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Audio level/volume settings
While I edit in Sony Vegas, I suppose this question could be asked for any non-linear editing software.
When editing audio, what’s a good volume to set your PC speaker at? I set mine at 75, never 100, and I have a laptop. I don’t usually use headphones (mine are the ones made by Apple for the iPod) unless I want to hear something specific. Obviously though, when I put my headphones on, I hear things more precisely that I couldn’t hear just using the speakers, and things are even louder then when they’re played through the speakers themselves. So should the rule of thumb be to edit with headphones on or off? If I’m to keep the headphones on, should I set my PC volume to 75 still or should I lower it?
As for volume setting in Vegas, my sound friend told me to never adjust the master volume. Let it be set at 0 dB the whole time, and that the audio in your film should typically hit somewhere between -12dB to -20dB. Is this another standard I should follow, especially for film, or should I set the audio to peak at different dB’s? The film I’m currently editing has extensive voice-over usage placed over music, with occasional dialogue synched in with the actor’s performance. While any song can be loud or soft and would needed to be boosted in its own individual track in Vegas accordingly, the same being said for dialogue and voice-over, how would one typically approach editing audio in Sony Vegas so that each track can be heard correctly? Perhaps I’ve already answered my own question when I wrote what my sound friend told me to stick to, and I understand that it may be a no-brainer, but I want to make sure that the audio portion of my film is rendered out correctly so that it can be heard correctly on any format that it’s being played back on.
If any tech spec’s is needed, let me know what you need and I’ll provide you with the information.
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4 Replies
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All laptop sound cards are not good for audio editing, but if you need to use it, headphones would be much better than the speakers.
Here’s an inexpensive USB one.
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/FastTrkUSB2/
Here’s one with a mic, headphones and software.
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/AudioBoxStu/Hope this helps, Danny Hays
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I was taught to look at the audio meter in Vegas when setting volume levels. There is no rule as to how the editing machine’s audio should be set. The most basic rule is to insure that the audio never clips as per the meters. If you play all the way through the audio, the meters will tell you how close it came to clipping, and you can adjust the audio accordingly. I use the master audio level on occasion when I want to boost or lower the audio without rechecking every audio control. I know of no reason why the master audio level control should not be used, nor was I ever told that digital audio levels should be set as low as -12db. That seems absurd. One other technique was to use the compressor to boost sound levels while, again, avoiding any clipping within the audio chain.
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Thank you for the two replies.
The rule of your audio hitting somewhere between -12dB to -20dB is apparently an NTSC broadcast standard, as this is what my friend who went to college for sound engineering told me. Now, being made for broadcast and being made to be screened in a theater (even being made just to be shown online or through a DVD) may or may not be different, and I’m sure it’s up to the sound editor to make that call. If there is any other standard I should know of, and whether or not this one is a legit one in itself, please let me know.
I’ve been editing with my iPod headphones on, PC volume set to 75, and I’ve been monitoring everything in Vegas so that it does hit between -20dB to -12dB. However (again, probably a no-brainer), when I remove my headphones, while no overblaringly loud, the volume overall is softer I noticed that what all of it was before I went in to re-edit them for my film’s final cut. Is this because that my ears were so used to hearing them through the headphones that they need a couple moments to readjust to hear the film in a different style, or should I boost up the volume in all my tracks? Or is there a Track FX Vegas can give me to help me out?
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As far as music, rip a few of your fav cd’s that are equal in volume and check out the waveforms.
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