Utility Effect- Input Gain

[MaxGain]

v12.2.1

I have imported a stereo clip using the Utility effect and want to isolate the left track.
The effect displays both input and output levels but only the output gain can be controlled.
While the effect input level is clipping it does not respond to the the gain on the effect, track or master gain controls. The latter are not clipping and are set very low.. At this point there are no other effects in the set.

Any help much appreciated!

[RobrechtV]

The left meter shows the level coming into the Utility device, over which the divice itself has no control. It should be handled upstream in the chain. Since you have no other effects there, the only thing you can do it lower the volume of the clip itself.

Note that going into the red doesn't necessarily mean the audio clipping, it's just close to doing so.

But if the audio really is clipping of its own, with no effects pushing it, that means the clip you imported has been recorded too hot and the clipping has already happened. In that case, the damage is done: lowering the volume will not restore the clipped peaks.

(Unless you're lucky and it's recorded with 32-bit floating point bit depth)

[MaxGain]

>> the clip you imported has been recorded too hot
This was sent as an M4a file that I converted to WAV using a ripping tool.
It was a live recording and despite the reading, it sounds quite good with no audible distortion.

Setting levels in Ableton, I there a general rule about how high gain should be set? For example, in this clip it was mostly in the yellow and intermittently peaking in the red.

Thanks!

[RobrechtV]

Mostly yellow and peaking in red is fine and should indeed not produce any distortion.

For levels in general, it depends. You want to keep some headroom for processing further downstream and for mixing, so you could opt to turn the level down a little to keep entirely out of the red. For a complicated project, with many tracks and long effects chains, that is definitely a good practice. But a transparent device like Utility will not sound any different with higher levels, as long as you avoid actual clipping (the meter slamming into its "ceiling", causing peaks to be cut off).

It's different for non-linear effects like compression or overdrive, which will be pushed harder – and audibly compress/distort more – by a hot signal coming in, even without actual clipping. There, it's a matter of dialing in the result you want from the effect.

[MaxGain]

I am still learning Ableton and it's also my first time working with a DAW so thanks very much for taking the time to explain all this, much appreciated!

At this point my recordings are very simple and include vocals, guitar, and bass on separate tracks all via mic.
I set the Ableton track, master and return gains as high as I can but never let them peak out of the green. Is there an amount of additional headroom I should leave depending on the post processing mixing or mastering that may bee needed; i.e. can this be quantified in terms of dbs?

Also, I have a Focusrite Scarlet adapter and set the adapter gain as high as I can but never let it peak out of the green. Is this a good approach for the adapter gain?

Again, many thanks!

[yur2die4]

Also consider:
1. Some warp modes can cause the clip output to be different. Might be worth checking how it goes with Warp off for the clip.
2. In very rare cases, conversion between formats Could cause a change, but it’s unlikely. Sometimes a little filtering is done. I think it’s more a problem going into a compressed format.

[RobrechtV]

I can't quote specific target levels (maybe someone else can) but what you're doing sounds sensible.

Levels are a balance between clipping (too high) and drowning in background noise (too low). By turning them as high as you can without hitting any red on your audio interface, you're safe on both sides. From then on, in the digital world, it's as easy as just selecting all your tracks and lowering them a couple of dB's together of you ever run out of headroom down the line.

[madlab]

As a general simplified rule, you can set your gain so that your signal hits between -18 to -12 dB on peaks. Internal calculations on tracks is 32 bits so that's enough to have a strong signal but will leave some headroom when you will mix your track.