Quote:
Originally Posted by TheArchitect  OMG.....
The S/N ration is the same, at worst, when recording at a hotter level. Certainly a bit a headroom to protect from clipping is desirable but the lower the level you record, the closer you get to the noise floor of your pre's and converter's etc. i.e the S/N ratio is getting worse. This is 101 stuff, wtf? |
Dunno mate, seems pretty basic to me.
If you are adding 10dB gain at your pre just to reach zero and losing 10dB gain at your fader you are increasing the noise within your signal (actually dependant on the ratio) by 10dB more than necessary. The actual amount of noise will depend upon which has a better SNR, pre or channel.
If you are really starting to have problems with your recording mediums noise floor then you should decide if you are happier with additional pre noise or channel noise over Tape/Converter noise.