Topic: Levels on the SD 702

[piperedworm]

I have read a couple of threads regarding the "Sweet Spot" for setting gain on the SD 7XX.  I have a 702 and tend to turn it up pretty loud.  Usually have the first red light lit up and dancing in the second and sometimes thrid red light.  No pre-amp in front of the unit, using it stand alone.

Wondering if anyone has any insight or experience to share.

recording mostly Phish, from the section.  24/48

Thank in advance

Jeff

[dennisrtyler]

there is no "sweet spot". its all personal preference. i have my last red light set to -2. i aim to slam the -8, bounce on the -4 and get the occasional -2. i find my recordings have a fuller sound running like this than when i used to just aim for -6 and add gain in post.

[johnw]

That's what I aim for as well. Some people try to stay much lower with peaks around -10. I've heard both described as the sweetspot for 24bit recording. I don't mind occasionally going over and really don't have a lot of time to make adjustments later. I found that when I tried to get peaks in the -6 to -10 range I never liked the result even after I added 6db of gain with Wavelab. If the crowd is clipping, fine. So long as the music isn't consistently over, I'm ok with with running it hot.

[piperedworm]

Dennis

Is the setting of the last red light at -2 stock or did you chnage this in the menu options?

Sorry if I am asking a dumb question

[dennisrtyler]

Dennis

Is the setting of the last red light at -2 stock or did you chnage this in the menu options?

Sorry if I am asking a dumb question

its a menu option. stock the last red is 0. i cant remember right off but its gotta be in metering i would think.

[piperedworm]

Thank you my friend!!  It is much appreciated.  I have been happy with this baby so far, but I know this thing is capable of more.

[notlance]

I've run mine with peaks as low as -25 dB (not on purpose) and as high as 0 dB.  As long as I'm not clipping it sounds good to me, even if I have to add gain in post.  So what I am saying is the recording level "sweet spot" is wide, at least in my experience.  This can actually be a problem for me since I feel I should be doing something during the recording, where in reality the best thing I can do when rolling is to keep my damn hands off the pots.

I don't worry about clipping applause since clipped applause sounds a lot like regular applause until it is way overloaded, and I edit out most of the applause anyway.  However, for the music and venues I record in if the applause is clipping and the music is not, that probably means my mics are too far back.

[piperedworm]

However, for the music and venues I record in if the applause is clipping and the music is not, that probably means my mics are too far back.
[/quote]

I find that I keep wanting to make adjustments as well, and I shouldn't.  Is there any other settings I should be palying with?  Like for example the Low Pass Filters?  I had asked this question in a previous post, but wondering if any of you on this post use any of the Filters on the SD.  remember like I said I am running my 184s straight into the SD.

Again thanks guys . . .I keep learning with each post which is what makes this hobby so fun!

[notlance]

In firmware v2.65, menu item 58 sets the right most (i.e. highest) meter scale LED threshold.  I keep mine at 0 dBFS since I want to know when I have reached the upper limit.  There are already Input Peak LEDs on the left of the 702 that indicate when you've hit -3 dBFS so I use those to tell me when I'm getting close to the max.  The level of the Input Peak LEDs are not adjustable.

[dennisrtyler]

unless you are taping gangsta rap or super loud rock right in front of the PA i would never run the filters. you can always do that in post anyway.

[page]

I find that I keep wanting to make adjustments as well, and I shouldn't.  Is there any other settings I should be palying with?  Like for example the Low Pass Filters?  I had asked this question in a previous post, but wondering if any of you on this post use any of the Filters on the SD.  remember like I said I am running my 184s straight into the SD.

unless you are taping gangsta rap or super loud rock right in front of the PA i would never run the filters. you can always do that in post anyway.

I recomend you experiment with the HPF, but only during shows/sets you don't give a shit about. I found it handy to have in the field, but only in specific situations. Actually, I would prefer a single -6db/oc option via just the analog HPF, but the lightest you can do is -12 (-6 analog/-6 digital in tandem).

I agree, it's all personal preference. I run mine peaking around -10/-8 and I run it with the limiter on because I find the occasional limiter sounds better then the clipping does on my playback setup. The one time I didn't run the limiter (and ran at -6/-4 instead), there was a 6db spike in deep bass midshow and I have this giant swath of trash between when it started and when I jumped to knock off gain.

[notlance]

Um, you mean the high-pass filters?

To HP or not to HP?  That is the question.  Most of the time I choose not to HP during recording unless the LF noise is so bad that it is affecting my recoding levels.  If the LF noise is that bad often the solution is to try to reduce the noise rather than filter it out.  If the venue has some LF noise I will use the HP filters to get some idea how bad the noise is and decided if I can filter it out in post or if I should start turning of A/C and pulling plugs on vending machines.  (Write yourself a note and post it on your recorder to remind yourself to turn everything back on after the recording!)

In post I almost always apply some HP filtering since I have found most of my recording have quite a bit of LF noise in them.  I pick a corner frequency below which there is not likely to be much music.  This frequency can be very low for an organ recording or quite high for a flute recording, for example.  Last week I recorded a flute duet and used in post a HPF of 24 dB/oct @ 200 Hz which really cleaned up the recording without affecting the music.

[piperedworm]

Page -

When you say that you keep yours at -10 to -8 are you talking about the same presets in the menu that dennis was talking about?

[page]

Um, you mean the high-pass filters?

To HP or not to HP?  That is the question.  Most of the time I choose not to HP during recording unless the LF noise is so bad that it is affecting my recoding levels.  If the LF noise is that bad often the solution is to try to reduce the noise rather than filter it out.  If the venue has some LF noise I will use the HP filters to get some idea how bad the noise is and decided if I can filter it out in post or if I should start turning of A/C and pulling plugs on vending machines.  (Write yourself a note and post it on your recorder to remind yourself to turn everything back on after the recording!)

For fun, a couple of shows I turned the recorder on, turned on HPF, recorded a couple minutes pre-show, turned the HPF off, recorded another couple of minutes and compared in post. I wouldn't hesistate to use HPF again if I really thought that the noise I was hearing was deep HVAC or noisy furnaces in the basement type stuff, but those occasions are far and few between and I only have that comfort cause I've played with it already in a bunch of situations so I have an idea of what its going to do.

Page -

When you say that you keep yours at -10 to -8 are you talking about the same presets in the menu that dennis was talking about?

Na, I mean the peak results for stuff going through the AD stage and being recorded. I aim for about -10 or -8 on the LEDs. My last LED light preset is set to -2.

[piperedworm]

Thanks to everyone for the info.  I am going to play a little tonight!!

Hope to see everyone out there soon!!!

Thanks

Jeff