the fader way down in order to have the synth on high volume, you are generating big fat bits and then just throwing most of them away. Better probably to keep the fader at 0 and adjust the synth so that any bits you do generate, you are keeping them all.
post edited by droddey - 2007/08/12 19:50:07
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thebiglongy
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RE: Help with general gain staging
2007/08/12 19:56:58
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Ahh coolio, sounds good to me.
So how should i apply this to recording bass??
I dont think the zoom pedal has a meter to tell the value of the signal the bass is outputting, although i doubt it would be that strong.
So then should i keep the bass at nearly full volume, adjust the zoom to output a signal (to wat level?? -12 or -6??) into the allen & heath. On the mixer aim for a level (to wat level???) whilst keeping the channel fader at unity, then send to subgroup and adjust the output of this fader so that the level in sonar (with consol fader at unity) does not clip and kicks at around -12????
also, should the master fader/output of sonar be at unity whilst mixing down.... adjusting only the fader channels making sure i do not overload the output?
so many questions i know.... sorry but if i dont ask i'll never know.
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jinga8
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RE: Help with general gain staging
2007/08/12 20:23:16
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Try reading through THIS, or THIS. Gain staging is less about getting a good level (any of the devices in your chain can make the signal LOUD enough) and more about getting the best signal you can into the DAW. Generally the closer to the source a stage is (the volume knob on the guitar vs. the mixer subgroup volume fader) the higher it should be, as "in general" its fidelity to the signal tends to be greater. But then you have to start thinking about the quality of the different stages as well. A cheap DI box into a kick-a$$ preamp should probably use more gain from the preamp, even though the DI is "closer" to the instrument. But like anything in audio, there are no rules. Try out different ways of recording your signal and judge for yourself what works best. Use any guidlines as just that, guidelines, not rules.
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thebiglongy
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RE: Help with general gain staging
2007/08/12 20:42:18
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Cheers mate, that's got me thinkin now.... and it's 1:38am here so off to bed with me books and do some reading up i think.
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thebiglongy
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RE: Help with general gain staging
2007/08/13 12:21:55
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Would i need to drop in a DI box between the zoom and the mixer??? the output of the zoom seems massive and i cant drop the level down to what i need without turning the zoom right down, mixer gain right down and bass down to 4. This before i even get to sonar as you can see.
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jinga8
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RE: Help with general gain staging
2007/08/13 13:59:48
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No, I was using a DI box and a mixer's preamp purely as hypothetical examples. The Zoom is built to take an instrument signal and make it loud enough to record. If the zoom sounds good, you should balance the bass volume with the zoom and have very little gain necessary at the mixer. That should get you a good signal into Sonar.
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