mike_mccue
Asymmetrical waveforms are associated with harmonic overtones and harmonic distortion and can be quite common on some sources or types of instruments.
The fact that it is asymmetrical is no big deal... but in this case the signal is/was just to hot.
best regards,
mike
This is the best explanation to this date that I have heard so far and makes the most
since of the subject matter. I remember having that problem some time ago when
recording vocs. My recording (of) the vocs weren't all that hot but apparently hot
enough to cause that. I'm only guessing but maybe the peaks were -6 or so. I found
that as I lowered some "lows" or "low mids" (during) the recording of that part
that did lesson the problem of the flat line (on just the flat side of the wavform).
(and) if I remember right (lowering) the recording level didn't change anything,
only the EQing did. It didn't sound like distortion but was clearly a flat line on
one half of the waveform. I have also had times where there was no flat line but
the "top" and "bottom" half of the waveform were not symmetrical like you would
normally see, even though upon "listening" to it nothing sounded wrong.
I would go direct by way of bypassing EQ or the pre used and no problem
(but) the sound was very muddy in doing so. I'm starting to think now as I look
back that somewhere in that signal chain that there was some kind of problem,
whatever that was? As if maybe there was something causing that "loss" of
clarity and it showed up in the "visual" of the waveform when trying to "clear it up"
in the recording.
I may have been using a sound blaster card at the time and maybe it
would "take" a untreated sound/input, but not anything that was (in this case)
EQ'd. I also remember that as I recorded the vocs that the (what I heard)
quality of sound as opposed to (hearing it back was a huge difference).
I would have expected that the (card) wouldn't sound like a made "for audio"
card but nothing "that" drastic.
post edited by jimmyman - 2011/02/03 21:33:54