Mic Recording Levels Thru Chain?

[Danner]

I am doing this: Guitar > AT4021 > Audio Buddy preamp > Presonus Inspire > Logic Express on iMac.

Noob question.

Am I correct to run the Audio Buddy output up toward line level (without clipping) and then start with everything else after that at 0dB?

Thanks.

[Danner]

Somebody better answer this!

[rufus13]

Electrically, the best signal-to-noise ratio happens when you get your transducer signal to nominal immediately and only attenuate it from there.

What is nominal? Check the manuals that come with the units, or get some test equipment and discover what happens at what levels.

Lowest noise setting may not be "best sounding".

You can adjust the level by changing the distance of the microphone from the source or using a microphone with a different sensitivity. Over-simplified & ymmv.

Cheers.

[Danner]

Thanks, I was kidding about the exploding head-fire.

I kind or wish I had a preamp that had an accurate VU, so I could run the recording level from there.

Also, I wish some of the consumer gear had better specs to go off of.

[Aaron Miller]

Assuming your interface is at unity gain and that you're recording in 24 bit, just use your DAW's volume meter as a reference and make recording volume adjustments with your preamp. Make sure your signals are hovering around -18db RMS (for some of the more dynamic sources, peaks around -10 to -8db). There's many posts on here that discuss why. Search for "recording levels" and "how hot" and similar phrases.