Setting Levels.

Recording Level is quite critical on CD. Anyone already recording on cassette will probably work on the principal that it's okay to go "into the red" a little, when monitoring the level. This usually results in recordings at a good level, with almost undetectable distortion on the loudest peaks.

This principal does not work on CD - going "over" will result in very audible digital distortion. The tendency therefore may be to "play safe" - keep the recording level well down, so that the recording level never peaks. This will certainly prevent distortion, however it will also result in CD's which sound very quiet when compared to commercial discs. (A lot of work goes into commercial recordings to ensure that they waste no "headroom". In some cases, this is to maximise "signal to noise ratio" but often it is just to make the recording have as great an impact as possible by sounding loud in comparison to others!) This may not appear to be much of a problem - unless of course your listener happens to be using a car stereo, and flicks back to the radio after listening to your CD. If they forget to turn down the volume control, they're likely to get deafened when they make the switch!)

There are two solutions - and it's best to employ both if you can! The first is simply to monitor recording level much more closely than on cassette. Setting a level and leaving it for an entire recording is out of the question - it is essential that the level be continuously monitored and adjusted to ensure that it never goes "over", but still peaks very close to maximum. Getting it right comes with experience.

The second option is to use a compressor and/or limiter. This electronic device prevents the level from rising above a pre-determined threshold. Properly adjusted, it will make the quiet sounds louder, and the loud sounds quieter, but does so in such a way as to be barely noticeable. This makes the job of catching loud peaks much easier for the operator.

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