when the mix is always changing you need to watch a vu meter because by the time the stupid clip light comes on you already have distortion. And chances are your already overloading the recorders input?
Most single "clip" lights I've seen do not trigger when clipping, they usually light in the -2 to -3 dB range. So, even if they light up, you're not already overloading the ADC and clipping. That said...
Think of this ok music is dynamic I am a live front of house sound engineer. I mix some songs at 85 db some rockin tunes I may mix as loud as 115db in the right venue, with the right artist.
For a single artist in a single venue, the absolute dynamics don't change radically over the course of the performance. Some engineers slowly crank up the volume as they sort out the mix, but I've never experienced anything like a 30 dB absolute gain change. I have experienced large
relative gain changes, e.g. between quieter and louder songs, but never large absolute gain changes across a single artist's set on a given night. As such, IME it takes a single loud song to get levels set reasonably close. Which is where the single level indicator comes in...
You have to look at your recorders level control and set it so there is atleast 10 db of head room. A clip light that lights up 2 to 3 db and stays on for one second is not going to help.
It absolutely helps. At least it's helped
me in the past (I have better level meters now). Once I encounter that first loud song of the performance, I get my levels largely set for the rest of the performance, with only minor (if any) tweaking involved. I've never needed "at least 10 dB of head room" for
any single amplified performance. Unamplified, yes, and in those situations a single level light is woefully insufficient in my experience.
so why not just watch the $@@@@@ level on the recorder?
Some recorders have meters that are even less useful than a single clip indicator. The JB3, for example. And as already suggested, sometimes it's not practical to break out the recorder to check it.
You need a VU METER NOT A CLIP LIGHT. end of argument
Is it possible to achieve greater precision in setting levels with a broad level meter range? Sure. Is a single level indicator useful? You bet. There is no argument, so to speak. Some people find the single level meter useful. You, obviously, do not.
The marketplace is speaking right now: tapers (especially stealthers, to whom your gear is most appealing) value even a single level meter indicator (in the -2 to -3 dB range) to help set levels. You, personally, may not find it useful, but your potential customers apparently do. How you decide to handle that difference of opinion is a business decision for you to make, of course.Your post beat me to it, Chris. But I just finished writing thedamn post, so I'm gonna post it anyway.