21EURODESK SX4882 User Manual

13.2.3Recording levels

When recording to digital, it’s a good idea to keep the recorder’s PEAK READING meters below 0 dB. Engage “peak hold” on your recorder if you want to confirm that you haven’t inadvertently overstepped the mark during a take or mix.

Most digital recorders (though not SAMPLERS) read 0 dB with some headroom left. This is because, unlike with analog, the onset of digital distortion is as sudden as it is horrible, and the manufacturers of digital recorders don’t want you to hear this! If you really want to take your recording level to the limit (and fully exploit digital’s 96 dB dynamic range), you’ll have some calibrating to do.

You could run a tone at 0 dB from the mixer, and use that as your DAT or digital multitrack recorder reference. But your DAT or digital multitrack recorder may still be 10 to 20 dB off its headroom limit. Probably a better way to work out just how hard you can drive your recorder is to incrementally increase the record level until it well distorts, subtract, say 6 dB, and never ever exceed that level.

When recording to analog, the tape machine’s VU meters should show around

+3 dB on BASS, but only around −10 dB for HI HAT. Although analog distortion is more like compression at modest overload levels (often desirable on bottom end), higher frequencies cause saturation even at modest levels (an unpleasant “crunchiness”). Also, VU meters tend to progressively under-read above 1 kHz, due to their sluggish response time.

13.2.4 Auditioning a mix

In order to be heard other than when PFL/SOLO-ed, channels must be routed to the main mix bus. This can be either from the channel routing matrix directly, via one of the subgroups, or from the MIX-B bus ( S 48 DOWN).

Channels going to tape are usually monitored via the tape return channel, whether A or B. In this case the main mix button of the channel going to tape should be UP, while that coming back should be DOWN (if on an A-channel). Tape tracks returning on B-channels will always be heard so long as the MIX-B/MAIN MIX switch ( S 48 ) is depressed.

Some to-tape channels will have no routing other than a direct out patch into the recorder, others may be routed through subgroups. When a subgroup is sending to tape, the subgroup L/R assignment buttons ( S 37 , S 38 ) should be UP. I.e. that subgroup should not feed into the main mix bus directly.

14.8-track MIDI Suite/Dance Production Studio

8-track MIDI studio with sampler, 8-track recording system, one vocal microphone and an array of synthesizers and FX. MIDI sequencer driven. A typical dance production suite.

14.1 Sends

Fig. 14.1: Send routing

In a dance production, effects are often of paramount importance in creating interesting/evolving sounds, and aux sends are usually all dedicated to this purpose. Also, it is not unusual for a vocalist to be drafted in to add some colour to the mix at a late stage. The following set-ups avoid using aux sends for headphone monitoring, while enabling both the vocalist and engineer to get a comfortable headphone mix.

14.2 Auxless headphones mix

The vocalist will probably want to hear her-/himself above the normal mix level. With the following headphone sources you can do this without tying up any aux sends or MIX-B. Passing the DIRECT OUT through any 1 in 2 out delay/reverb device enables the vocalist to choose an effect she/he is comfortable singing along with.

Fig. 14.2: Simple auxless headphones mix

Here the MIC CHANNEL FADER controls the amount of extra voice blended into the main mix. Adjust the FADER level first until the vocalist is happy, then set the level to tape with the SUBGROUP FADER(S).

Alternatively:

Split the microphone onto two channels and use one to feed the routing matrix while the other drives the EXTERNAL input via its direct out. Now you have totally indepedent monitoring and tape send levels for the vocal signal.

Fig. 14.3: Slightly more complicated auxless headphones mix

Alternatively:

If you need to hear the harmonies, but they’re putting the vocalist off key, you’ll want to be able to delete channels from the headphone mix. If you still don’t want to assign a couple of aux buses to headphones monitoring because this would disturb the main mix, the following suggestion might prove useful. Set up a separate channel assignment on a spare subgroup pair. Feed the output into aux return 3. Route aux return 3 to headphones 1 ( S 55 ) and de-assign the main mix ( S 77 ). Now you can delete distracting channels from the vocalist’s backing track mix (see fig. 14.4).

Fig. 14.4: Subgroup-driven auxless headphones mix

This configuration does not allow for anything coming in on B-channels to be sent to headphones. If you need to do this, S 76 must also be depressed.

◊In all cases the WET/DRY balance of the extra vocal signal takes place within the FX processor.

◊The above example refers to aux 3 return > headphones 1.

An analogous situation is possible for aux 4/5/6 return > headphones 1 or 2.

behringer.com