Coercer Posted October 22, 2016 Share Posted October 22, 2016 I am going to be producing a few demos for a friend of mine that lives across the country. Something that I wanted to try out was taking his vocals, recorded DI (if you will) through his POD HD 500, and then "reamping" it though my Helix. I have Neve preamp that I really like, and I plan on using the FX loop of the Helix to send his signal through it. That said, being a preamp, it's expecting a mic-level signal. What can I do to make sure that my friend records at this level? Should the mic trim be turned the whole way up or the whole way down? He's going to be plugging directly into the mic input on the POD HD 500 setup with a blank signal chain (I've done DI guitars this way). Any info or tips are appreciated! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjnette Posted October 23, 2016 Share Posted October 23, 2016 It is a bit of a shame you can't put his vocals thru your Pre an all. If he wants a good level vocal it is good to send the pre into a compressor or limiter to prevent accidental clipping of the recording input. If none of these and no other gear best to just use his HD500 mic pre and record that as best as he can. Use a pop filter for de essing if needed. Good mic technique is a must to kind of smooth the response out but with no safety catch the vocal level will be in a safe range for your treatment along with possible noise as you squeeze it. Higher sample rate in the DAW might help too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Palico Posted October 24, 2016 Share Posted October 24, 2016 What can I do to make sure that my friend records at this level? He will need to meter it. I assume he will be going into a DAW to record it? Request and exact DB level you are expecting. Lower levels can be better sometimes. For line level make sure it doesn't go over 0 db. A compressor or limiter as bjnette mentioned as safety net can make sure it doesn't go over 0 db. Personally I would have it recorded a lower level like -6 to -18 db as long as that is plauseable to get decent signal you can always use a tool in a DAW to turn it up more. Once it clips and distorts on the original capture you can't undo that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pfsmith0 Posted October 25, 2016 Share Posted October 25, 2016 If you need a mic level signal coming out of your HD500 then you should set the mic trim to mid gain. According to the data here, the mic trim has gain anywhere from -20.5dB to +23.7dB when the output is taken from the XLR connectors. Setting the trim to the middle will get you close to 0dB. Mic level coming in and mic level going out. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coercer Posted October 27, 2016 Author Share Posted October 27, 2016 Thanks for all the feedback. He knows about clipping, and how to avoid it, thankfully. I will have him error on the side of having a quieter recording. Also, thank you pfsmith0, that was exactly what I needed to know. I'll have him set it in the middle and see what it's like when he sends me some test files. I took a look at that data, and it was really helpful! Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pfsmith0 Posted October 27, 2016 Share Posted October 27, 2016 I think this was the FIRST TIME I got a Best Answer! Thanks!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.