Sony Vegas 13 CALM Act How Do I…?

[Norm Kaiser]

OK, awesome, as usual.

I am understanding you completely now (I think…ha ha).

So the volume control will bring the overall signal down to roughly where it needs to be, the compressor will smooth it out, and the wave hammer will serve as a shield, of sorts, to block ANY random sudden loud noise from breaking the threshold.

The volume control is what I was not comprehending. Your explanation of decreasing the volume decreasing both the volume of the desired signal AND the noise lit the light bulb for me. In a well-recorded sound piece, the desired sound source is “in line” with the noise, thus decreasing the overall volume of everything keeps everything “in line.” I was confusing that notion with the notion of increasing volume on a poorly recorded audio piece where the desired audio is very low.

I’m following you now. Makes perfect sense.

I do have a separate sound card. It’s certainly not a Lamborghini, but it’s not terrible. Can you tell me how I would configure a sound card for broadcast audio levels instead of PC levels the way you did?

And I mix with headphones, not speakers. Speakers would make my wife angry. Ha ha.

Thanks again for all your help. You are invaluable. How the heck did you learn all this? I want to go to the same school. And if you’re a beer drinker, I owe you about a brewery by now.

[John Rofrano]

[Norm Kaiser] “So the volume control will bring the overall signal down to roughly where it needs to be, the compressor will smooth it out, and the wave hammer will serve as a shield, of sorts, to block ANY random sudden loud noise from breaking the threshold.”

Exactly!!! I think you have it.

[Norm Kaiser] “The volume control is what I was not comprehending. Your explanation of decreasing the volume decreasing both the volume of the desired signal AND the noise lit the light bulb for me.”

Yes and it’s important to understand how audio works because unlike video, audio is additive logarithmically. When you double the output, the audio raises only 6dB! Most people find this confusing. So, for example, if you had two audio tracks that were similar volume (let’s say a -20 dB test tone) and you soloed one of them, the VU meters would read -20dB. If you then unmuted the second audio track, the VU meters would read -14dB. Combining both -20dB audio tracks raise the volume +6dB to -14dB. So you must adjust the volume of all of your audio tracks appropriately to get a proper mix that still maintains your target volume. In the previous example you would have to lower each audio track by -6dB to maintain the -20dB output that you previously had.

[Norm Kaiser] “I do have a separate sound card. It’s certainly not a Lamborghini, but it’s not terrible. Can you tell me how I would configure a sound card for broadcast audio levels instead of PC levels the way you did?”

Sure. You need two sets of speakers. If you only have one set, either get a good set for audio work or a cheap set for PC work depending on if your current speakers are already good or cheap.

1. Plug the cheap speakers into your computer’s motherboard speaker ports and configure Windows to use the motherboard audio (this is important). All of the silly Windows beeps will come thorough these speakers. Set the volume to whatever you’d like.
2. Configure only Vegas Pro (or any other video or audio application) to use the separate sound card. You do this in Options | Preference | Audio Device. Vegas Pro works best with ASIO drivers so if your separate sounds card has ASIO drivers make sure that they are installed and select those as the Audio Device in Vegas Pro. Set up any other audio applications to do the same.
3. Finally, calibrate your speakers as explained in my previous post. Since Windows will not be using these speakers for it’s audio it doesn’t matter how loud you make them in order to calibrate correctly.

The trick is having two sounds cards with two sets of speakers, one calibrated for broadcast and the other for PC work.

[Norm Kaiser] “And I mix with headphones, not speakers. Speakers would make my wife angry. Ha ha.”

Then plug the headphones into the separate sound card and turn up up the volume to a comfortable level.

[Norm Kaiser] “Thanks again for all your help.”

You’re very welcome. I’m glad I could pass on some knowledge to someone who wants to learn the craft instead of slapping a plug-in on the output and letting it do it’s thing. (even if the decision as driven by how expensive the plug-in is) LOL

[Norm Kaiser] “You are invaluable.”

Tell it to my wife… she probably will not agree. 😀

[Norm Kaiser] “How the heck did you learn all this? I want to go to the same school.”

I’m a musician so I picked up a lot of this from working in recording studios back in the 70’s. It’s called “The School of Hard Knocks” lol 😉

[Norm Kaiser] “And if you’re a beer drinker, I owe you about a brewery by now.”

I’m particularly fond of Stouts and Brown Ales and always order whatever the local microbrewery has to offer wherever I go. If I haven’t tried it yet then it’s fair game!

~jr

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