Signal levels

[charlysparks]

Hey Fade ,or anyone else..
When your recording in real producer, is it safe to push the signal peaks into the red ?
i aint got no compressor so it's just short spikes.
I oughta experiment , but i know you all bin doin' this a long time and you give good advice.
My files come out a little quiet.
Charly...

 

[Njoy]

Try playing with the levels on your computer's mixer. I usually keep mine at the 2nd level down or so. Going into the red with realproducer will most likely distort it.

 

[Fade]

I generally do the same thing, lower the volume slider on my computer's mixer. And I keep RealProducer's level to just below the red. Well, the red is okay, just not the red at the very top, that's too distorted. But the key is your PC mixer, control that volume.

 

[charlysparks]

Hmm.... i'll have a little experiment an' see how far it can go.
It's always worth asking as these things can vary, but i guess some compression would smooth it out and make an amount of difference.
Listening to other peoples posted beats, i just notice that sound levels vary.

charly......

 

[Fade]

Well one option of recording your beats into RealProducer is by using the "What U Hear" volume of your PC mixer. I don't know if you have it on yours or not, but it's really cool.

By selecting "What U Hear", when you go to record in RealProducer, choose "Record From Media Device". Once you hit record in RealProducer, it will record whatever sound is passing through your soundcard. The advantage of this, is that you can manually play your tracks from Cubase, Cakewalk, FruityLoops - whatever, and they will be recorded straight into RealProducer.

I tried this once and the audio signal was very loud and clear, but not distorted. Since upgrading to Windows XP, the PC mixer no longer has "What U Hear" so I can't do it anymore.