Chapter 14: Record Setup 257
Chapter 14: Record Setup
Before you start recording, make sure your
Pro Tools system is connected and configured
properly. For details on connecting Pro Tools to
your studio, refer to the Getting Started Guide
that came with your system.
While some of the information in this chapter is
relevant to recording MIDI, there are more spe-
cific setup details for MIDI recording in
Chapter 16, “MIDI Recording.”
Input Connections and Audio
Levels
Pro Tools|HD audio interfaces operate as line-
level devices and offer no pre-amplification.
Low-level sources like microphones and electric
guitars need to be pre-amplified. You can do this
with a quality mixing board or dedicated
preamp (such as the Digidesign PRE).
The Digi 002 and Digi 002 Rack have four in-
puts with preamps, to which you can connect
low-level signals, and four additional line-level
inputs with switchable gain.
Mbox 2, Mbox 2 Pro, Mbox 2 Mini, and Mbox
each have two inputs with preamps, to which
you can connect low-level signals.
For input information on Digidesign-qualified
M-Audio units, refer to your M-Audio documen-
tation.
For all systems, volume and pan controls for
tracks in Pro Tools only affect monitoring lev-
els—not the recording input gain. The LED
meters on Digidesign audio interfaces indicate
both full-code (highest level before clipping)
and true clipping of Pro Tools output signals.
The on-screen meters in Pro Tools indicate only
true clipping.
Digital Clipping
Clipping occurs when you feed a signal to a re-
corder or mixer that is louder or “hotter” than
the device allows. On many analog tape decks, a
little clipping adds a perceived warmth to the
sound due to tape compression. In digital re-
cording, however, clipping causes digital distor-
tion, which is undesirable and should always be
avoided.
The Digidesign PRE can be used as a stand-
alone preamp with all Pro Tools systems, or
it can be remote-controlled from within a
Pro Tools session when used with a
Pro Tools|HD system.
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