What is digital zero?
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Posted on Aug 08, 2003 01:26 pm
murray the k
Member Since: May 23, 2003
I've been using my pc and Cubase SX with some great results, but what exactly is digital zero? I read somewhere that the primary instruments like bass and drums should not exceed -3 on the meters, but when I set it up like this the recordings seem quiet. I usually push them until they hit the red lights just slightly, but the overall master meter is way inthe red zone by this point. How can I ensure I'm not overloading and peaking out at digital zero. I also first send everything thru my Tascam mixer. Is is o.k to go past zero on its meters?
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Aug 08, 2003 01:28 pm Cubase should let you know when any track goes over digital zero, which is the highest level you can go without clipping. Apps usually have a red light that flashes or something like that when you have clipped.
Digital can also clip at the mix too, just because all you instrument don't clip individually does NOT mean that they won't clip together at the main bus.
When it comes to clipping and gain staging digital has a far lower threshold of forgiveness than analog does.
Aug 08, 2003 05:17 pm in order to understand digital zero, you have to understand how binary data is stored and it's limitations. in digital audio we encode the representation of a sound wave as "bits" which are individual little on/off switches, whether they are dots burned onto a disc, little magnetic bits of metal aligned in different directions or tiny transistor gates held open or closed, these bits form the basis of logic in a computer. Every sample of CD quality audio has 16 bits, or 16 little on/off switches that record the amplitude of the waveform at that particualr point in time, no more, no less. While this offers more than 32,000 possible combinations, you can imagine how once you reach the point where all 16 are on OR where all 16 are off, you cannot go any louder. This limitation to 16bit digital audio affords us 96 decibels of headroom to work with, which in most situations is plenty. -96dB is silence, while 0dB is the maximum. You cannot get any louder than 0dB because the value will get truncated to zero anyways. The ideal recording uses as much of those 16 bits as possible without trying to push it beyond, because anything going past gets chopped off, or "clipped" as it is called. this generally sounds terrible and undesirable.
if your tracks and mixes are clipping then you need to reduce you gains a little either while recording or while mixing.
if your tracks and mixes still sound too quiet then you may need to compress/limit their peaks or try some saturization or maximization effects to increase the RMS. RMS (root mean square) is the actual energy content and therefor psychoacoustically perceived volume, as opposed to peak which is simply the actual acoustic volume.
any corrections welcome
hope that helps. :O) -j
Aug 09, 2003 01:33 pm what is 'the actual energy content?' how is that different from 'actual acoustic volume?'
murray, one thing i read/learned about cubase is this: the individual track meters are allowed to go up into the red if you want them to--this in itself doesn't cause clipping. but call up the master fader and make sure it is not in the red. all clipping comes from there. so you could theoretically have some of your individual tracks in the red, and then turn down the main fader until it's in the yellow but still as maxed out as can be.
does anyone think this a dumb thing to do? it seems to give me more 'apparent volume' to work with. i can make the guitars far louder than anything else, if i choose.
i still don't know what a 'bus' is. i think it's another word for an 'output' where a lot of separate signals are combined into one. is that right?
Aug 09, 2003 06:55 pm Quote:
i still don't know what a 'bus' is. i think it's another word for an 'output' where a lot of separate signals are combined into one. is that right?
In short, yes.
Aug 10, 2003 11:23 pm Quote:
what is 'the actual energy content?' how is that different from 'actual acoustic volume?'
did you ever notice how a bass waveform has a greater amplitude compared to a highpitched waveform of seemingly the same loudness? this is because it takes more energy to change directions more often, and your ear hears loudness based on RMS not peak.
think of it this way: a fish is swimming in the water, it wiggles it's tail to swim. how fast it wiggles it's tail is the frequency and how wide of a sweep it makes is the amplitude. now, the fish can swim faster by either wiggling it's tail faster, or by making wider strokes. as a comparison, it can slowly make big wide strokes and still be moving just as fast as if it were making very fast little strokes because the total energy output is the same, however the fish will consume the greatest calories (watts) and move the most water (like a speaker moving air) if it is both making large strokes and at a high frequency. The amplitude would be the same as if it were making the same wide strokes but at a slower frequency, but the total energy transfer has increased. make sense?
Aug 11, 2003 10:24 am ever try magnito or truetape(steinberg)theses will make your signal louder while not significantly raising peak meters (limiting)
Aug 11, 2003 10:25 am Another great one is a new plugin that Cakewalk just released called Vintage Warmer. It's a lot like Magneto, but it give you a lot more control.
