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About Jason Fryer
Expertise

I specialize in Macintosh recording systems on OS X & am well versed in most of the available software titles relative to the platform. I can answer most questions about home recording in general such as: Mic placement, recording/mixing/mastering techniques, control room set up, acoustics & acoustical treatment & choosing the right equipment for specific recording applications. I do not answer PC related questions, or questions pertaining CD/DVD copying or ripping.

URL: River CIty Junction

Experience

Experience:
I am a professional recording/performing artist & producer/engineer with 29 years experience in performance & writing, & 21 years experience producing & recording music.

Organizations
River CIty Junction (Guitarist)

Education/Credentials
Musician's Professional Workshop Scholarship (CHOM FM)
Vanier College (Classical Music - Guitar)
Herzing Institute (Micro-Computer Electronics)
Have taken numerous online courses in recording/engineering

You are here: Experts > Computing/Technology > Home Recording > Home Recording > Mixer/PC/Equipment Level settings

Equipment Level settings

Expert: Jason Fryer - 10/23/2009

Question
How should I set the volumes of each component for optimal recording?
If each item has it's own volume, what is optimal? I guess all inputs on the mixer should be set to unity gain initially, and I think I should be looking for peaks around +3 on the mixer level indicator, but where do I put the levels of the keyboards? Also, where do I put the input and output volumes of the PC? The PC output is currently going into a stereo channel of the mixer, the input for recording to the PC comes out of L/R Aux sends.

Answer
Hey Dan, you should set everything to unity gain & adjust accordingly from there. I wouldn't let anything peak if I was you. Going +3 into digital will not sound very good at all. If you're recording in 24 bit, try getting your levels to average around -12dB. That way you have some headroom left over for mixing & mastering. Hope that helps, if you need anything else, just drop me a line.
Peace - J.

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