[Rwp] problems with reaper peak watcher, or my soundcard?

[TheOreoMonster]

First off, Stop trying to record at 0 db. This is digital audio, you have virtually non existence noise floor especially if you are recording at 24 bits or higher and you aren’t trying to over come any tape hiss.  This is the only reason they did that in the analog days The stuff they were recording had to be louder than the hiss on the tape.  Also has Jamie pointed out you are in great danger of clipping if you do this. The other reason you aren’t seeing a lot of volume e is because you are attempting to record a relatively quiet source with I am assuming a dynamic mic. If you are using a condenser mic i imagine its already clipping if you turn it all the way up.  The point however is that the voice and etc is relatively quiet source as opposed to say a drums or a loud guitar amp. Stick the mic infant of one of those and watch the meters spike, and you’ll probably hear some clipping as well if your mic preamp gain on your interface is turned all th way up. Long story  short, Mixing and more so mastering is where you get things loud or up towards 0 recording  at a healthy low level gives you plenty of headroom to allow you to get creative  during those processes. And if you don’t plan to mix or master there are ways to bring the level up towards 0 after its recorded, but its not a problem you should try to solve at the recording front end so to speak.  Set your mic pre on your interface to where its not clipping, if you can’t hear your self clearly turn up your monitors or headphones  if your backing track is  too loud turn down that tracks volume in Reaper so you can hear the new track you  are recording better. Remember you can always turn up something this too quiet later, you cannot turn down something that clipped while recording  it. Well you can turn it down but you just get quieter clipping as opposed to removing it. 

> On May 15, 2016, at 3:56 AM, James Teh <jamie at nvaccess.org> wrote:
> 
> Are you watching a track which is armed and set up for your mic input? Are you actually making sound into your microphone? Remember, peaks aren't overall volume. They indicate the maximum level of sound. Also, you want to be quite a bit less than 0 dB if you want to avoid clipping.
> 
> Sent from a mobile device
> 
>> On 15 May 2016, at 5:13 PM, germano carella <germano.carella at gmail.com> wrote:
>> 
>> Hi to all,
>> 
>> I was trying to use reaper peak watcher to control level of microphone.
>> 
>> Now I pres alt+shift+p to set up my peak watcher to notify me when level is at 0 db.
>> 
>> So, with my focusrite 18i8, i set gain to maximum level possible.
>> 
>> With alt+f9 and alt+f10, I hear -38.7 db.
>> 
>> But volume is maximum!
>> 
>> By pressing j and k, I hear -55.3. So I believe there is a problem, maybe with my soundcard? Unfortunately scarlet mix control is not accessible, so I can't see input levels etc.
>> 
>> Some suggestions?
>> 
>> Thanks!
>> 
>> Germano
>> 
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