I just picked up a 2'' Ampex mm1100 and am curious if I'm recording music (after aligning the maching) at 0 vu and I've set the machine up for +6 at 0 vu (if that makes sense), should the playback be the same level or lower? When I play back the music from the machine, the vu meters seem a lot lower (maybe it's -6 vu lower) and the audio coming out is a lot lower. Any advice?

I'm curious to know what level most people master videos at? When mastering (which I don't claI'm to be very good at) I never know what meters to choose. I have the Waves Platinum bundle and I'm always wondering what I should be looking at. RMS, Peak, Fast, Slow, Moderate, A, B, C -weighted? I know everyone says "just use your ears" but I'd love to know what everyone else does. Thanks!

I am boosting the RMS on my tracks recorded last fall. I put them into soundforge 8 and they were around -22. I boosted them to -12 and that seemed fine. If current CDs are around -6 I don't care cause I'm not gonna squash the life out of these songs. Just wondering what a normal RMS ussually is for rock.

Justin

Just wondering... has anyone heard of charging money for periodically setting the levels on a mixer for live performance? I've become aware that since our church bought a Mackie 1402Vlz Pro mixer for the choir, they periodically pay someone to come in and set the levels. Not sure how much they get charged, but I think it's probably a fair bit. The reason I'm asking is twofold:

Everyone,

Thanks again for the continued support. I continue my quest [I won't get into it, email me if you are curious ptfiggMac.com].

Hello, it's the newbie again. I've seen it mentioned here and have searched on google for an article or definition but am still non the wiser. What is RMS Level and why should I be worried about it? Is it the overall level of the track?

I'm currently mastering a CD for my band and I have a possibly stupid question. Should the final mix going onto CD be at 0db or -3db? I've heard conflicting facts about this so i'm not sure.

Any advice is greatly appreciated

I record into a Emu 1212m using Cubase SX.

TRACKING QUESTION: Should the input channel be set to 0db?

should I push the preamp level up untill I'm almost redlining the input channel or is that to much?

Mixing QUESTION: how hot should the signal be on the output meter?

thanks in advance,
Mark

What volume or level should my mixes be at, before I send them to be mastered? Should the mix reach a certain level or should the mastering engineer worry about compensating for the low or even high level.

Dear friends,
Forgive my english
How much/how hi (level) exactly when we record materials in to Pro Tools HD3 with 192 I/O.
I used to record a track as hot as posiible, but when it come to mixdown and inserted an analog gear (ie analog compressor :dbx160A,Focusrite blue etc) to that track, the level seems too hot, and clipped.
Please need advice..