Recording rehearsals, mic levels question.

[dave_bass5]

I recently purchased a Tascam DR-05 recorder for recording rehearsals. This replaced my old and trusted Edirol recorder. The Tascam producrs much better rectordings, clearer, more even and oval just a big step up from what i had before. I’m very pleased with the results, especially at this price point.

My only worry, is that the recording levels goes from 0-100, and i have to set it to 3 to avoid overloading. This works well (and yes, i have asked the band to turn down) but my old recorder(s) had a mic attenuation control on them. 

I’m just wondering if I should get something that also has this, or just live with wha ti had. I must admit I’m a bit worried about the louder peaks, although th limiter keeps them in check.

Thoughts? I’m only use this as a stand alone, its not practical to plug a desk or mic’s in, its just for analysis purposes anyway. My gut feeling is if it works dont worry, but i thought i’d get some opinions before spending more money, in case sonically i could get better. 

Edited February 19, 2018 by dave_bass5

[bazzbass]

I have the DR40, it has an auto level option, does yours have this feature?

If not, get the band to play as loudly as they ever do and manually adjust the mic level so it's peaking, then turn it down a tad so it's no longer clipping. It won't ever clip if you do this right.

[dave_bass5]

I think both those units work in the same way as far as recording levels go.

Im not getting distortion, the levels are fine, im just wondering if only having the mic level on 3/100 could cause a loss of quality or more nose etc. The recordings are good and solid, its just maybe a bit of OCD. Considering the recorders are advertise as being good for high pressure sound levels i was a bit surprised at how sensitive they actually are compared to my old Edirol recorder.