Tape or source while recording

[91firebird]

Ok when recording,set to tape or source,I would think tape and set to vu hitting the red to get a nice high hot recording.have staying in the
black and seems to missing the high end set to inthe red nice hot sound.yo-yo would think it would distort maybe depends on the tape
you are using.

 

[oldvinyldude]

Source\Tape is to toggle between source and what is being recorded on tape, so one can compare and adjust recording level, Bias and equalization to achieve the best result.

Record level, assuming a properly aligned deck and meters are set to an accurate reference, then depend on the tape in use. Generally, RTR tape running at 7.5ips or better, can be recorded without hitting the red constantly, and sill have plenty of S/N ratio to produce a quiet recording, with minimal distortion. Recording hotter will not enhance high frequencies-it will compress them.

 

[Blue Shadow]

Depends on the tape and the machine and as stated how it was set up.

If you go to +3dB you will be reaching into distortion so I like to have peaks hit +1 or so and let the peaks I didn't find hit over that.

But it also depends on the machine because some meters are based on the signal before eq and others are based on the signal eqed and actually going to the tape.

Be best to read how your machine recommends driving the meters for recording...with the sound in the room low and the tape deck on a different platform from the turntable/cd player to keep vibrations in the system limited so they don't get recorded. You can always listen to the tape, record or cd cranked up when not recording.

 

[oldvinyldude]

keep vibrations in the system limited so they don't get recorded.

I have made the mistake of cranking up the volume while recording. It caused noticeable distortion, which I assumed was the stylus\cart picking up vibrations, but perhaps it was the recorder picking up vibrations? In any event, yes-be patient.