TX Gain on the VAC1 tab

[JJ4SDR]

I am pleased to report (unsurprisingly) that I am getting a lot of great unsolicited reports on my audio .

Using an ANAN 7000 DLE MKII (Thetis 2.8.11/P1), Multi-core i7 CPU, 10the gen., 512 MB NVMe SSD, 32GB RAM
I will double-check the COMP/CFC/LEVELER/CESSB settings as well as they will effect the audio level.

My mic is plugged into a usb/audio interface and source is set to "MIC IN."

Now, I am wondering about the audio level from MIC as I read in documentation that you are supposed to hit 0dB for the CFC to work effectively (hitting the "sweet spot" I guess). Dr. Warren also wrote about this. I was also told that if I hit anywhere between -10dB and 0dB would be acceptable.

I use a tube condenser mic that works really well for me and also I don't really experience major problems with ambient noise bleeding into the audio albeit a large floor fan that sits about 6 feet away from the mic does impact the "dynamics" of my audio. Properly setting a noise-gate/expander helps.

Now, given the above (= "hot mic") I don't really get to 0dB no matter what I do with the MIC GAIN. BUT, I noticed that there is a "TX GAIN" on the VAC1 tab and if I increase that to above 0dB I am getting within a reasonable range (a few dBs below 0dB) of target figure of 0 dB.

Can someone explain what "TX GAIN" does? Yes, its effect may seem self-explanatory.

Best!
JJ

[NC3Z]

I for one am confused. You said "My mic is plugged into a usb/audio interface and source is set to "MIC IN."" But on Thetis VAC (which is your USB audio interface) and Mic In are mutually exclusive.

You may need to explain your configuration a bit better.

[NC3Z]

Another thing thing I noticed, you said "I will double-check the COMP/CFC/LEVELER/CESSB settings as well as they will effect the audio level." .

If you are using CFC you really should not be using COMP or CESSB at all.

[w-u-2-o]

JJ,

What USB audio interface are you using? What microphone?

You do not need to hit 0dB mic level for the CFC to work properly. Anywhere over -10dB is fine.

The leveler should be bringing up your audio levels just fine well before the CFC.

If you haven't read this topic and read Rob's write-up and watched Rob's videos, you really should:

https://apache-labs.com/community/viewt ... f=6&t=2508

In the block diagram of the audio chain you can see where VAC TX gain comes in and that should be entirely self explanatory.

That really great topic pre-dated the major expander/VOX improvements that came much later, but those are covered here:

https://apache-labs.com/community/viewt ... f=9&t=3049

BREAK

My own personal recommendations are as follows:

1. Do NOT use COMP or CESSB. That is old technology. DO use the CFC compressor.
2. I prefer leveler settings of max. gain 15dB, decay 100ms (in Setup > DSP > AGC/ALC).
3. I prefer an ALC setting of max. gain 3dB, decay 3ms (also in Setup > DSP > AGC/ALC).
4. Make sure your TX EQ preamp level is set to keep your peaks below 0dB on the EQ meter.
5. Make sure your pre-comp CFC level is set to keep your peaks below 0dB on the CFC meter.
6. Make sure your post EQ gain level is set to keep your peaks below whatever ALC max. gain setting you chose as shown on the ALC Group meter.

The above may be a little aggressive for you in terms of overall compression. Certainly you can soften those setting a bit if you like. Do what seems right to you. Just remember there are three (ignoring COMP/CESSB) stages of compression in the audio chain: leveler > CFC > ALC. Together you can achieve a very low peak-to-average level very, very cleanly, especially if you are running PureSignal.

73,

Scott

[JJ4SDR]

Gary!

I do need to specify Mic In or Line in no matter if I use a USB/Audio interface right. There is no way to leave both sources unchecked.

CESSB/COMP: I don't use these at all and stick with CFC/TXEQ but I do sometimes see how the Leveler works. I wouldn't dream of having COMP/CESSB and CFC switched on at once. Sounds awful actually. Sorry for not being very clear on the setup.

Scott:
Thanks for the come-back and the links. Will check them out. And as I mentioned to Gary, I never use COMP or CESSB but I wanted to make sure they were not switched on and they weren't.

JJ

[JJ4SDR]

Scott,

When WOULD you use "TX GAIN"?

Mic is an MXL-69ME (with a NOS Made in West Germany triode in it....made a significant different after I got rid of the made in China tube). Actually, I am using two audio interfaces too as I got tired of VMB. Sure VMB works, but it is just too "quirky" for my taste.

Steinberg UR22 talks to my VST Host to process audio/feeding it into an M Audio 192/4 that talks with Thetis. This setup has been working well for me (yes, brute force by having 2 interfaces). I had only the UR22 in the chain previously and noticed the same mic audio levels as right now so nothing changed there. Will check out the links Scott. Thanks!

JJ

[w-u-2-o]

Scott,

When WOULD you use "TX GAIN"?

If you need gain you need gain. If you need it at that point then that's how you accomplish it. However, it would be better to drive your audio interface closer to 0dB in order to avoid adding it in VAC, as you are compromising SNR. It's probably not a big deal, but from a purist standpoint, you understand.

Mic is an MXL-69ME (with a NOS Made in West Germany triode in it....made a significant different after I got rid of the made in China tube). Actually, I am using two audio interfaces too as I got tired of VMB. Sure VMB works, but it is just too "quirky" for my taste.

Steinberg UR22 talks to my VST Host to process audio/feeding it into an M Audio 192/4 that talks with Thetis. This setup has been working well for me (yes, brute force by having 2 interfaces). I had only the UR22 in the chain previously and noticed the same mic audio levels as right now so nothing changed there. Will check out the links Scott. Thanks!

JJ

Ha, ha, well you know you'll never hear the end of it from me on coming back out analog, that's crazy

Why do you say VMB is quirky?

And the million dollar question: if you are coming back out analog and then going into the 7000, why do you even care about, or ask questions about, VAC gain? You are not using VAC.

[JJ4SDR]

Scott,

Quirky:
It just seems that at times it works and at others it doesn't. Perhaps I should uninstall a similar-to-VMB software as well. To top it all off I have been trying 3 different DAWs (and VMB and an "equivalent" piece of software) just to see if I should transition from Live Professor 2 LP2), but I don't see any reason why I should. One reason that I have trialed these DAWs is that a few plug-ins vendors don't really support LP2, but LP2 works well for me.

Using VAC:
I thought that with the 2nd audio interface plugged into one of the USB3 ports on the PC would call for use of VAC. My simple logic .

Anyhow, it is a snap to toggle between using ANAN software processing only and using LP2/vst plugins, some of the audio processing tools of ANAN or only processing afforded by LP2/vst plugins.

Best!
JJ