Audio Kontrol 1

[wirez]

Crap mic with low gain itself sounds like a big part of the problem

[macc]

Sounds like it is all working absolutely fine to me.

[yamaz]

What settings do you guys have your ak1 set to in order to record audio...and is this a normal talking voice or a percussive sound or singing? Is the setting the same on all of these?

Thx peepz!

[abZ]

Hmm I'm not sure wtf is going on

So ok, for instance if I yell really loud into mic and turn the input 1 knob from its max setting, down until it no longer red lines on top of the audio kontrol 1 unit, while yellowing, the knob is at about 12 o' clock setting and I register around 0 db in the recording with ableton, however if I talk now with a normal voice I get around -10db on ableton's mixer, and when I yell, of course it goes back up to 0 db. Now if I turn the input knob all the way up to about 3 o' clock and when record my normal voice talking as if a friend is a couple feet from me or im reading a book out loud, I will register about -2 db but as soon as I get louder or yell it red lines/clips.

So is this what you guys get too? Seems like the pre's are not very good if I have to have them on near max setting in order to get a good recording of me talking in just a normal voice. Subsequently if there is any dynamic in my voice, like screaming and then talking normally I have to have my input gain down to half way and as such you can barely here me talking in the recording when I'm doing both at the same time. Maybe this is how it's suppose to be and why I should use compression to squeeze out more volume from the whisper quiet talking section? I'm comparing to say like a tool song where maynard will be talking in a normal voice and then when song picks up he starts yelling and all the time both are very clear and able to be heard.

I'd just like to know if I'm sane here or if I have faulty equipment or I'm not doing something right, or if the trick is all in post processing of the shitty recording....

Thx peepz!

No your not insane you are just not getting it. It is going to be the same on i/o's of any quality low or high. Here I thought you had a real problem lol

[wirez]

Record in 24 bit then you can allow yourself plenty of headroom to keep the level well away from zero on peaks and not clip

[yamaz]

I do have ableton set to record 24-bit. I guess I still don't understand what the issue is here as I can either record high input volume but lose any dynamics or low input volume and lose anything being recorded that is quiet, like talking vs screaming/singing.

[wirez]

I do have ableton set to record 24-bit. I guess I still don't understand what the issue is here as I can either record high input volume but lose any dynamics or low input volume and lose anything being recorded that is quiet, like talking vs screaming/singing.

The higher the bit rate you record in the more gain you can add to a low level input without it being distorted

So by recording in 24 bit (which I'm pretty sure is the highest possible on the AK1) means you can afford to turn the input down enough so that the incoming signal never clips, as you can just add a bit more gain afterwards without any noticeable distortion