Setting Recording Levels - Digital or Analog?

[carbo56]

Hi,
I am using VinylStudio on a Mac.   My turntable is connected to an ARC phono pre-amp, then to an ARC line pre-amp, then to the line-in on a Music Hall PA2.2 which is then USB connected to my Mac and set for 24/96.  The sliders in VinylStudio can be used to set the recording level.

Which scenario for setting gain would give me better results, e.g. full 24-bit resolution?

1) Connect the tape-output of the ARC line pre-amp to the Music Hall, and then adjust the level on the slider in VS (I would typically need to reduce it to somewhere between 60-70).

2) Connect the variable pre-amp out from the ARC to the Music Hall, set the slider in VS to 100, and use the analog volume control on the ARC pre-amp to set the level (I would typically set the gain control on the pre-amp to around 40-50%).

Option #1 is more convenient because I wouldn't have to swap wiring whenever I wanted to record.  But I want to make sure I am not losing bits by reducing the gain digitally in VS.

Thanks for your help.

[Paul Sanders (AlpineSoft)]

You shouldn't be, no.  ADC's typically adjust the recording level in the analog domain before digitising the signal and VS passes that slider on to the ADC.  Nothing else makes any sense, really.

[carbo56]

Ah, ok, so the slider is actually communicating back to the ADC to lower the gain it is sending, rather than VinylStudio reducing the level it receives from the ADC...  Do I have it correct?   Thanks for the info!

[Paul Sanders (AlpineSoft)]

Yes, that's right.  VinylStudio never scales the signal in the digital domain.  Windows does, under certain circumstances, but that's another story (and VinylStudio offers a means to prevent it).