Topic: V2 levels

[LookDontTouch]

Kids,

  I did Wilco the other night (Fillmore Denver) and ran my levels really hot. When i open the file up in CDWav, very little of the music was actually clipped, but the levels run into the red quite a bit. Now, if i accept the slight clipping, is there any other problem with this? i.e is the music being distorted at that level even if its not clipping? I think it sounds good, but what the hell do I know?

Thanks,
LDT

[Tim]

the V2 sounds clean at all gains. with a lesser pre you risk coloration and distortion as you increase the gain. I wouldn't worry about running the V2 hot, but you might want to back it off a bit if there is audible clipping or substantial visible evidence of clipping. I like my levels hot so someone else might recommend that you back them down a bit more.

So are you a new CO taper? I was at the show, actually stood right behind the section all night... fantastic show. What did you run?

[eric.B]

heyNOW!
hmm..  I need more information..   Microphones used?   A>D converter?  what recording device?

[Brian Skalinder]

You should run your V2 at whatever amount of gain gets you appropriate levels into your ADC.

[Tim]

duh... you guys are right. I was thinking of just the V2 and it's characteristics without thinking about how the whole rig works together...

what I said wasn't wrong but they are correct, we need to know the rest of the rig to give you better guidance.

[LookDontTouch]

the V2 sounds clean at all gains. with a lesser pre you risk coloration and distortion as you increase the gain. I wouldn't worry about running the V2 hot, but you might want to back it off a bit if there is audible clipping or substantial visible evidence of clipping. I like my levels hot so someone else might recommend that you back them down a bit more.

So are you a new CO taper? I was at the show, actually stood right behind the section all night... fantastic show. What did you run?

Yeah... we actually stood together and talked about Wilco! I'm Eric's buddy Jim. I'm just getting back on this board.
My rig is MBHO hypers and an ADC-20. I thought they sounded real nice, but wanted another opinion. The clipping was really sporadic, and it was during real loud, feedback laden parts, so i don't think i could tell anyway.

[Tim]

Ha! what's up Jim... I didn't know you were on here.

what do you run behind the V2?

[BC]

I think when the V2 red light up you have 6dB of headroom until clipping? Not positive about the # but there is some good info about this on the sonicsense website under the section about calibrating your preamp and ADC together.

Take care,
Ben

[LookDontTouch]

Ha! what's up Jim... I didn't know you were on here.

what do you run behind the V2?

MBHO>V2>ADC-20

[eric.B]

yes  ben..   i think it is -6 db when the red comes on..  and -14 db for the green light.. 

I personally run the v2 conservatively and my dap1's input wide open.. so I allmost never see those red lights..  but from what i understand, you can push the v2 hard.. 

I am not familiar with the adc-20 at all.. so I cant help you there..

[Tim]

Ha! what's up Jim... I didn't know you were on here.

what do you run behind the V2?

MBHO>V2>ADC-20

that's easy then... follow the instructions on this page

http://www.sonicsense.com/calpage.htm

[BC]

Ha! what's up Jim... I didn't know you were on here.

what do you run behind the V2?

MBHO>V2>ADC-20

Ah, well then it is simple, you can just adjust on the V2 since the cal-pots on the ADC20 have no effect anyway!   

Just kidding, but I remember when my buddy first got an ADC20 and we took it out. We were turning the crap out of the pots both ways, they would just spin and spin and we couldn't even tell if anything was happening from looking at the levels on his HHb. Big  -t to Graham-Patten for such a crappy design. At least it sounded decent though... (481>V2>ADC20).

Take care,
Ben

[Tim]

Ben - syrek?

[Lil Kim Jong-Il]

When I got my V2, I talked to a few people who told me that you need to run the V2 with the red lights blinking to get the best sound, but that often pushed the levels so high that the SBM1 had to be run below it's optimal level.  I called Grace and they told me that the V2 will sound the same at any gain level.  So the best bet is to set your ADC within it's optimal range and set the V2 to a compatible gain even if that means a low setting without a red light flashing.

For what it worth, I did run the V2 hard several times and never had a problem with it clipping. 

[BC]

Ben - syrek?

not Jamie, but basically the same rig he used to run...