Semi OT: Audio recording for video

DavidMcKnight wrote on 12/1/2005, 9:59 AM
A new project jumped in my lap this week, I have the opportunity to shoot a live concert on both video and multitrack audio. I'm going to use Vegas at the shoot with 1 or possibly 2 Laylas ganged together to capture the audio; should I set the resolution to 48K to better sync with video in post?

Also, with respect to recording the audio to a hard drive, I have the choice between internal IDE, internal IDE in a removable drive tray, and IDE in an external Firewire enclosure. Is one any worse or better than the other for 8 or 16 tracks?

Comments

farss wrote on 12/1/2005, 11:44 AM
I'd stick to 48K and 24bit if your system is capable. Internal drives are going to give you the best performance so I'd stick to them if you can. With 24bit you get more headroom which means you can set your levels a bit lower to avoid any risk of clipping and then bring the levels up in post.
Bob.
DavidMcKnight wrote on 12/1/2005, 1:36 PM
thanks Bob. One of the units I'm recording with is an original Layla (20 bit) and the other is a Layla24 (24 bit). Should they both be set to 20, or should they be set to their respective maximums?

re: headroom, what is a good starting point 24 bit, -10 level perhaps?
kdm wrote on 12/1/2005, 2:44 PM
As far as bit depth between the two Layla units - just set the record app for 24 bit. Many mid-grade 24-bit converters only deliver 20-22 bits anyway. Either way, 24-bit will only buy you extra info if recording an acoustic, classical, jazz etc. where you have a wide dynamic range (esp.quite passages), nice acoustic space, great mics and preamps. For rock it doesn't gain much, if anything, but no reason not too anyway.

For hard drives, just use a separate internal from the system drive (similar to video standards, but not quite as stringent) - preferrably ATA100-133/7200rpm or SATA. Using a removable tray shouldn't make a difference, but I would test tracking your expected max track count just to be sure there are no system-related suprises.