Metering and Setting Record Levels

A professional analog recorder has meters that indicate 0 VU at a +4 dBu nominal signal level. Generally you can record peaks 10 to 15 dB above that before distortion becomes objectionable. This 10-15 dB range above the nominal level is called “headroom”. The overload indicators on the MDR24/96 light when the signal level reaches –1 dBFS.

On digital recorder meters, zero represents the full-scale digital signal level,

0 dBFS for short. 0 dBFS is the hottest signal that a digital device can handle, with no headroom to spare. When a digital signal reaches 0 dBFS for more than a sample or two, the resulting distortion is uglier than scraping your fingernails across a chalkboard.

24TRACK/24BIT DIGITAL AUDIO HARD DISK RECORDER

OL OL OL OL OL OL OL OL OL OL OL OL OL OL OL OL OL OL OL OL OL OL OL

2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2

4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4

7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7

10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10

15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15

20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20

25 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 25

30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30

35 35 35 35 35 35 35 35 35 35 35 35 35 35 35 35 35 35 35 35 35 35 35

40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40

50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50

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Remember, audio levels must NEVER reach 0 dBFS... never, ever, ever. Digital clipping is an extremely nasty sound that could only pass for music if you like what those crazy kids listen to over and over at all hours of the night including weekdays.

To get the best sound from the MDR24/96:

1. Turn ALL INPUT on.

ALL

INPUT

2.Ask the talent to play or sing as loud as they will be performing during the session. While watching the MDR24/96 meters, adjust the console’s tape outputs so that the signal peaks cause the red overload indicators to come on occasionally. Then, back off the tape output level slightly. This insures the best fidelity and the widest dynamic range in the recorded signal and leaves you a little headroom to accommodate the talent’s enthusiasm. Keep the signal levels as high as possible without overload, because recording at lower levels reduces resolution and dynamic range. Nonetheless it is always better to be conservative and avoid the risk of overload than to try squeezing the last ounce of dynamic range from the signal.

3.Alternately, if you have a tone generator or a sound source with a constant volume (you can hold down a key on a synth), turn All Input on and send the tone to all 24 tracks of the console. Adjust the output levels to read 0 VU on analog consoles, or around –20 dBFS on digital consoles. If the MDR24/96 meters read –15 to –20, you’re in good shape. This leaves enough headroom for most popular music, but if you’re recording acoustic music, jazz, classical, or narration, you may want to leave a little more. When the talent starts to play you may have to make some final tweaks to get everything just right.

Guide Operation

 

 

Operation Guide

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