"David Looser" wrote in
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"Arny Krueger" wrote in message
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"David Looser" wrote in
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"Peter Larsen" wrote in message
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David Looser wrote:

Not necessarily ideal, due to the possibility of
intersample peaks. It's advisable to
record with peak samples a dB or three shy of 0 dBFS,
unless you have accurate peak monitors
that show you what the *output* level is.

That's really a measurement problem. If you actually
know exactly what the "peak of peaks" is, that can be
just shy of 0dBFS. I agree in practice a 3dB or so
margin between *apparent* peak and 0dBFS is advisable.

What millenium are you living in guys, look at the
waveform, does it hit 0 dB FS?


How do you look at an analogue waveform?, we are talking
about setting the analogue level into the ADC.

You can, of course, do a transfer, look at the resulting
digital waveform, and then re-do it if the levels are
way off, but generally it's easier to get it more or
less correct the first time.

Most audio capture software has a real time display.

But it's not predictive. If it indicates clipping you can
only go back and start again.

Strictly speaking, nothing is predictive. But here is something that is
indicative:

The loudest trackability track on a test LP.

I set levels using a trackability test track. If the
cartridge is mistracking, tain't no need for that much
more headroom in the preamp!

Fine, but bearing in mind that there are large variations
in maximim level from LP to LP you will probably need to
apply amplification to the digital file on some (most?)
of the recordings later.

Something I happily do with 20:20 hindsight.