Digital audio vs analog audio output for broadcast

[John Rofrano]

> What would “-20db digital” be on Vegas’meter?

It would be… -20dB because the Vegas meters are digital.

If the quiet parts in your program are too low at that level, one thing you can do is put Wave Hammer Surround on the final output and set the Output Level on the Volume Maximizer tab to -20dB to ensure that you don’t go over. Then you can play with the Threshold to make it sound louder and still maintain the -20 dB level.

~jr

http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com

[Jordan Brulotte]

That is what I thought, however when the project got to the broadcaster they told me the levels were way too low, and that I went -20dB analog and not -20dB digital.

[Douglas Spotted eagle]

They would be right, most likely.
Tones should be -20dBfs, which may or may not match their meters, depending on which standard at which they are calibrated.
Be sure there is not more than 12dB of dynamic range overall (assuming this is dialog priority)
If you’ve set your max volume at -20dBfs, I sure hope your source masters are hotter than that! Otherwise, when you boost it to a -6/=3dBfs peak then your S/N will be pretty poor.

Douglas Spotted Eagle
VASST

Certified Sony Vegas Trainer
Aerial Camera/Instructor

[Jordan Brulotte]

In the past others have requested that my tones reflect the peak signal, therefore I set my peaks to -20dB… I knew right away would be very low but I figured that’s what they asked for. I guess there was a miscommunication when I asked for their specs and got the sole response of “-20dB Digital audio”. They must have meant JUST the tones.

As a rule of thumb, what is the proper peak and mean levels in dBfs for broadcast submission in North America?

Thanks for the help!