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Question about audio metering
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Joined: 3/24/2020(UTC) Posts: 7 Location: Neuquen Thanks: 3 times
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Hi to everyone. I have a question about audio metering in vmix. I'm using vmix to record video and audio, audio is coming from my mixer. After checking the audio that was recorded i realized it's too high, so i decided to turn down the vmix fader because levels in my mixer are correct. But there's something i don't understand, i assume the scale in vmix meter is dbfs but when i move the fader there's a % number.. what does that % number mean? I decided to turn it down to 0%, but i would like to know what it means.
Thanks!
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Rank: Advanced Member
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Joined: 11/20/2020(UTC) Posts: 74 Thanks: 13 times Was thanked: 9 time(s) in 9 post(s)
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You could use something like youlean loudness meter.
If you install the app you can use it as plugin in vMix by opening the sound settings in each audio bus in the vMix audio mixer. The free version is quite basic the pay version (39€ I guess) contains several additional options which are not essentially needed but a very good invest!
Then of course you should do some research, which loudness level (monitored in yl loudness meter) is best for your recording.
I use that plugin when streaming on my streaming output bus and see the technical specifications (loudness, dynymic range etc) in the specs site at the streaming provider (youtube or whatever...)
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1 user thanked Chris Daum for this useful post.
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Rank: Advanced Member
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Joined: 5/13/2014(UTC) Posts: 518 Location: Manchester, UK Thanks: 2 times Was thanked: 183 time(s) in 130 post(s)
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Originally Posted by: Fberto90 ...when I move the fader there's a % number.. what does that % number mean? I decided to turn it down to 0%, but I would like to know what it means. The fader gain (or more correctly, attenuation) is simply being expressed both in dBs and as a percentage (of the digital voltage). So "100% 0dB" means no attenuation, and "10% -20dB" means that the level is reduced by a factor of 10/100 (1/10) which is -20 in dBs. Dividing the level again by a further 1/10 to 1% of the original adds a further 20dB reduction, hence the display "1% -40dB". Unfortunately, because they are not showing fractions of a percent, the lower values don't make as much sense, given that 0% should equal minus infinity, for example. So, for the values below around "5% -26dB", you're best ignoring the percentage values and just going off the dB reading.
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1 user thanked zenvideo for this useful post.
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Rank: Newbie
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Joined: 3/24/2020(UTC) Posts: 7 Location: Neuquen Thanks: 3 times
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Originally Posted by: zenvideo Originally Posted by: Fberto90 ...when I move the fader there's a % number.. what does that % number mean? I decided to turn it down to 0%, but I would like to know what it means. The fader gain (or more correctly, attenuation) is simply being expressed both in dBs and as a percentage (of the digital voltage). So "100% 0dB" means no attenuation, and "10% -20dB" means that the level is reduced by a factor of 10/100 (1/10) which is -20 in dBs. Dividing the level again by a further 1/10 to 1% of the original adds a further 20dB reduction, hence the display "1% -40dB". Unfortunately, because they are not showing fractions of a percent, the lower values don't make as much sense, given that 0% should equal minus infinity, for example. So, for the values below around "5% -26dB", you're best ignoring the percentage values and just going off the dB reading. I figured out it was attenuation after reading another of your posts Zenvideo, thanks a lot, this is the answer i was looking for. Now it's clear i'm working with the faders too high. If Vmix processes audio at 32 bit floating point, but it masters at 16 bit, could this be the reason audio is coming back from vmix to my mixer too loud? Sometimes i set the gain knob on my mixer channel to literally 0, zero! no audio should enter to my channel but still does, that's super weird.
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Rank: Advanced Member
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Joined: 5/13/2014(UTC) Posts: 518 Location: Manchester, UK Thanks: 2 times Was thanked: 183 time(s) in 130 post(s)
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Originally Posted by: Fberto90 Sometimes i set the gain knob on my mixer channel to literally 0, zero! no audio should enter to my channel but still does, that's super weird. If you're talking about a knob on your hardware mixer which controls gain (as opposed to the channel fader - which is usually a slider, but could be a knob) then it's entirely possible that the "zero" setting just means the lowest default gain, whatever that is, plus zero dB (i.e. no additional gain) and not a gain setting of "minus infinity" which is what would be required to stop any audio entering that channel. The channel fader will reduce the output of the channel to zero, but I wouldn't necessarily expect the channel gain control to do the same. Of course I don't know what the mixer is, nor the device you're using to get the output from vMix, or how you're connecting it to the mixer, via what sort of input connection, so really rather a lot of unknowns in order to give a diagnosis.
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Rank: Newbie
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Joined: 3/24/2020(UTC) Posts: 7 Location: Neuquen Thanks: 3 times
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Originally Posted by: zenvideo Originally Posted by: Fberto90 Sometimes i set the gain knob on my mixer channel to literally 0, zero! no audio should enter to my channel but still does, that's super weird. If you're talking about a knob on your hardware mixer which controls gain (as opposed to the channel fader - which is usually a slider, but could be a knob) then it's entirely possible that the "zero" setting just means the lowest default gain, whatever that is, plus zero dB (i.e. no additional gain) and not a gain setting of "minus infinity" which is what would be required to stop any audio entering that channel. The channel fader will reduce the output of the channel to zero, but I wouldn't necessarily expect the channel gain control to do the same. Of course I don't know what the mixer is, nor the device you're using to get the output from vMix, or how you're connecting it to the mixer, via what sort of input connection, so really rather a lot of unknowns in order to give a diagnosis. Well that makes sense, i'm talking about a knob on my hardware mixer and with the gain knob all turned down you can read "-14", so you're clearly right, it's just attenuating by -14dB the incoming signal, not minus infinity. The vmix output is from a computer's default audio output and it goes to 2 mono channels on my hardware mixer. When audio in vmix meters is close to 0 dbfs, i still get audio in my mixer even with the pad on, and the knob all turned down (-14) when i listen to it PFL. But i guess that's normal. Just trying to understand a bit more about this floating point audio and how it works with other equipments.
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