This is my first journey into virtual drums (Superior 2.0), and have a question about recording levels. I've read where recording levels should be kept between -20 and -12. Does this mean that these too are levels that my Superior mic channel/buss/outputs should be putting out? Or should they be kept hot and going into Logic between -20 and -12? I'm having a hard time understanding/balancing these, and when I follow level advice for my Logic channel... it seems so low. Do you have any signal chain advice for this?

Hi Horizon, As Superior is running in-the-box so to speak, you can keep your drums as hot (or not) as you wish depending on the kind of effect you're aiming for. The important thing is to get the internal balance of the mix right in Logic. So as long as you're leaving plenty of headroom on the stereo output channel you should be fine. Best, R

Thanks very much for your reply! So let me make sure I have this right: Levels as hot as I want in Superior, while keeping my recording levels at -20 to -12 (headroom) in Logic - bypass Superior's buss sends, outputs, and effects inserts (if I want to), and use Logic's? Because, to be honest..., as far as the Superior effects are concerned (which are great), I'll be using UA's Apollo with several of their compression, tape machine, and EQ pluggins. So you're basically telling me... to get each drum/drums sounding as I want, get straight to my Logic channel, mono or stereo, with as little fuss as possible? Thanks Jimmy

Yes, that's right. As Rounik mentioned as long as you leaving headroom in in the stereo output. If you were recording in audio from an external source then you'd need to watch the incoming audio levels to make sure there was no clipping. But you are working with a virtual instrument inside the box. So all the audio levels can be managed.

Thanks Gary! While you're here... could you answer one more question? How do I switch my Logic stereo recording channel to mono, so I'm able to record my Kick, snare, etc., in mono? Or, am I making/missing something more complicated than what it is? Thanks Again Jimmy

This may be getting off the track of the OP, but if you are recording real drums, then the advice you received to record input drum levels o"f -20 to -12" are probably referring to RMS, not Peak. The standard Logic channel meters are Peak. These are going to be between -12dBfs and whereever (above) that you feel comfortable. The peak value of drums will be 10-20dB higher than the RMS value. You can monitor both values by inserting a "Level Meter" into the channel and set it to Peak and RMS. The RMS value will be in light blue. On another note, the Logic channel meters can display their value across dB divisions that are scaled two different ways; Exponential or Linear. With the Exponential mode selected, half the meter's height is showing you on the top 6dB of the entire dynamic range. This is terrible (visually) most of the time as it make your levels "look" low. Right click on the scale to the leftmost side of the mixer to change it (see image). The image shows it in Linear mode where the top 15dB take up half the meter. If you track in this mode, you can use this scaling as a much better measure. In 24bit, if you peaks sit around -15dB or a little higher, you are plenty loud. If you can't hear it, turn up your monitor pot. A tracking session rarely has the average level that a mixed project has. As the song comes together, the average level will rise and you can back down on the monitor pot. I have mine calibrated, with some markings to give me an idea of how loud my monitoring is at any given time. So with all that - If I'm totally off on this thread, my apologies. Paul [url=http://www.macprovideo.com/forum/upload/upload/server/php/savedfiles/files/mpv_42037_114133_Level_options.png] [img]http://www.macprovideo.com/forum/upload/upload/server/php/savedfiles/thumbnails/mpv_42037_114133_Level_options.png[/img] [/url]

Paul, Went to do the right click on the side of the channel as you suggested - and nothing. So I went to preferences>display>mixer, found what you described and changed it. Level wise... this makes things a world easier! Thanks Jimmy

[quote=Horizon]Thanks Gary! While you're here... could you answer one more question? How do I switch my Logic stereo recording channel to mono, so I'm able to record my Kick, snare, etc., in mono? Or, am I making/missing something more complicated than what it is?[/quote] If you're still talking about Superior Drummer, no need to record anything (mono or stereo). Load Superior Drummer as Multi-Output which routes Superior's outputs to Logic Aux channel strips.

Horizon, Hmmmm I'm glad you found the preference. Did you click on the scale to the left of channel 1 in the mixer?