What is the ideal recording level?

P

PaulK

Well-known member
Quick version:

While recording, what level do you want the audio to hover around? Should it go into the red at all? Or do you want to keep it in the black (-12 dB and lower). If the latter, where in the black is ideal, lower third, mid third, or upper third?

Long version:

One thing I just disovered, by virtue of my new cheapo TV monitor (a Toshiba 14AF44, used while editing) is that the recorded volume of my tapes is really low -- I have to max the TV's volume to hear the dialog (this is while I'm editing and piping my image/sound through a firewire cable to my cheapo Canon ZR80, then to my TV). My computer, while in the NLE, seems to play the volume at a comfortable level, so why my TV needs to be cranked, I'm not sure, but I'm wondering if I've been recording at too low a level.

My shooting situation: I've been recording about six feet away from my normal-speaking subjects with my AT 4073a with a -20db attenuator and the camera's audio controls set at the center position (as recommended by the manual), and as I listen through my headphones as I'm shooting the volume sounds perfect, just as if I was hearing things naturally, without headphones, or just a tad louder. The EVF shows the audio level meter staying in the black, approaching -12 dB on occasion, but never going into the red. Does the above sound copasetic? :)
 
Re: What is the ideal recording level?

Anything above 0 db will be distorted, but that leaves a lot of room between -12 and 0 db.  Bad user interface design by Panny on this one because you *want* to be lighting up some red bars when recording.  Each segment represents 2 db, so if your're consistently lighting up 3-4 red bars--your recording level will be at -6 to -4 db--a good strong recording level that leaves some head room for loud transients.  BTW, why is your mic 6 feet from your subjects?  It should really be at 2-3 feet unless you're doing run and gun.
 
Re: What is the ideal recording level?

Thanks Barry. I'll have to try -10 dB on the attenuator and see if that makes it about right.

Regarding the six foot distance, it just happens to be the distance from where my camera is mounted while taping my subject (I wanted the camera and mic a discreet distance away so my subject can feel less on-camera and more relaxed).

So I guess my recordings are too low. If I crank the gain and/or volume in post, will the quality suffer much?

And, while on the subject, which is best for increasing soud in post, gain or volume? My PPro manual gives this confusing info: "You can set gain or volume levels.... Gain generally refers to the input level and volume generally refers to the output level." I find this confusing since they both seem to do the same thing, and since the sound is already recorded, how could gain affect the input?
 
Re: What is the ideal recording level?

Changing the pad to -10 db sounds like a good move--and you can adjust the volume from there. Raising the volume in post will bring up the "noise floor" that includes the self-noise from the mic--and the quality of the recording will definitely suffer. I'm not familiar with PPro, but any method of raising the volume in post is much less preferable than recording at the right level to begin with.
 
Re: What is the ideal recording level?

Clipping is the level at which the signal distorts--in this case 0 db. This is exactly what I've recommended.
 
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