Jun 19, 2003 04:51 am +4dB is describing an analog line
no CD-audio has levels above 0dB. that's as loud as you can get.
so is this thing like a rackmount studio job, or just a computer CD-R drive?
standalone CD recorder..."pro-sumer"?
Posted on Jun 19, 2003 04:40 am
soun'bwoy
Member Since: May 29, 2003
So I got a Phillips CD recorder SUPER cheap, and the record level only goes up to 0dB. Should I assume that this is accurate...that it is only capable of recording signals at that level and, thereby, incapable of "pro" levels (which I believe are +4dB)?
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Jun 19, 2003 04:51 am +4dB is describing an analog line
no CD-audio has levels above 0dB. that's as loud as you can get.
so is this thing like a rackmount studio job, or just a computer CD-R drive?
Jun 19, 2003 05:07 am So, then is there a corresponding conversion from dB to bit or sample rate?
It isn't a CD burner...it's not technically a rackmount (it has feet), but you could put it on a rack shelf.
I primarily got it for recording DJ mixes. The only problem is that it didn't have the remote with it, and there is no way to put in flags on the front of it, so I would still have to put it into an editing program for that, or find a remote. I'm not actually recording any audio into my computer right now (waiting to get some good preamps), so it's kind of a stop-gap measure. I've also tried running my tape deck through my MD 4track out to the CD recorder, eq'ing it (mainly rolling off most of the high-end) and recording some of my old tapes and it seems to do pretty well. Good for stuff you can't find on CD or stuff you like, but not enough to buy again on CD.
Jun 19, 2003 05:54 am dB (decibels, after Alexander Graham Bell and decimal) is a way of measuring sound pressure levels, sometimes referred to as SPL.
in an analog signal the cable carries a varying voltage with is analogous to SPL. that means the voltage fluxuates exactly the way the sound fluxuates.
when we go digital the voltage becomes a simple binary message. the voltage represents simple 0 and 1 messages, these are bits. depending on which bits are on and off (0/1, true/false, however you want to look at it) the message represents certain degrees of SPL. for instance in 16bit audio, mean that every sample is 16 bits long, there are 65,536 different combinations of bits, which the computer will interpret as a dynamic range from -96dB, which is silence, to 0dB which is the loudest peak possible in this system.
so to answer your question, yes computers can directly convert from analog to digital and back again. every soundcard has this capability
one thing you realize about your consumer grade burner though... it has low level RCA inputs so if you send a hot +4dB signal to it, it will clip and cause digital distortion because it will run out of bits to store such high peaks.
Jun 19, 2003 08:49 am soundforge 6 has a cd capture function allowing you to put the cd in your pc and grab the content digitally, so no resampling. you can then track mark etc for your cd.
btw bwoy, we do a club night in the north of england, what stuff do you play?
Jun 19, 2003 08:51 am Ah, but now Sony owns Sound Forge so I am pretty sure they will rip out any cool music extraction feature that is currently in it, ya know that stuff scares the hell out of Sony :-)
I am predicting a fairwell to mp3 encoding, CD ripping and all that stuff.
Jun 19, 2003 09:28 am oh god yes, i do know about $ony, good kit, bad vibe an all that!
i got a copy before the buy out, so na-na-na to $ony!!!
Jun 19, 2003 09:29 am I did however make a nice little profit from investing in Sonic Foundry (NASDAQ: SOFO) when the buyout was announced, and I don't use Sound Forge myself, so it's all good to me :-)
Jun 20, 2003 05:13 am Pixel (and anyone else who cares),
I mix a lot of stuff, mostly drum and bass and electro (not "electroclash", thank you.)
Also some breakbeat and 80s electro-funk.
I'm actually working on some electro and drum and bass tracks.
I only started DJing a couple years ago in Chicago as my collection of D&B (stuff I knew would probably never come out on CD) and electro-funk (the stuff I used to listen to as a kid and started finding super cheap) 12"s started growing.
All of my friends had decks, so it was a "Hey, we're having a party, bring some records" type thing. So, I'm still working on getting my own DJ kit together at the moment. It's kinda funny...now I'm ordering most of my music from the U.K., so I'm thinking I should just move there eventually. Plus, even though drum and bass is growing in the states, it's never going to be like there (and I prefer the more junglistic thing where most over here only like techstep)...although that could be an advantage for me here, I suppose.
I also had a three-piece live PA project in Chicago, where I mostly did monosynth (basslines, mostly), drum programming, and sometimes some live dub. The website is still up at:
www.foundobjects.tv
There are some mp3s and if you click on "found" at the bottom toolbar, you get a little interview that tells you a bit more about what we did/do(?)
I'll add your email to my address book and let you know when I get my new website and some tracks up.
If you're bored, you can also peep me out at:
www.livejournal.com/~wilhelm808/
P.S. I hope I haven't alienated everyone else.
BTW,I do realize that I can't put a +4 signal in to the CD recorder, but I don't plan on using it for very much anyway...like I said, a stop-gap measure.
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