Topic: Mac OS: Sound Studio help: volume levels and compression

[tapeheadtoo]

I am in the process of learning how to use Sound Studio to remaster my recordings.  Basically, I want to raise the overall volume of the recordings without clipping or distortion.  I understand that one way to do this is to use compression, i.e. compress the dynamic range to increase headroom, then use output gain to raise the volume back up to where the transients are just below clipping. 

I have been reading up on compression and understand the concepts of peak/RMS threshold and output gain. 

My problem: When I open up a wav file in Sound Studio, at any given point in the file, how do I know what the current signal level is in dB?  Shouldn't I know this in order to pick a threshold level for where the compression kicks in? 

Put another way... When I play the master CD (from which this file was ripped), my CD player displays the levels on a little meter (this is called a VU meter, correct?)  I can see the signal is averaging somewhere between -30 and -20 (I assume the units are dB?).  Is this
"signal level" available to me when I open the ripped file in Sound Studio?  I see the "Input Level" window in Sound Studio, but that does not seem to correlate to the playing of the actual file.  I am surmising that this "Input Level" window pertains to signals being directly inputted into the Mac, which I am not doing... I am working with a file previously ripped from a CD.

I want to know where to set my thresholds for compression, and it seems that in order to best do this, I should know what level signals I am working with.  Am I missing something obvious??

[wbrisette]

My iBook came with Sound Studio 2, so I opened it up to see and you're right. There certainly doesn't seem to be any way to see what the actual peaks are. It also doesn't seem like it supports various plug-ins. Since I don't have v3.0, I don't know if that has changed, but at least it's true with the 2.0 version.

Wayne

[live2496]

If it shows you a meter for gain reduction, I would watch the meters and set the threshhold so that the compression kicks in during short transient peaks only. If your compressor is working too much the dynamics of the recording will be reduced.

Gordon

[tapeheadtoo]

If it shows you a meter for gain reduction, I would watch the meters and set the threshhold so that the compression kicks in during short transient peaks only. If your compressor is working too much the dynamics of the recording will be reduced.

Gordon

There doesn't appear to be a meter for gain reduction.  That's the problem... I can't seem to find ANY meters at all (other than the "Input Level" meter I mentioned in my original post).

Why would a supposedly full-featured (I paid $50) audio editing software not include meters??  It just doesn't seem right.

I can't understand how Sound Studio expects you to choose threshold levels for compression when you don't even know what the peaks are.

Anyone know of any other Mac software that has these... I don't know what you call them... signal meters?
Windows users, does your audio editing software display this information?

[tapeheadtoo]

Okay, here is a separate but related question.  In Sound Studio, when you open up a file, it displays an audio waveform, with time (obviously) on the x-axis.  But I can't figure out what the units are on the y-axis.  It just says "6" at equidistant points along the positive and negative y-axis.  6 what??  It can't possibly be dB.

I've been all over the Sound Studio help files and can't find the answer.  This whole situation is really frustrating.

[wbrisette]

Anyone know of any other Mac software that has these... I don't know what you call them... signal meters?
Windows users, does your audio editing software display this information?

This seems to be a sound studio thing. They did add AU plug-in support in the 3.0 version according to Freeverse, but overall it doesn't seem things changed a ton from 2.x to 3.x.

There are several other packages out there that support this. For two channel work I use Bias's Peak, I know there are a few people who don't like it (actually I think it has more to do with decisions the owner made on product development rather than the product itself), but I do like it.

There is an LE version, you might ask them if they offer any cross-grade options right now. (sales@bias-inc.com), I know that from time to time they do.

There are other two channel applications too, most fall in the $50-200 dollar range. See the thread in this forum titled "where do I find..."

I looked at the scale and couldn't determine if they meant dB or not. I highly doubt it's dB because you can change the scale and it doesn't correlate to a change in the waveform in terms of loudness.

Wayne

[tapeheadtoo]

There are several other packages out there that support this. For two channel work I use Bias's Peak, I know there are a few people who don't like it (actually I think it has more to do with decisions the owner made on product development rather than the product itself), but I do like it.

There is an LE version, you might ask them if they offer any cross-grade options right now. (sales@bias-inc.com), I know that from time to time they do.

There are other two channel applications too, most fall in the $50-200 dollar range. See the thread in this forum titled "where do I find..."

I looked at the scale and couldn't determine if they meant dB or not. I highly doubt it's dB because you can change the scale and it doesn't correlate to a change in the waveform in terms of loudness.

I put an email in to Freeverse/Sound Studio support asking what the heck those units are.  In the meantime I'm checking out other software packages.  It appears that to get the "Find RMS," "Find Peak," and "Threshold" features, you need Peak Pro as opposed to Peak LE, and I don't have the $599 to shell out for it.  I might look into DSP-Quattro for $99, but I am going to make sure I can do what I want with the software before I purchase it.

I think I am also going to ask over in Team Mac Geeks, what audio editing software other people use and specifically if those packages have the features I want.