Digigal and Jon,
I appreciate your help but you are both missing my question. I understand reference levels. I understand tone generators and how to use them. I understand calibration, gain staging, unity gain, the difference between dbu, dbV, dbfs, and different types of meters like VU, PPM, etc.
Let me iterate again, using tape out to M10 line in is giving me very low levels. I am used to going from line out on my MM-1 to line in on the m10 using a mono to dual mono cable. I can have levels sit around -12bdfs for dialogue. I know I have less headroom but I know what I'm recording and can ride the gain to get around this. Using the tape out on the MixPre is giving me levels of around -20dbfs for dialogue. I read that for professional recordings this is the norm seeing is we record in 24-bit. For quieter stuff though, backgrounds, wind, birds, etc., I run out of gain on the Mixpre. I don't want to up the gain on the m10 because I need to keep the noise floor as low as possible.
So my questions are, again, should I continue to use the tape out on the MixPre and just deal with very low levels, or should I look at getting a cable made that will give me greater levels but less headroom? I think you tapers don't have a problem seeing as you are dealing with higher SPL sources. Also, though the MixPre and MM-1 are spec'd the same, the MM-1 delivers more gain. I am wondering if there is something wrong with the MixPre I bought as it is used? Seems odd.
It seems my options are:
- tape out to line in and deal with running out of gain, pushing up the noise floor, quiet recordings, etc.
- using line out to line in via special cable for better levels but less headroom.
This would also help me work out if I need to have a cable made to use my BP4025 when it turns up. Again, will I use tape out and deal with the low levels, or should I get a dual XLR to stereo 3.5mm cable made to use line outputs on MixPre to M10 line in?
If I've got anything wrong or backwards please set me straight. I'm feeling very confused. I do really appreciate the help given so far.
Thanks,
Harry