From Marc 3 Poirier Sent Tue, Apr 21st 1998, 21:38
From Marc 3 Poirier Sent Tue, Apr 21st 1998, 21:38
> ATRAC compression is not MPEG compression. Read the MD FAQ before > posting nonsense like this. Hey, you should maybe check on facts before you post messages as well because: > He doesn't state whether he set the levels for recording correctly (of > course, this is unnecessary when recording digitally). that is absolutely incorrect. Setting levels properly is essential to a digital recording, just not for the same reasons as with analogue recordings. If you set the input level too high when recording, you get clipping, which isn't quite the same as overdrive distortion on analogue media & actually depends on the digital recording system for how it is represented (either the sound wave levels off at the maximum value whenever the input level exceeds that value or random sample values are generated for anything past the maximum level). If you set the input level too low, you are getting less resolution of the sound, as opposed to the problem with analogue media of possibly burrying sounds in tape hiss. Basically what I mean by this is that there is a finite set of amplitude values that any digital sample can represent (65,536 values with 16-bit sampling, what CDs use). Each sample represents the sound wave's amplitude at the moment the sample is taken, so the more possible values there are, the more accurate the sampling is & the less quant noise you get (the sound from errors in approximating the wave path between samples, what can make digital sound harsh). By setting your level too low, you are shrinking the set of values that you have to represent each sample. For example, if the inputted sound never goes past the halfway value while recording a 16-bit wave, you are basically getting 15-bit quality. I only bothered posting this technical message to the list because lots of you post MP3s on web pages & maybe even trade CDRs with me, so you should all know how to do digital recording properly. Always record things as loud as possible without letting them ever peak. Marc Poirier