recording at 0 dbv

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New member
Hello all,

I am to figure out what 0dbv is in relation to my A/D converters.

Here is what I was told by RME, I currently own a multface

Input level for 0 dBFS @ Lo Gain: +19 dBu
Input level for 0 dBFS @ +4 dBu: +13 dBu
Input level for 0 dBFS @ -10 dBV: +2 dBV

So, I have come up with this

Lo Gain I have 19db of headroom, then 0 dbv = -19dbfs
balanced +4 I have 13db headroom, then 0 dbv = -13dbfs
unbalanced -10 I have 2db of headroom, then 0dbv = -2dbfs

Please tell me I'm lost in the woods, because all I own is unbalanced gear. I really don't want to spend my next paycheck on DI boxes and balanaced cables.

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i think you have most definately gotten somewhat off the track with this one :)
before rolling up my sleeves and typing out a load of maths for an answer can i ask what it is exactly that you are trying to do with all these values, it may be easier to have you explain what your thinking was when you embarked and come at it from that side as its not too clear as it stands. i have some guesses but thats all they are. isnt the RME fixed calibration wise which means that you arent trying to calibrate your converters.
 
Run a steady 0dBVU signal into the RME and see where it comes to digitally.
 
Thanks for the replies guys, I guess I'm in over my head. Massive that was my first thought but I found that every place I try RME, Apogee, ect only have test tones to calibrate you digital meters to Odbfs. I will look some more though.

Neilwhite, my understanding is that most equipment will give its best preformance at nominal levels. and this level is 0dbv, and this level should be maintained throughout the signal chain. so my A/D converter will have a calibration point of 0dbv at some point in the dbfs scale, depending on the manufacturer.

My issue is I dont have a way presently of calculating where that is. Everything I own that has meters is in dbfs. So the cheapest way for me to know that my equipment is operating in it peak level is to find that point of calibration in my A/D card.

I been schooled by this forum that if I do this my tracks will better represented, and my mixes will come together a lot smoother.

I wish I would have never read that thread about recording levels, I'd still be tracking too hot, and pulling down my master in ignorant bliss.

I will keep digging, but now I got to get back to making the juice, instead of spending hours googling to find the right ingrediants. Master pieces are made in experimentation.

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If it helps, it's not like you're going to record a signal that's "too low" -

If you stay on "low gain" (or whatever it was called) and get an input signal that's dancing around -18 or -16dBFS, that's plenty. In 24-bit, you can't beat it in most cases.

But on the tones - I'm talking about running tone *IN* to the RME...

Plug a CD player with pink or 1k on it into a preamp's line in and get the level to sit around 0dBVU on the preamp with the output at unity. The signal at the digital input will tell you everything else. I'd *hope* that signal would read around -18dBFS (in low gain).

In any case, going "too low" (ha!) does no damage. Going too hot will.
 
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