As is probably a surprise to no one, there is a lot of conflicting information about audio signal levels floating around on the internet. I'm hoping that I can get some synth-specific advice here from people with relevant experience.
Here's the situation at hand: I have always recorded synths using the preamp inputs on my audio interface. I recently got a Motu M4, however, which has 2 mic and instrument inputs with preamps on the front and 2 line-level inputs without gain controls on the back. Obviously I'd like to take advantage of all four inputs, but even the hottest synth signals are very low in level (peaking at around a quarter of the available range) on the back inputs. Opinion on audio forums seems to be split between "you're supposed to record synths that low" and "those inputs aren't designed for synths, so you need a preamp". I've previously been under the impression that you should adjust the gain of what you're recording so that it's peaking as high as possible without clipping.
Therefore, I basically have two questions:
- What level (in terms of dBFS) are you "supposed" to record synths at?
- If I should be recording synth signals as loud as possible, what's the best (i.e. cheapest and passable) solution? I just want to boost the signal - not to noticeably color it. I'm wondering if I'm looking at the wrong sort of devices, since a two-channel preamp seems to cost more than my M4 interface, which itself includes two preamps.
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