Another nubi

[J. R.]

Have PTLE 7.3.1 with an Mbox2mini. I'd like to start recording away from home. Is it possible, or advisable, to use a mic pre and a compressor before connecting to the Mbox? Thought I'd ask first before spending the bucks.

Thanks in advance.

J. R.

[garageband]

Seems like a hassle. Usually, the point of a mobile interface is to hit Record and starting recording, not trying to string gear together. I'd save those fun and games for back at the studio.

[J. R.]

For the most part I agree. However, I'll be recording in noisy environments w/o being able to control noise levels. Have tried to do this before and found out unless I have a compressor before the ProTools interface it's nearly impossible to keep a decent sound level. Quite often ambient and background can fluctuate as much as 50 Db. It's hard to record in a bar envirnoment or a kitcken with tiles on the wall. It's especially difficult when dealing with the recording person having no previous experience talking into a mic.

I appreciate your input. You aught to take the time to record archieves of older people in their usual envirnoments. It will give you a whole new outlook on how to record audio.

[garageband]

Still, though, that's what volume automation is for fixing. Trying to dial in a compressor on the fly while doing a bunch of other stuff is very likely to return audio that is very squish-ified, likely not blending well with other parts of the project.

If it was me, I'd get the microphone situation well in-hand (shotgun?), record not altogether hot and be sure to record at 24 bit, so when you go to gain the whole thing up, it stays nice and clean.

[J. R.]

For the most part I agree. However, I'll be recording in noisy environments w/o being able to control noise levels. Have tried to do this before and found out unless I have a compressor before the ProTools interface it's nearly impossible to keep a decent sound level. Quite often ambient and background can fluctuate as much as 50 Db. It's hard to record in a bar environment or a kitchen with tiles on the wall and floor. It's especially difficult when dealing with the person being recorded having no previous experience talking into a mic.

I appreciate your input. You aught to take the time to record archives of older people in their usual environments. It will give you a whole new outlook on how to record audio. It will also give you a new insight into the times no longer remembered

I'm trying to record some of our heritage. These people have interesting stories about days-long gone- and pertinent information about how to live a better life, even today.

Respectfully

J. R.

[garageband]

Clipping most of your previous post like that was obnoxious - like what I had said and the advice I gave was so far off the mark that you felt you had to restate and explain the facts.

[paul999]

Welcome J.R. I agree with garageband on this one. If the comp will "fix" it during tracking it will also "fix" it while you mix but you have a better listening environment and more control.

Cheers

[mindundermatter]

be sure to record at 24 bit, so when you go to gain the whole thing up, it stays nice and clean.

You and your digital gain!

It's hard to record in a bar environment or a kitchen with tiles on the wall and floor. It's especially difficult when dealing with the person being recorded having no previous experience talking into a mic.

Why don't you record them in a different environment? Do you absolutely HAVE to record in those places? Hmm... I'm picturing a weatherman standing in a hurricane with lots of rain and 100mph winds and yet when he speaks into the microphone, we can still hear him. I wonder why that is? Any guesses on the dB level of a torrential downpour and hurricane-force winds?

[garageband]

You have to admit the the Digital Gain knob is a great knob.