Test tone bounce for Calibration???

Adagio12 · 25th June 2008, 07:33 AM

Hi Folks

Would routing a test tone from the signal generator in Protools to the input of my A/D be sufficent to calibrate it?

Or should i get real and buy a hardware signal generator???

And if so any advice on a good reasonably priced device would be fantastic

Thanks

Companda · 25th June 2008, 08:50 AM

1k is 1k. Generally.

gurubuzz · 25th June 2008, 01:19 PM

in the digital domain a Square wave is squarer than an analog signal generator.
But your converters will always distort it somewhat no matter how much you pay.

And yeah the Idea is to get -10db or 0 or whatever to come back in the same, is it not?

or are you interested in making your input really accurate scientifically so when you read -10 on your protools meters it's really 100% -10db ?

espasonico · 25th June 2008, 01:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Adagio12

Hi Folks

Would routing a test tone from the signal generator in Protools to the input of my A/D be sufficent to calibrate it?

Or should i get real and buy a hardware signal generator???

And if so any advice on a good reasonably priced device would be fantastic

Thanks

First you will need to calibrate the output of the DA ! because if you send a sine 1k at -10dbfs but the converter isn´t properly calibrated you will find youself sending something to somewhere.

Adagio12 · 26th June 2008, 09:21 AM

Ahhhhhhh very Good!

So i'm thinking a hardware device is a sure bet to know where I'm really at all round.

Basically i want to reduce the headroom on an AD-16x for mastering purposes.

Anyone have any advice on reasonably priced Harware Signal Generators?

Nothing fancy.......I just need tones with dB level control...

espasonico · 26th June 2008, 12:22 PM

If you just want to reduce the headroom by increasing some dbs I think you can use the method you where thinking at first. Just send a tone using the PT signal generator and if sending a sine 1k -18dbfs it reads -18.1dbfs and you want 2 more db just leave it at -16.1dbfs ( it will be the same you were using but 2 dbfs higher )

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25th June 2008, 07:33 AM	#1
Adagio12 Gear interested Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: New Zealand Posts: 25	Test tone bounce for Calibration??? Hi Folks Would routing a test tone from the signal generator in Protools to the input of my A/D be sufficent to calibrate it? Or should i get real and buy a hardware signal generator??? And if so any advice on a good reasonably priced device would be fantastic Thanks

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25th June 2008, 08:50 AM	#2
Companda Gear nut Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 118	1k is 1k. Generally.

25th June 2008, 01:19 PM	#3
gurubuzz Lives for gear Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Melbourne, Australia Posts: 621	in the digital domain a Square wave is squarer than an analog signal generator. But your converters will always distort it somewhat no matter how much you pay. And yeah the Idea is to get -10db or 0 or whatever to come back in the same, is it not? or are you interested in making your input really accurate scientifically so when you read -10 on your protools meters it's really 100% -10db ?

26th June 2008, 09:21 AM	#5
Adagio12 Gear interested Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: New Zealand Posts: 25	Ahhhhhhh very Good! So i'm thinking a hardware device is a sure bet to know where I'm really at all round. Basically i want to reduce the headroom on an AD-16x for mastering purposes. Anyone have any advice on reasonably priced Harware Signal Generators? Nothing fancy.......I just need tones with dB level control...

26th June 2008, 12:22 PM	#6
espasonico Lives for gear Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 518	If you just want to reduce the headroom by increasing some dbs I think you can use the method you where thinking at first. Just send a tone using the PT signal generator and if sending a sine 1k -18dbfs it reads -18.1dbfs and you want 2 more db just leave it at -16.1dbfs ( it will be the same you were using but 2 dbfs higher )