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Old 11-17-2021, 02:52 PM   #1
jalan
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Default Clipping meters, tiny waves

So I'm setting my level on my interface (EVO 4, recording DI guitars), and I turn it down so it's as hot as can be without clipping the meter. But when I record, the stems look really quiet. Am I doing something wrong/how do I fix it?

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Old 11-17-2021, 03:18 PM   #2
Stella645
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Shift up/down keys zooms the peaks display.
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Old 11-21-2021, 03:48 AM   #3
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Stella is correct.

Just in case you don`t entirely get it, the up/down keys are those for the actual display, you are not changing the gain at all, just magnifying the display & making it easier to look at.
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Old 11-21-2021, 08:45 AM   #4
DVDdoug
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Quote:
as hot as can be without clipping
That's not necessary. Digital recording levels are not critical as long as you avoid clipping. Nothing bad happens when you get close to clipping but it's "traditional" to leave plenty of headroom for unexpected peaks.

Quote:
the stems look really quiet.
Recordings also tend to sound quiet, even when normalized/maximized (compared to commercial recordings) unless/until you use compression & limiting.
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Old 12-11-2021, 05:15 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jalan View Post
So I'm setting my level on my interface (EVO 4, recording DI guitars), and I turn it down so it's as hot as can be without clipping the meter. But when I record, the stems look really quiet. Am I doing something wrong/how do I fix it?

You interface has some auto mode for gain, smart-gain.
It will adjust the gain in so it won't clip its ADC (analogue to digital converter).

DI's are usually quiet. You can try to normalise them by Peak to about -1dBfs, but if that will make the RMS above -18 to -14dBfs, then try to normalise (by Peak) to a lower value of let's say -3dBfs.

You will run the DIs through guitar amp sims or mics through some pre-amp sims and FX, so those FX will usually compress the Peaks and raise the gain, so do not worry about the gain of the DIs.
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