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Originally Posted by MASSIVE Master  And I wouldn't argue that -- But I can add it, fake it, fabricate it, etc., etc. -- But I can't take it away if it's already there.
And no doubt, it's used creatively all the time -- Just ask any Marshall amplifier. The approach I'm getting at is that a lot of gear -- especially the "budget friendly" stuff that a lot of people are using, just turns to crap quickly and easily when pushed - while many of them sound quite decent if levels are a little more conservative. "Conservative" meaning "the same signal you'd probably be using if you were hitting tape" - as opposed to the signals that many people think of as "normal" that would cook right through analog tape.
And even then - It might work well on this and that -- I had a preamp that started to break up readily and audibly whenever it went over around 0dBVU. I'd run bass through it, some vocalists, etc. But not everything...
Personally, I wish people didn't consider it "lower" levels... I've always (even back when 16-bit was the only game in Digitalville) thought of it as "normal" levels. The front end is designed to work at a particular level -- It doesn't care whether the recording medium is analog or digital - That level is the same. |
I can't get back the opportunity to distort signals in specific ways once the gain structure has been altered. For instance, let's say I track from a preamp to a compressor to an ADC. I can't post-facto go back out through an attenuator and back through the chain to distort it the way I might like to, because the signal has now been compressed and it will not distort at the same points. And my preamp or compressor might have great output transformers that I'd like to drive.
More importantly, the musician will not be able to interact with the distortion done after the fact. Imagine Hendrix playing a solo with a clean DI sound rather than milking feedback out of a screaming Orange or Plexi. Same goes true with a vocalist driving an LA-2A.
The answer to all of this is to feel free with your levels, and let your ears guide you.
Digital gain/trim is perfect enough you don't have to worry about using it, and it's very easy to get your track levels right across the mix with the input trim on your first plugin or a trim plugin. It's very easy to pull down a master fader on a bus if you're pushing the bus too hot.
The problem isn't so much blind adherence to philosophies of hitting an ADC hot or maintaining nominal levels. We should avoid either of those tarpits with equal vigor. The problem is people are not in a habit of listening carefully enough to what they are doing at each stage, and understanding how each gain stage fits into the picture.