Hi all, I was just wondering what level people set there master level at. I always have mine at 0. Should i bring it down to leave some headroom? Sometimes my tracks sound a bit distorted could this be the reason?
Many thanks.
Yeah I’ve started having this problem too. Try setting the track vol to less than 64 in amp page then use the track level to mix your levels. Not sure about main level but I just leave it at 0.
That’s similar to what i am doing at the moment but I was wondering if anyone knows hoe the volume parameters relate to Decibels. For instance if the Master volume is set at +0, I presume that this means 0Db. So if you are raising the volume parameter on the amp page then aren’t you raising the output to over 0Db, Something which to my understanding can cause clipping and distortion. Anyone else with opinions/experience with this?
I remember a discussion relating to 0-127 scale & it’s relationship to dB a while back, maybe the old forum? I know when it was first released 0 on the mixer didn’t match 0 on a Thru machine, I requested a change. & they did it on the next OS.
I always run my mixer master at 0 & that’s the magic number for me when I comes to recording buffers! (Inputs just tickling amber). This way recording A/B or C/D or Master gives me consistent levels. Sample settings in the editor are +12dB.
I leave it like this then adjust the gain on my soundcard or mixer or whatever, works for me, never experienced distortion with this btw 
I suggest you to try this:
MAIN out @ 0;
All TrkLev at 127;
Mix the tracks using only VOL in AMP page;
Mix them to a nice sounding mix;
Copy the Part and paste it to another slot;
Select the new Part;
Mix the tracks to a quite distorting mix;
Now raise the MAIN out to +63
Does it distort more or just raise the volume?
Try this MAIN out with the correct mix Part too, for comparison.
Thanks for the suggestions guys. I’ll try these when I get back to my OT.
Have you find the answer?
Is this the case for resampling master or other internal sources? I’ve tried to sample master with default settings (master at 0, recording buffer at +12) and LED next to MIDI button was constantly red. Recorded sample was distorted to death even though obviously there was no clipping of audio, coming out of main outs. Never tried setting recording buffer gain to +0, will try tonight.
I don’t find any problem with the default boost (+12) for sampled audio.
Anyway…coming back to the topic: Master Level is part of the OT’s headroom,
so boosting it can create distortion if the tracks are already “hot”, even not too much.
It is better to leave it at 0 and using a good pair of preamp will make the job done.
Otherwise, leave it at +63 and work within its full-scale headroom
Hey sicijk, correct me if I’m wrong, isn’t AMP VOL pre FX?
AMP vol is pre-fx, so you don’t really want to be mixing with it. If you use P-locks on AMP as well, this will cause issues. Once you change your level, you need to change all your P-locks.
I did some experiments with this a while ago and found the best combination to be the following.
Mixer main output +63 (the level seems quite low coming into my mixer, so it needed a boost)
Mix levels using the Level parameter
Leave AMP on 0 and use it only for P-lock volume stuff or if you need to overdrive the lo-fi distortion effect. Or, you have a very low level sample that needs a boost.
I experimented with a sine wave at 0dbfs and there was no distortion with these settings.
Wow, what mixer was that? OT Main +0 is 0dB (0dB=0dBu) Line Level. Input source MD Master Volume at 12 o’clock. OT Mixer AB - 127 and AB LED’s are just peaking. My mixer is an Onyx-820i. So OT AB/CD need balancing with OT Track Volume. AMP Volume is used for over-driving the FX Input signal chain to taste.
+1
Is this the case for resampling master or other internal sources? I’ve tried to sample master with default settings (master at 0, recording buffer at +12) and LED next to MIDI button was constantly red. Recorded sample was distorted to death even though obviously there was no clipping of audio, coming out of main outs. Never tried setting recording buffer gain to +0, will try tonight.[/quote]
I guess it depends on what your sample ref point is.
I remember on the Akais it was always considered good practice to normalise at -6 or -12dB if you were stacking a lot of samples to save running out of headroom.
I’ve adopted the same principle with the OT. If you playback say 7 samples all normalised at 0dB then record the sum to the 8th track you’re gonna run out of headroom pretty quick.
Also with 0dB normalised sample I find I have to drop Vol to in order for it to sit with anything coming thru the mixer or Thru tracks.
Hope that helps
Wow, what mixer was that? OT Main +0 is 0dB (0dB=0dBu) Line Level. Input source MD Master Volume at 12 o’clock. OT Mixer AB - 127 and AB LED’s are just peaking. My mixer is an Onyx-820i. So OT AB/CD need balancing with OT Track Volume. AMP Volume is used for over-driving the FX Input signal chain to taste. [/quote]
I tend to mix at a lower level on the OT’s. Level settings are often at a bit above half just so I have extra headroom should I need it, without having to adjust AMP.
Is this the case for resampling master or other internal sources? I’ve tried to sample master with default settings (master at 0, recording buffer at +12) and LED next to MIDI button was constantly red. Recorded sample was distorted to death even though obviously there was no clipping of audio, coming out of main outs. Never tried setting recording buffer gain to +0, will try tonight.[/quote]
I guess it depends on what your sample ref point is.
I remember on the Akais it was always considered good practice to normalise at -6 or -12dB if you were stacking a lot of samples to save running out of headroom.
I’ve adopted the same principle with the OT. If you playback say 7 samples all normalised at 0dB then record the sum to the 8th track you’re gonna run out of headroom pretty quick.
Also with 0dB normalised sample I find I have to drop Vol to in order for it to sit with anything coming thru the mixer or Thru tracks.
Hope that helps :-)[/quote]
Ok, I’ve made some research last night and my findings are still a bit different from anything else discussed. First of all, i was not able to replicate that behavior I was talking about here 
So please consider it as a false statement. It seems that OT has a big input headroom when sampling external inputs. I sent sine wave from mono as loud as I could without saturation, AB leds were all red but I was still able to sample it without clipping with default settings. Recorded sample was 3 dB lower than original signal (VOL and Level of flex track at default settings), so setting recorder buffer gain to +15 dB (12+3) gave me the same signal. Then I tried to sample master with the same settings and observed volume drop again. This time gain at +19 worked for me.
My workflow in order to get tight mix has not really changed considering this. I mix in the MnM first, so that when audio comes from it to OT AB/CD leds are slightly touching red, staying orange for the most of the time. Then I just adjust levels in OT to taste and it seems like I still have some headroom left to push the noise floor down when I need this.
Sampling master with +19 gain gives me ability to make smooth transition to sampled loop and prepare some settings before switching to the next pattern. Still can’t figure out how you get the same signal with +12 dB when resampling master Strange machine
Then I tried to sample master with the same settings and observed volume drop again. This time
gain at +19 worked for me.
Could you explain why +19 ?
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