Chris Conlee
Forum Replies Created
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Okay, this is getting posted later than expected, because a co-worker found a bug today while using this and it took me a while to hunt it down and squash it. If you find more, please don’t hesitate to contact me. I’m not a professional coder, but I’ll do the best I can to fix issues.
I’ve also created a new documentation and download page on my site, to help explain how to use the dang thing.
Here it is: https://www.chrisconlee.com/Loc2VFX.htm
Enjoy!
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Thanks for the notice on your blog, Michael. Much appreciated. A new version is going up, probably tonight if I’m not too late at work. By the way, just for the heck of it, here’s what it looks like:
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[Alex Vargas] “MY DOUBT: In theory, connecting the 6 balanced channel outputs from the Steinberg UR28M into the Z906 three 3.5mm jacks for 6-channel direct analog sound should do it.
Can anyone verify this?”This will work, but you’ll have to make a custom cable. The outputs from the UR28M are all 1/4″ mono outputs and the inputs at the back of the Z906 are stereo 1/8″. I did something similar with an earlier version of Logitech’s surround system years ago.
Basically, you have to cut one end off each 1/8″ cable and make a Y-adapter to go to 2 mono 1/4″ plugs and then figure out what goes where. A good project for a couple hours.
And Pete’s instructions are bang on, for how to configure your UR28M when it arrives. He’s absolutely correct: the manual is worthless for anybody who wants to use the device in a surround situation.
Chris Conlee
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[Craig Alan] “So bottom line: is there anything wrong with the practice of recording as high as possible without clipping as opposed to recording safely lower levels and boosting in post when needed. My own practice is to aim for -12 on our HPX250s (+4ish on our SD 302s).”
I don’t think there is anything “wrong” with getting the meatiest signal you can possibly get. I think the camp which advocates on the conservative side does so only with protection in mind. I can’t think of a reason why low levels would be “better” than higher levels. Particularly since you’re recording at 16 bit, I would say the higher the level (without clipping) the better. You have much more latitude with 24 bit audio, in this regard.
Chris Conlee
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In practice you always want to get the best signal to noise ratio you can. Get the microphone as close to the subject as humanly possible, and try to keep it pointed at the speaker’s mouth at all times. Eliminate all background noises that you can, such as refrigerators, etc. Then, if recording in 24bit, I think you can safely shoot for the low-yellow on your meter, which will probably be something like -20dB ish. You actually have a lot of headroom at 24 bit to adjust gain. The quality of your recording and the signal to noise ratio are your two biggest concerns, in my opinion.
Also, depending on your recording gear, you could also add some protection by recording thru a limiter. But be careful with that, as some limiters can add funky noise and/or artifacts to your recording. I’ve especially noticed noisy recordings from H4 recorders when the limiter is engaged.
Chris Conlee
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[Craig Alan] “If you were in a sound proof room and recorded any sound that registered at the lowest possible point on an audio meter, if there was no competing sounds at all (including camera noise), are you saying in theory, that if you then boosted that sound in post the result would be perfectly acceptable?”
Yes and no. 😉
As usual there are other questions that need to be answered first. Primarily what bit depth is your recording? If the recording was low and you boost it, what you are technically doing in the digital domain is throwing away bits at the top and padding with zeros at the bottom. When recording in 24 bits, you have a theoretical 144 dB of dynamic range, vs ~96 dB of dynamic range for 16 bits.
Basically for every 6dB of gain applied, you’ve just lopped off a bit from your recording and reduced your dynamic range. In the theoretical world of which you speak, you could basically apply 48dB of gain to your 24bit recording and essentially leave yourself with the equivalent of a 16bit version.
However, we don’t live in a perfect world and there is always noise present, no matter what. Even the electronics themselves present low-level noise, so any gain raises this noise too.
I think the answer to the OP’s question is: apply the needed gain to the “quiet” recording and see if it sounds better than the “louder” recording. If it sounds better, then it IS better.
Chris Conlee
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[Marcus Moore] “Indeed- but being able to buy it this year would probably figure nicely against business expenses.”
^^^ This is true.
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[Mark Dobson] “And as I used to say to my children many years ago when they were 3 years old and throwing tantrums over not being able to get what they wanted even though they really, really, really wanted it, ‘You will just have to patient and wait a little longer and its not because we don’t love you it’s just simply that you can’t always get what you want when you want it !'”
I guess that’s a classier take on my old man’s favorite saying when I was a kid: “Want in one hand and crap in the other…see which one gets full faster.”
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The machine is expensive enough and geared toward professionals, so I honestly don’t think it’s going be influenced by the consumer nature of “the holiday buying season.” Apple might actually be better served by just waiting until the holiday rush is over.
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If you’ve got AE, then you can upgrade your copy of Mocha AE bundled to Mocha Pro this weekend (at least in the U.S.) for a very reasonable cost. The Mocha tracker is exceptional, and the remove feature in Pro is awesome.
Chris Conlee
