Topic: so how do you guys set levels..?

[macdaddy]

this has come up before, but i was thinking about it last night, whilst taping...

for the record, i run heb(dpa4060) > cs batbox > oade modsbm1 (line in) > dat/pda @ 16/48
i control levels via the sbm1

people talk about needing 4061 because of clipping, but i have taped some of the loudest acts around with my rig, and never have had a problem...

then people that run the less sensitive mics talk about running their gear wide open, which i take to mean at 10 (on a scale from 1 to 10, like the sbm1). unless you have problems with mics that are NOT sensitive enough, why do this..? in the loud environs that i tape, like last night - at trail of dead, i am sitting at 5. standing a foot away from perkins' drum kit, with watt and distefano cranked to 11 kickin out stooges jams, i sometimes have to go to 4. taping the persian music ensemble with m0k3 a few weeks ago, i was all the way up to 10, and never clipped, except when the clapping started. actually, then, i backed off a bit, to like 9.5-9.7 because i just think it is not a good idea to be cranked...

on an oade mod line stage - there is no advantage to running at 1 or 10, it just depends on what the situation calls for. i mean the whole spectrum is equally good, right..? i thought that was one of the reasons to get the mod done...

am i missing something..?

also, when this last came up, alot of you guys said that you like to see an occassional flicker from an oademodsbm1 over light - some of you even suggested letting them dance the whole time... this just simply goes against my understanding. the few times i got an over flash last night (and it is never more than a flash, i dont keep my levels up there), ia lwys just back off, just a tad. it happened three or four times last night - and i started at just over 5, and finished just under 5.

now transferring realtime, da20mkii > coax >ap2496, the audio recording software showed that there was a clip or two, but i never saw the tascam's over light go on. and replaygain calculates an album value of the recording at +.65. i would think that running the rig any hotter than i did last night would put me in the danger zone (clipping), which is NOT where i want to be, right..? yet it seems that everybody else here, who runs the oade mod sbm1, runs their stuff alot hotter than me - like a half to a whole step up. and i backed off three times last night, and dont think i went down a half step in all...

again, am i missing something..?

thanks for taking the time to read this, and +t to ya if you care to chime in. i look forward to reading others' input on the matter.

[dnsacks]

I think you have it all right except for your understanding of the sbm 1's over lights -- on the sbm-1, the red "over" lights actually come on at -2db.  Thus, I liked to see these lights briefly flicker at the loudest points of the show (music-wise, I'd ignore the effects of over-zealous clapping, etc.).  I generally shot for faint flickers at the loudest point in each "loud" song and would only turn down/tweak levels if the red lights lit solid for more than a fleeting second. 

AN over is defined as more than a single sample in a row at zero db.  Small overs, a few zero db samples are going to be inaudible, but BIG overs (a lot of zero db samples in a row) are definitely going to be audible and should be avoided.

My sbm-1, when run with the red lights occasionally flickering would seldom produce small overs, and would never produce big overs. 

You're likely fine running the way you are, but at 16 bits, every bit of extra (found) resolution can't hurt . . .

[macdaddy]

I think you have it all right except for your understanding of the sbm 1's over lights -- on the sbm-1, the red "over" lights actually come on at -2db.  Thus, I liked to see these lights briefly flicker at the loudest points of the show (music-wise, I'd ignore the effects of over-zealous clapping, etc.).  I generally shot for faint flickers at the loudest point in each "loud" song and would only turn down/tweak levels if the red lights lit solid for more than a fleeting second. 

AN over is defined as more than a single sample in a row at zero db.  Small overs, a few zero db samples are going to be inaudible, but BIG overs (a lot of zero db samples in a row) are definitely going to be audible and should be avoided.

My sbm-1, when run with the red lights occasionally flickering would seldom produce small overs, and would never produce big overs. 

You're likely fine running the way you are, but at 16 bits, every bit of extra (found) resolution can't hurt . . .

thanks darrin - i appreciate it.

>>> but at 16 bits, every bit of extra (found) resolution can't hurt . . .

i hear ya, but i am holding out until they make a v3 the size of the sbm1...