My old PMD660 was getting long in the tooth (15 years old!) and so I decided to upgrade to a Zoom M4 MicTrak, on the recommendation of some folks here. I really like it, but one issue that bugs me is that the recording levels are so low. Like, -21dB. I can boost it in Audition, I have to boost it by, like, 30dB. It records in 32-bit float, and the manual says that makes "input gain adjustments unnecessary," but I can't help think that having to boost the levels so much is also increasing the noise floor and affecting the overall quality. Am I being paranoid? I'm using AKG C1000 mics.
The waveform level can be adjusted with the top 2 center buttons. The ones with + and - inside the
little magnifying glasses.
Quote from: mepaca on Today at 11:16:16 AMThe waveform level can be adjusted with the top 2 center buttons. The ones with + and - inside the
little magnifying glasses.
That just adjusts the size of the waveform view, not the actual recording level. The view size is fine, I'm talking about the actual recording level.
It will adjust the recording level.
Quote from: mepaca on Today at 03:19:31 PMIt will adjust the recording level.
According to the manual, those controls only affect the display. And with a digital recorder of that type, changing the level when recording is the same as changing the level in post - only the digits are affected, not the analog side of things. To have the level reach clipping point, the M4 has to be exposed to levels of 135dB I believe, which is threshold of pain level. So if what you are recording isn't painful, indeed the recorded file will appear pretty low level.
As for noise, I was doing some recorder noise comparison tests with my M2, which is the cheaper and simpler model in the range, and that was significantly less noisy than the other devices I was trying. If any kind of amplified music is being recorded in a performance situation, the chances of noise being audible using almost any contemporary recorder are close to zero, certainly with the MicTrak devices. Recording distant birdsong in a silent location far away from any roads, maybe you would need something more exotic. And expensive.