I exchanged my E-MU ext. soundcard for an M-Audio Fast Track Pro, hoping to solve my digital recording dillemma... But I still can't get my laptop/Audacity to recognize any kind of digital signal from my 800. So, for now I have to resort to using analog outs, but which outs are going to yield the best quality? the "record" outs seem intuitive, but I wanted to double check.

Also, are there any other ways to increase quality/volume of a recording in audacity besides the "amplify" tool? I'm not getting any problems with chirps or bleeps, but the overall quality seems to really lack "saturation", for lack of better words.

Sounds to me like you haven't enabled the correct digital input on the M-Audio control panel (there's a setting to switch; on my FW-410 I have to enable the external coaxial in order to get any signal).

You can use any of the analog outs, they all output the same thing. If you're looking to boost the "sound" but not the volume (decibels), you'll want to do some sound shaping and/or EQing. You may want to look into some VST plugins or perhaps another audio editing application for more of that kind of thing.

Thanks Pulse,
I finally got my digital connection working... but I'm still not satisfied with the quality of the recorded material.

to test the quality, I've been recording a track into audacity and exporting as an mp3, then comparing that recorded mp3 to the original mp3 of the same track.

The volume is always too low initially, and after an amplification ("effect" drop down - "amplify" tool), the quality of the sound then doesn't compare to the original mp3. I was under the impression that digital recording could be amplified without jepeordizing the quality?

I will look into the VST plugins you mention, but what do you mean when you say boosting the volume but not the sound? How DO you boost the volume? I'm guessing this doesn't distort quality, and may be my solution...

Or maybe my problem is the levels/settings I have on my mixer? for example, I have my trim levels set at about 9 o'clock so that their is no yellow or red led's illuminating. And my master volume is at 12 o'clock which barely illuminates even negative level led's. I thought master volume would not affect how much audible data is recorded, but I have noticed the input reader in audacity DOES increase when I turn my master volume up toward the 3,4,5 o'clock position. What are the proper settings?

quote:

Originally posted by trelax:
I was under the impression that digital recording could be amplified without jepeordizing the quality?

Generally speaking, you're right. The loss of quality you're likely hearing has to do with the tool you're using ("amplify"). If you had some high-quality VST's, you'd never know the difference.

-r-

Why are you comparing MP3s? Why not rip a CD to WAV then record a set to WAV and compare them? NEVER compare compressed audio recordings for quality!

You're not trying to increase the sound level (what normalization does), you're really just looking to amplify the entire waveform recording by 19dB (provided you never "clipped").

An amplification of 19dB (the amount of digital overhead) will not result in a noisy or low-quality recording.

As I said above, you should probably consider using some other recording / editing software.

ok

quote:

Originally posted by Pulse:
Why are you comparing MP3s? Why not rip a CD to WAV then record a set to WAV and compare them? NEVER compare compressed audio recordings for quality!

You're not trying to increase the sound level (what normalization does), you're really just looking to amplify the entire waveform recording by 19dB (provided you never "clipped").

An amplification of 19dB (the amount of digital overhead) will not result in a noisy or low-quality recording.

As I said above, you should probably consider using some other recording / editing software.

Anyone to suggest? with batch processing?

Easy CD-DA. You don't need to batch trim your audio, you need to do that manually.

quote:

Originally posted by Pulse:
Easy CD-DA. You don't need to batch trim your audio, you need to do that manually.

Thanx for the ref.
I don't mind batch triming cause i discover the power of the auto cue...

.... ......


I am now recording mixes trough the digital out of my 800.

Any way to boost the level of volume on digital out?

If I keep everything in green - i get only -21 db...

Is it normal?
should i record at that level? and post amplify..
or should i use analog out instead and adjust the level to -6db directly?

Yes that's normal - it's actually -19dB which is the professional industry standard level for digital levels. That gives you an overhead of 19dB in case you clip on the effects, you're not going to distort the signal going to digital.

Once you've recorded, boost the signal within your recording app.

quote:

Originally posted by Pulse:
Yes that's normal - it's actually -19dB which is the professional industry standard level for digital levels. That gives you an overhead of 19dB in case you clip on the effects, you're not going to distort the signal going to digital.

Once you've recorded, boost the signal within your recording app.

dude you are helpful! tx