Bristol_Jonesey


One important thing to remember is that you cannot affect the levels coming into Sonar from within Sonar - it's all done at your interface/pre

Correct adjustment of your pre/interface gain should show a healthy level on both sets of meters: as long as you're leaving sufficient headroom you're ok to hit the red button!

DeeringAmps


Here we go again!
You will find the mother of all threads on the subject here.
In general -16 or -18 dbfs (what you see in Sonar) is 0vu (your analog signal); BUT it depends on your equipment.
YOU have to test and calibrate it for your system.
"Record as close to 0dbfs as possible" was the mantra in the 16 bit days.
It was BAD advice then, and is worse now when working at 24 bits.
0vu is/was still -16dbfs at 16 bits (and 24 bit).
Most, if not all, prosumer gear gets "brittle" at high gain levels (the gain necessary to get a 0vu signal to 0dbfs).
Even LOTS of pro gear is running out of usable headroom at that point.
Read the linked thread, there's a wealth of knowledge there...

Tom

konradh


Are you guys saying to keep your master bus in Sonar at-16 or -18?  That can't be right. I shoot for -12 with just bass and kick.

Bristol_Jonesey

RMS is a different animal of course, and I try to adhere to K-14 standards 

brconflict


K standards were invented by Bob Katz. Google Katz K-System. It's just a guideline from a Mastering Engineer, but useful.