Soundtrack Pro Question

Audio

Soundtrack Pro Question

Posted by David C jones on April 24, 2008 at 4:19 pm

I posted on another forum but haven’t gotten a response so, I thought I’d try here :o)

I am going to be recording a “book on tape” next week using Soundtrack Pro, and I have a couple of questions: I’m running the mic into my mixer, then directly into a MAC (Soundtrack Pro). First, I notice there are no numbers on any meters so, I’m not sure what the levels actually are; is this normal? I’m running a 1k tone from my mixer (set at 0db VU) and believe the input level on Soundtrack Pro should be set to -20db; is this correct? Also, when I record it that way, it plays back with a -4db difference. I am a professional sound recordist, but this is an area (audio software programs) I’m, unfortunately, not well versed in yet; I’m sure there are more appropriate software programs out there but, as they say, these are the cards I’ve been delt.

Thanks in advance!

Ty Ford replied 18 years ago 2 Members · 3 Replies
3 Replies

Ty Ford
April 24, 2008 at 10:24 pm

Hello David and welcome to the Cow Audio Forum,

Thanks for the slow pitch. I’ve been irked for sometime with Soundtrack Pro. To the extent that I applied for a job at Apple to come in and help them re-do the GUI so it could be (a lot) more useful.

(Please forward this to Apple if you are reading this. I have yet to hear from them regarding my proposal. I don’t want a full-time job there, just pay me a straight contract to help make SoundTrack pro work better.)

Metering functions are sparse. My only practical advice to you would be to experiment with your spoken word to see when the audio clips, then back off.

Regards,

Ty Ford

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David C jones
April 25, 2008 at 3:18 am

Hi Ty,

Thanks for the response. I actually thought it was just me…lol. I still haven’t gotten an answer on the Apple Soundtrack forum which maybe because, unfortunately, there IS no answer. We did do several tests yesterday, and, as far as I can tell, have it working correctly. Call me “old fashion” but I’ll take a stand-alone recorder over a computer “software” program any day!
Ty Ford
April 25, 2008 at 12:34 pm

David,

To be totally fair to Apple, Pro Tools LE doesn’t show calibrated input levels.

I’m just ranking on them because the Soundtrack GUI cold easily be much more friendly to audio pros. You’d think they’d want that. I guess not.

Regards,

Ty Ford

Want better production audio?: Ty Ford’s Audio Bootcamp Field Guide
Watch Ty play guitar

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