RE: Thanks!

Posted by Tony Lauck (A) on March 25, 2012 at 11:01:06

In Reply to: RE: Thanks! posted by Iron Knee on March 25, 2012 at 10:21:20:

"The old Cool Edit pro (now Adobe audition) shows the reconstructed approximation, unlike Sony Sound forge.(which does not)"

iZotope RX also allows such a plot. It is only an approximation as the peak factor depends on the reconstruction filter. With a perfect SINC filter there is no worst case bound for an infinitely long signal, but it can be over 10 dB for a CD track. (You wouldn't want to listen to such a recording even if it were reproduced "undistorted".)

"I tend to set the recorders to peak around a -10 on the loudest of sounds."

Sounds about right to me. Pink noise at -23 dB RMS (-20 according to the mathematically ignorant AES) peaks about at that level. This signal comes in around 0 VU according to the Nordic scale for digital audio, so there is comparable headroom here as with magnetic tape. The actual values vary a bit depending on the "crest" factor of the signal, which will depend on the musical instruments playing, the frequency response of the microphones and their location and the room acoustics.

I had one live recording where all but one of the peaks were around -15 dBfs that digitally clipped when a wind gust collapsed the performance tent. Sometimes there are worse problems than digital clipping. In this case the recording continued and a few minutes later the music resumed. :-)

Tony Lauck

"Diversity is the law of nature; no two entities in this universe are uniform." - P.R. Sarkar

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Follow Ups Full Thread

Topic - How hard should I strive to get maximum signal? - Phil_in_CA 18:24:04 03/24/12 (21)

Look for the Max Signal Level Prior to Digitizing.................... - Todd Krieger 22:31:40 03/24/12 (1)

RE: Look for the Max Signal Level Prior to Digitizing.................... - Phil_in_CA 09:42:50 03/25/12 (0)

don't record hot in digital - Joe Murphy Jr 21:07:33 03/24/12 (9)

That's what I've heard and read, but ... - Dave Pogue 09:10:51 03/26/12 (5)

RE: That's what I've heard and read, but ... - Tony Lauck 10:52:45 03/26/12 (0)

two possibilities - Joe Murphy Jr 09:47:42 03/26/12 (3)

Thanks, just dragged out the owner's manual. - Dave Pogue 11:21:25 03/26/12 (2)

RE: Thanks, just dragged out the owner's manual. - Tony Lauck 13:05:36 03/26/12 (1)

Thanks again, but ... - Dave Pogue 14:23:52 03/26/12 (0)

RE: don't record hot in digital - Tony Lauck 10:04:35 03/25/12 (2)

RE: don't record hot in digital - tom.dennehy 22:10:39 03/25/12 (1)

RE: don't record hot in digital - Tony Lauck 07:46:43 03/26/12 (0)

Thanks! - Phil_in_CA 19:43:22 03/24/12 (4)

RE: Thanks! - Iron Knee 22:50:27 03/24/12 (3)

RE: Thanks! - Tony Lauck 08:08:28 03/25/12 (2)

RE: Thanks! - Iron Knee 10:21:20 03/25/12 (1)

RE: Thanks! - Tony Lauck 11:01:06 03/25/12 (0)

RE: How hard should I strive to get maximum signal? - Tony Lauck 19:36:23 03/24/12 (2)

RE: How hard should I strive to get maximum signal? - tom.dennehy 04:34:49 03/26/12 (1)

Trust but Verify - Tony Lauck 08:03:16 03/26/12 (0)

Any level above -6 dB uses all the bits ... nt - slider 18:43:08 03/24/12 (0)

Follow Ups

RE: Thanks! - Tony Lauck 11:01:06 03/25/12 (0)

RE: Thanks!

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