The send knob

[socialnumb]

The send knob goes from infinity/-95 up to +6.0. What I'm confused about is how do I determine what is, for example 50% of the signal? Would this be 0? Why doesn't it just have a % number instead? In the manual they use the term "100%" when sending the whole signal but makes no reference on what 30% would be for example.

 

 

By the way, I did search but I got a million results.

[ski]

When it comes to sending signal to effects, there is no answer to this question, other than what your ears tell you.

 

Yup, that's the truth.

 

If you have a send set up to send signal to a reverb and the send is set at -4, but the sound still isn't quite wet enough for you, turn it up some more. How much more is up to your ears. Or maybe it sounds too wet at -4. In that case, turn it down. Same as before, the amount is up to you.

[socialnumb]

Using my ears to adjust to taste is fine but there has to be a way to determine where 1/2 the signal is. What other purpose would the numbers have besides recalling a setting? I just need to know at what point 50% of the original signal is being sent, then I could work the rest out myself.

 

Anyone have any ideas?

[fuzzfilth]

Audio Levels are adjusted on a dB scale. dB stands for decibel. Google that.

 

Christian

[ski]

The question then becomes, "half of what at what level"? Half the level of something at a perceived volume of 1/2, or half the level at an electrical level of 1/2?

 

That aside, send levels are all relative, short of a level of 0 dB which is unity (equal). But even there, the plugin(s) that your sending that unity-level to might not output a level of unity.

 

It might be more helpful if you can give a specific example of what you're trying to achieve. Then we can get specific.

[socialnumb]

Ok, a friend of mine told me to go about 50-60% Send (He uses Ableton) from my drum channel to achieve a certain sound. (Other things are involved but has nothing to do with my question) I'm just setting up parallel compression here, that's easy enough. I'm assuming his send knob reads out in percentage but he is very hard to get a hold of. So my question is, where is 50%, in other words 1/2 the signal?

 

Does that make sense?

[ski]

Thanks for providing details.

 

Both -3 and -6 are considered 50%, either of perceived loudness or actual amplitude of a signal (respectively). So try a value between -3 and -6. That's not a huge range to have to experiment with. But.......

 

Still, you're not working with the same plugins, so there's no guarantee that even that a setting within that range is going to work. And parallel compression is dependent on the threshold of the compressor as much as anything.

 

There are lots of threads here on LPH about parallel compression. Maybe one of those would help. Do a search (go up to the Forums tab, Search, keyword "parallel").

[socialnumb]

Thanks for the help.

 

I'm using the exact same plugs/settings with the same samples and the same arrangement. A learning exercise if you will. Only thing not the same is the DAW. He couldn't recall, at that moment the send amount. He says he never goes below or above that value ("50-60%") for this certain sound.

[ski]

Ah, OK, same plugs and everything else. That'll be mighty helpful. So my next suggestion would be to get a hold of a 2-mix of what he's doing (even if it's just a stem of this particular part) and lay it up in Logic. Then you can do an A/B between what you're doing and his track and find out for sure what Logic's equivalent "50% - 60%" amount is.

[David Nahmani]

50% doesn't mean anything. While ski is correct in theory, for all we know your friend could mean turn the button half way between minus-infinite and 0. But we're just guessing, as your friend didn't give you clear information.

[Mehdi]

Ok, a friend of mine told me to go about 50-60% Send (He uses Ableton)

 

So my question is, where is 50%, in other words 1/2 the signal?

 

Ableton is like Logic it reads send values as decibels, so there's no % value on the send.

 

My guess is your friend puts the send fader at the half of its course.

[socialnumb]

Right on guys! Thanks for the clarification Mehdi. Seems I'll talk to him today to sort this out.

 

Again, thanks guys.

[Mehdi]

BTW, I just checked and Live sends go up to 0 db (making halfway being -19 db, whereas Logic can go up to +6 ....

 

Might be worth checking if the sends are post or pre fader as well.

[socialnumb]

Good idea Mehdi. I'll get right on that.