H4N & Trouble with Proper Levels

[RomeoFoxtrot]

So I've done some tests with my H4N and NTG-2 mic.

On the H4N, my levels will be falling around the -12db area and slightly above, but when I drop my audio into Final Cut Pro, it falls short of the -12db range. It always comes out a little less than what I originally record at.

I know that I can punch it up a bit in post, but my question is, where is a good level in Final Cut Pro to shoot for in terms of dialogue? -12 or -6?

Also, when I record with one input on the H4N, and only on the left channel, say, and I change the pan in Final Cut to make it center, the levels drop slightly.

It also drops a bit in levels if I use a mono mix (so 1 input, doubled on the L & R channel) or use a splitter (same signal, 2 inputs, each on the left and right channel).

I get the loudest levels if I just record with 1 input on the left channel.

How come all this is so?

 

[Steve House]

While I'm not a FCP user so I can't say for sure, it sounds like you're seeing an example of the preferred 'constant loudness' panning behaviour of a mixer. When taking a mono signal from hard left going to the left speaker only, through centre where it's sent equally to left and right, and then over to hard right, the signal is coming first from one speaker, then a blend of two, then finally one again. If the total level didn't drop as the pan approached centre, the overall level of the sound coming from the speakers would be louder when the signal is coming from both channels than it would be when coming from just one. So to prevent this, the level will drop as the pan approaches the centre. If I feed tone at some level X to an input channel on my Mackie board with it panned hard left, the output meters show it's at level X on the left and zero on the right. As I pan it across to the centre, the left channel meter drops as the right channel meter comes up, with both of them reading equal at about x-6 dB when it's in the centre. Then as I keep going to the right with the pan, the right channel rises to reach X and left drops to zero when the pan reaches hard right. The behaviour keeps the audible loudness constant through the pan.

The drop when you use a splitter as you make the original recording is due to the mono mic signal being divided in two by the splitter, each channel getting half of the total power output from the mic. Halving the power reduces the signal strength by 3dB. It the mic delivers X and you divide it in two with a passive splitter, the left and right channels each will see x-3 dB.