High noise floor on samples

Im sure this is simple but i cant figure this out, sampling anything into A-B with plenty of volume so the led’s are blinking almost yellow you would think the octatrack would record it as it is but anytime i playback samples it just has an annoying hiss / white noise added in that wasn’t there before.
any idea what im doing wrong here?
I can sort of filter it out but i feel like i should not be having to filter samples from synths that sound great already.

There could be lots of reasons, many of which you have probably already ruled out so these are just some ideas:

I would double check that the recording buffer is recording only from input A-B.

Test the same recording with input CD. Also try again in a new project.

I reckon you can push the recording level input up to just about red.

Double check the incoming audio via monitor is OK.

When you listen to the playback, mute any incoming audio signals in the mixer page.

Clear all effects/filter settings etc on the playback track.

Maybe the weirdest behaviour of the OT is that it alway seems to want to automatically boost recorder buffer playback by +12db. Check the audio editor- attributes page of the relevant recorder buffer.

I hope one of these ideas helps.

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That’s bit low as far as my experience goes. I suggest uploading an offending sample to your computer and open it in a audio editor to examine the waveform. It’s amplitude might be on the low side

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I’ll add to the list of things to check the possibility of AB input gain raised to high in the mixer? If so I’d set it to 0 and raise volume at source. Also I’d test with scenes deactivated.

If the audio coming from the mixer is at a correct level and the 0dB Vu is @ +4dBu (line level) a setting of 100 in the mixer gives best results. (I’m a sound engineer so checking the gain structure was the very 1st thing I did when I added the OT to my rig)

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I’m not sure I’m following you. Are you disputing what I said or adding to it?
I was just talking about not raising the “gain” parameter and leaving it at 0 but didn’t really mention anything about the “dir” setting…

I came up with “Unity Gain” settings… This is copied/pasted from another thread:

(Begin)
First the external source needs to be set at a healthy level, which makes the LEDs go orange and possibly flash red here and there, definitely above green.

A trick I found is to use the noise gate which gives you a db reading, and crank it up until your signal disappears, this will tell you what the OT thinks the input level is, hitting at -20db to -12db seems good to get a healthy signal and still have headroom for OT to sum.
You can also open the audio editor while recording and watch the waveform, changing your source volume until the waveform is around 70 to 90% of the available height in the display…

Since one might often be monitoring a source elsewhere and reroute to OT for sampling, the following settings will ensure the same volume is heard when switching from the other monitoring to monitoring through the OT:

For all:
Master volume: 19
If using a master track: track level 127

Mixer direct monitoring: dir 127
Flex playback of buffer: track level 127
PU: track level 127, monitoring level on rec pg2: 127
Thru: track level 127, amp vol +49
Any values not listed: default (this includes mixer gain settings at 0)

I’m sure there’s other ways to go but this setup works great for mixing and matching monitoring of external gear for sampling/looping/fx processing and maintaining constant volume… :monkey_face:

A detail I’d like to add that I always use 24 bit for both flex and recording…

Currently I’m adjusting my setup to also maintain volume while directly cueing the inputs. When you cue an input pair it uses a set value equivalent to mixer dir 100, so I will be making adjustments…

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Adding to it.

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Yeah sorry, the different parameter confused me… :slight_smile:

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So i fixed it, it was just my gains being low in the mixer. i had to go into a new project to confirm. on this project the way i had the compressor with the thru inputs it was sounding good having the gains low and not distorting but didn’t work at all for recording samples from my modular.

I have been keeping the gains way down because even through my track volumes on my analog four will only be on say 16, even if my octatrack A/B gain is at 0 it seems to be to hot, which is another issue, sound will be clipping even if my mixer and octatrack led in isn’t even peaking in the red so my work around was to lower the gains and use the compressor.

thanks for all the advice though this at least gets me back on the road with samples.

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There’s a lot of ways to go but I recommend keeping the OT input gain at zero and lowering the A4’s master volume instead, I believe you’ll get a clearer signal that way. As you can see below your A4’s output is rated much higher than your OT’s inputs, I’ve deduced your on OT MKI because you mentioned led’s.

OT MKI inputs: +8dBu
OT MKII inputs: +17dBu

A4MKI/MKII outputs: +19dBu

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Ok the fact they spit out different levels makes a lot of since! Going into a new project now so i can take advantage of all these tips!

thank you for the input

OTmkII has input level monitor leds too.

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Oh I see! I hadn’t noticed that and just assumed the meters used the new backlit buttons…
Makes sense now that I think about it…

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What master volume does he refer to? The volume that is in the mixer menu?

Yep…

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:wink:

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