mark4man
Newbie
Reged: 09/10/06
Posts: 17
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From the WaveLab Help Files:
Quote:
The audio path in WaveLab uses 32 Bit floating point processing. You can therefore "overload" it, i.e. use levels above 0 dB, without running the risk of causing digital signal clipping in the signal path. The only section of the audio path that can introduce clipping is the output of the Master Section.
I'm running a 5 track mastering Montage in WaveLab. Each track's output does not exceed 0dBFS. But, the composite signal at the output of the master section is +6dB. The seemingly 'louder than legal' signal coming out of my studio monitors sounds distortion free.
I render that mix to a 32-Bit Floating Point stereo file; & there are spikes at every snare hit w/ 3 or 4 consecutive samples flat-topped; & a 25 sample plateau that had a combo cymbal & snare hit goin' on (ala Keith Moon)...& the file doesn't sound bad… but it does indicate 6 dB of overload on the master section meters. Normal so far, I guess. [& I'm guessing that a FP file doesn't necessarily show clipping…but the overload data is there, somewhere.] I save the 32-Bit FP file as a 24-Bit fixed; & it looks the same (flat-topped in the exact same areas), but playing back that 24-Bit file, the master section meters don't indicate any clipping, because those transients were sawed off at 0 dBFS in the render.
Now…forget about rendering for a moment. Is WaveLab truncating the 32-Bit Floating Point signal to 24 fixed to send to the AI's DAC's…w/ it's plus 6dB peaks also flat topped? The output meters in my Lynx console say it's not...because they're showing 6 dB of overload when I play the 32-Bit file. Why is that? There's no such animal as a 32-Bit converter...so the software has to send the sound card a fixed point, 24-Bit signal. And this 24-Bit signal is truncated at the top, with everything above 0dBFS gone. Then why are my 'last stage' meters reading +6 dB?
Thanks,
mark4man
WaveLab 5
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jeffdeno
guru
Reged: 05/31/05
Posts: 432
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do you have things setup up in a surround sound setup or is it 5 tracks back to back?
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Jeff Deno
Application Specialist
Steinberg North America
Music Marketing Group
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mark4man
Newbie
Reged: 09/10/06
Posts: 17
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Quote:
do you have things setup up in a surround sound setup or is it 5 tracks back to back?
No...it's a typical summed stereo signal. [& it's a multitrack montage, w/ each file on a separate track.]
But Jeff (& thanks for your reply)...I've been thinking (dangerous, I know)...my Audio Interface (Lynx Aurora8/AES16 combo) has 32-Bit drivers; & can receive a 32-Bit integer signal. What exactly is WaveLab sending out to the software...is it 24-Bit int.? 32-Bit int.? Can 32 be configured as the default output stream?
Thanks,
mark4man
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jeffdeno
guru
Reged: 05/31/05
Posts: 432
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in the simplest terms the combined signal of all tracks is going to be greater than the individual track volumes. All internal calcuations in the sofware are 32 bit. With it being a good amount in the red, you wouldn't neccesarily here digital distortion while in the software but upon rendering a stereo file you probably would. Especially at 44.1 16 bit
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Jeff Deno
Application Specialist
Steinberg North America
Music Marketing Group
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mark4man
Newbie
Reged: 09/10/06
Posts: 17
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Quote:
All internal calcuations in the software are 32 bit.
Yes...thanks...I know that. I need to know what Wavelab is sending to the Audio Interface. Is it 32-Bit float?, 32-Bit integer?, 24-Bit integer? See...I understand that, within the WaveLab 32-Bit FP mixing enviornment we have no overload distortion. But I'm hearing a +6dB signal in my studio monitors, distortion free (from the output of a multitrack montage.) The Master Section is of course showing the +6, but so are the Peak Meters. And what's more...the Audio Interface's output meters are also reading +6bB. If WaveLab were truncating the 32-Bit float in a conversion to say, 24-Bit integer, to send to the audio card, everything above 0dBFS would be chopped off; & the audio interface's output meters (supposedly coupled to the last stage in the chain) should be reading 0dB. That's why I need to know what WaveLab is sending to the audio card.
Thanks,
mark4man
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