Fantom-G

Distorted MIDI Advice

22 Jan 2011, 22:00

I'm running my G8 through a MOTU Ultralite MK3 Hybrid and then into my computer using Sonar 8.5 as my DAW. I've been playing around with the best way to get maximum volume without having audio distortion. I know there's an output gain in the G8 sound settings as well as the on board volume knob. I also have trim settings on the MOTU and all the various velocity and volume changes you can make in Sonar.

I was wondering if anyone out there knows of any techniques, guidelines or some kind of order of operations to use when trying to get max volume?
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Re: Distorted MIDI Advice

22 Jan 2011, 22:38

It's called "gain staging" and there are definitely enough places to adjust.

It's a lot more difficult to understand in the analog domain, so you can at least count yourself lucky in that regard. Here's some general tips.

#1, exploit all your Fantom's dynamic range by maxing the volume. However, be careful with your patches and internal sounds so that they don't clip the output.

#2, find the best input setting on your interface. That is, not so low that you're effectively reducing dynamic range, but at the same time not so high that you're needlessly amplifying the noise floor.

#3, once you're in the box, digital, the DAW, gain becomes much less of a concern as internal processing is usually 32bit and above. That said, it's common practice to keep all your levels somewhere around -10db to avoid clipping in the mix. I'm sure you're aware, but you absolutely don't want to hit 0db in the digital domain, unless you like those amazing harmonics.

On that note, 24-bit projects are the way to go. That will give you all the resolution and headroom you need.

ps. the title is little misleading. MIDI doesn't distort.

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