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Digital Recording Levels

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krbusby

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I found loads of great info but it's a little over my head. I know the answer is in there somewhere but I'm just not getting it. Hopefully someone can dumb it down for me. :-)

Gear: Sony MDS-JE320 (with remote), MacBook with digital out

Software: Songbird

Source = FLAC, Played with Songbird -MacBook digital out, Destination = MDS-JE320

Question: Left and right recording level meters on the deck rise and fall by adjusting the volume out while playing FLAC with Songbird. If I max the MacBook & Songbird volume the levels are registered as high on the deck with no "OVER" warning. Does this mean I should record with max. volume out to the deck? Will this give me more playback volume on my Sony MD Walkman?

I'm afraid of getting 'clipping' etc. But being it's a digital signal via fiberoptic, how could the level be too high?

Remember who you're talking to and maybe make your answer reflect that. lol Just say, "Go for it at the highest level." or "Be safe and record at medium levels." or something like that.

Hey, thanks guys. Great forum. Long live MD!

Kris

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If the deck never registers "over" then you're ok. The 320 does not allow digital gain adjustment. So try something that looks like it exercises the full dynamic range (0 dB) without going over and see if it sounds distorted.

Or, buy a deck that does have digital gain. But I think you have that licked with the MacBook volume control (you can check and see what happens, whether reducing the volume out from the mac results in lower levels at the MD - I suspect it does).

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Thanks, I think I see where you're going. I can max the output from the Mac so the deck reads 0 db almost continuously. From what i'm understanding this is good? I'm used to analog tape where there's a red zone I'm supposed to stay out of. Without that red zone I'm nervous.

I think YES - 90125 would make a good test subject for this. I'll max out and see what happens.

From what I understand, while recording via digital optic cable the deck won't/can't display the "OVER" message.

Thanks for the reply. :-)

If the deck never registers "over" then you're ok. The 320 does not allow digital gain adjustment. So try something that looks like it exercises the full dynamic range (0 dB) without going over and see if it sounds distorted.

Or, buy a deck that does have digital gain. But I think you have that licked with the MacBook volume control (you can check and see what happens, whether reducing the volume out from the mac results in lower levels at the MD - I suspect it does).

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From what I understand, while recording via digital optic cable the deck won't/can't display the "OVER" message.

That may be true (for you and your gear). It certainly is not true for me. If it goes up into the red, then it's distorted :) 0dB is, or should be, well shy of the end of the dial - only +dB numbers are considered "over" AFAIK, ie the equivalent of the red zone on analogue meters..
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You and PhilippeC are into some serious equipment. You like to play. :-) I just want easy to record and have exceptional sound.

I have hearing damage, mostly tinnitus, and as I age I find I need louder, clear sound. The ringing is pretty bad when I don't have anything to drown it out.

Anyway, thanks for the feedback. Very helpful. I'm re-recording some stuff and it sounds very nice. :-)

Kris

That may be true (for you and your gear). It certainly is not true for me. If it goes up into the red, then it's distorted :) 0dB is, or should be, well shy of the end of the dial - only +dB numbers are considered "over" AFAIK, ie the equivalent of the red zone on analogue meters..

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The best approach might be to 'normalise' your FLAC files to 0dB, then you won't need to worry about clipping, and setting output and recording levels - just use zero gain output and set digital recording level=0 on your MD.

I use Audacity http://audacity.sourceforge.net/ for normalisation and other audio file tweaking. The batch mode works pretty well for a large number of files, and it will handle FLAC as long as you set the right otuput parameters,.

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