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Author Topic: Tascam dr07 rec level wheel on the side, kept at 10 (maximum)?  (Read 2706 times)

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Offline vr46

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So you have probably seen my prevoius thread about settings for the Tascam dr07. It's getting close, just a week now.. won't use external mics this time and have the Internal mic settings all good.

My final question is about the physical REC LEVEL wheel on the side? Should this be kept at 10 (maximum) or lower?

Cheers

Offline DSatz

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Re: Tascam dr07 rec level wheel on the side, kept at 10 (maximum)?
« Reply #1 on: June 07, 2019, 08:41:42 PM »
Disclaimer: I don't know your particular setup, e.g. the recorder that you're talking about, but I'm replying because no one else has done so.

A "rec level" control should be set so that the loudest parts of your recording reach satisfactory peak levels on the meters. The principle is to match the settings on your recorder to the strength of the signals coming in. It's a very good sign if the meters show good levels when the "rec level" control is broadly in the middle part of its range--not (say) in the top or bottom 1/4 of its range. And the possibility of achieving this goal is determined by your switch settings and choice of inputs if you have any.

It's almost, but not quite, simple. The worst case is if you have to set the rec level control to its lowest setting or nearly so, because that indicates much stronger than expected signals coming in. The recorder's input circuitry may overload and distort in that case, even if the peak levels on the meters are well below 0 dB. (This behavior can be explained in terms of the circuit "stages" that the signals go through; now isn't the time for that explanation, though.) -- If, on the other hand, you have to turn the record level control up to its highest setting or nearly so in order to get good levels on the meters, then as a side effect, you are almost certainly adding unnecessary extra noise to your recording; the signals coming in aren't nearly as strong as the recorder is "expecting." Still, a small or moderate amount of added noise is always better than a badly distorted recording.

The extreme settings, in other words, are there only for extreme situations, and even then they don't always give you a good (or even usable) recording. If you find yourself setting the "rec level" control way high or (especially) way low in order to get the meters to smile at you under ordinary recording conditions, then you need to step back and reassess the combination of equipment that you're using, and/or the settings on the recorder ahead of the "rec level" control.

--best regards
« Last Edit: February 02, 2020, 09:48:18 PM by DSatz »
music > microphones > a recorder of some sort

 

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