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George W. · Posts: 33

Been reading through previous posts and still have a few questions on NR.

Audiophile 2496 PCI Card
Boss BR-534
Sharp SR-60 MD Recorder
Behringer MX 802A Mixer
Cool Edit Pro 2.1
Asst. Mics

I suspect I'll be recording directly to the card soon but I'm also
interested in transfering audio from the minidisc to the PC. The mixer
outs are connected to the card inputs and I've been running the MD
outs into the mixer. With all levels down on the mixer I get a
soundfloor in CEP of about -88 db. With levels up to where I get a
good input to CEP I get about -75 db, not counting the additional
noise from the MD recording itself, mainly recorded noise from the room. This seems about right to me and the card is huge improvement over the cheap cards I'm used to. I know the answer is to find a better recording space but I don't have that option right now.

Using noise reduction in CEP 2.1 works pretty well at the default settings and I really don't notice any loss in audio quality on the acoustic material I've recorded, though I'm sure there is some. My question is when to use it....on individual tracks or after final mixdown? Since it seems logical that it should be applied before adding any effects I'd guess the former would make more sense. I'm recording everything at 32(24)bits.

It doesn't matter what inputs on the mixer I use, mic or line, once
the gain is set the levels are about the same. My question is there
an advantage to using one over the other? I would guess that bypassing
the mixer completely and going direct from MD to card would be best
but the output of the MD is lower than I would like. I can boost this
later in CEP but I'm thinking that would boost any noise as well.

Any thoughts on the best way to do this or links where I might find some answers?

Thanks.[/left]

VoodooRadio · Location: USA Posts: 3971

Of course the proper scenario would entail addressing any noise at the source before pushing record. That said, I would advise on doing any noise reduction necessary to the individual files. Recording everything at 32bit is definitely a GOOD thing as it minimizes the the degredation of your tracks when using things like noise reduction, hiss removal, etc. As for the choice between using the mixer's mic in's or line in's. I personally prefer using the balanced XLR (mic in's) over the line ins. However... if you can't audibly hear a difference in quality, then I don't see what (if any) benefit there is in one over the other. As you've discovered, by-passing the board and going straight to the soundcard usually rendered too low of a input signal, which can increase your noise floor. Some folks (and those without mixers) use stand-alone preamps to increase (and have control) over the level.

A link where you'll find all sorts of answers... www.studiocovers.com

and;

Voodoo First Law of Noise Reduction:
"Noise reduction works best on signals with..... very little noise"!

Fix things at the source and don't try to "fix it in the mix"! Wink

SteveG · Location: United Kingdom Posts: 6695

Since we are talking Sharp portable minidisc, then the one thing that you do want to do is run it with the output level pretty high, because the final stage noise is fixed, and the volume control is before this. So if you have an output level that goes, say, up to 30, then you wouldn't want to be running it at any less than 25 if you want the best signal to noise ratio out of the MD. Normally, this will interface quite well with the line input on a mixer with the gain perhaps advanced a little.

But if you've fixed the Audiophile input to be +4dBu then the MD certainly won't fully drive the card directly. It would do a much better job if the input was set to -10dBV, but since the links are internal on an Audiophile, I believe, this might be a bit of a pain. But it should be okay into a mixer line input at this level - even into a Behringer!

AndyH · Posts: 1425

Just to address a potential confusion, unlike the Mia, the Audiophile input level is fixed. Only on the output can one select between the two levels.