Stereo Tool

Hi,

Just wondering what the ideal input level is? I'm currently feeding -12dBFS, is this about right?

Many thanks.

It is ok, just make sure there is enough range in agc, by adjusting pre-amp.

-12 dB is pretty low, this will affect both the AGC (including gating!) and the noise gate. If possible (with the stand alone version it is possible), adjust the Input Gain (found under input sound card settings) so the peaks get close to 0 dB. (It doesn't matter if they occasionally overshoot; the audio is not clipped. For music, try to get the value at or a bit below 0 dB (I suppose there is a reason to feed the audio at -12 dB, as I said overshoots are no problem).

Note: If you made your own preset it's probably fine. But most built-in presets assume louder input than -12 dB.

I turned up the sound card screen's Low Level Input Correction to get some AGC action, and although I can't hear distortion, the input waveform box looks very overdriven! Is this OK? Also, I see under "Processing" that the pre-amplifier affects the input to the multiband section (I have to run that fairly low, around -6 dB) but the post amplifier does nothing. Is this normal?

_________________
We improve things by making them worse.

question is what is your input level without using gain. every bar is about 1dB and there is blocks of 6 bars.

I'm referring to the input and output waveforms at the bottom of the screen. The AGC box, with three columns, shows anywhere from 1-6 dB of action.

Thanks for explaining the display!

Also, the declipper is working really hard now. The declipper box is solid red, so it is being hit pretty hard.

I must be doing something wrong here...

The input is O dB at absolute maximum.

_________________
We improve things by making them worse.

If it's 0dB then you dont need "gain". just rise pre-amp. Load some preset with enough range in agc. I think mine "R*type" has enough and proper range in agc and mb.. so you can start from there. also i recommend that you lower input a bit, around -6dB. But do not use gain, you have enough input already. That gain function is for inputs lower then -12 or -18 dB.

Interesting. Where I thought I was modifying your B-Town, I was in fact modifying D.R.Z.'s Big Six, which has NO AGC action! I like your B-Town better than the R-Type. Seems to sound better on Modern Rock.

Back to the tweaking drawing board... I am enjoying this and thank you very much for your assistance!

_________________
We improve things by making them worse.

This is good thread to read.

HVZ says, Is that under Configuration, Soundcards, Input, Low input level correction? I adjusted this slider a little to the right, it increased the two green level bars at bottom left of Stereo Tool screen and I notice the tops of the level bars sometimes turn from green to white. What does that signify?

Is the 0db mark at very middle position of green level bars?

Sidenote - I didn't even know all these fascinating meters existed along bottom portion until I happened to maximize the Stereo Tool window (logging in remotely to ST via Remote Desktop Connection is why).

packzap: 0 dB is the top of the bar. So, adjust the input gain such that loud songs peak to the top. Going over it doesn't cause distortion; if you feed your audio at - say - -24 dB to have headroom for errors, that's no problem (no clipping will occur).

Brighter color in the input bar = the gained audio level. As long as the dark color doesn't exceed 0 dB there's no clipping - also the bar will turn red when that happens.