First of all, 0dBV is meaningless by itself. Is 0 +4 or what?

0dBV CAN BE -12, -16, -18, -20, etc. It is whatever you calibrate your converters to represent 0dBV.

Meters need a reference. What scale is that meter?

Now, it is my
understanding that 0 dbVU is roughly -18 to -20 dbfs

Apples and oranges. dBFS is PPM that means peak, VU means Volume Units, that means relative loudness.

I set the level out of the synth to about zero

dbVu (my VU meter is the PSP Vintage Meter)

The PSP Vintage meter does not work well!!! You really should get analog/mechanical VU meters, as digital cant measure VU well.

sheet wrote: First of all, 0dBV is meaningless by itself. Is 0 +4 or what?

Meters need a reference. What scale is that meter?

Okay, I checked the back of the vu and it is calibrated to -12 dbfs.

The meter reads 0 dbvu (synth signal) but the audio track (cubase) reads - 7.5dbfs

Shouldn't the cubase channel read -12 dbfs?

[quote=sheet]First of all, 0dBV is meaningless by itself. Is 0 +4 or what?
Bear with me...Im a noob. My sound card is set to +4 dBu inputs and outputs (monitors) Are the +4dBu and -10dbv options on my sound card like a pad button on a preamp? i.e. is there another reason for the option other than tailoring the input to suit the signal level (line or mic)

That means nothing. 0dBV can also be calibrated to be +4, +8, -10 in analog world.

Does your keyboard have +4 balanced outs? If not, then you have -10 outputs. The pad on the soundcard could be the reason that you are not seeing -12dbbfs

set the level out of the synth to about zero

dbVu (my VU meter is the PSP Vintage Meter)

My understand is the VU is an average power level.

0 vu is when a 1kHz sinewave creates 1mW across a 600-ohm resistance.

check out what Bob Katz has to say:
(Dead Link Removed)

Food for thought, different software different levels?

I am assuming your using a a VST instrument inside cubase and converting it to audio within cubase itself.

Your best bet would be to post this at the cubase forums, since this is an internal conversion and does not rely on any external a/d at all.

If I were you, I would just find the level you want to hit the DdFS scale at and call it good.

I like -18 myself.

Thanks for the Bob Kats link ... UGRR you are correct and -18dbfs is what Im going to bounce with. So...basically, you want to leave plenty of headroom for plugins and the eventual summing of all tracks to 2 track and if you are recording into the box passing through adc...then -18dbfs is good so as to not overdrive or pinch the signal. It seems most ADCs were made to work optimally at around -18 to -20 dbfs. Again, thanks for helping/be patient with a noob. Now, time to start recording.

pEACe

Lawless