M-Audio Digital Recording Interface Delta 44 Instruction Manual page 16

that is 12dB 'quieter' than full-scale is referred to as "-12dB." The meters are
vertically color-coded into three sections: green, yellow and red. The green section
represents a safe zone, ranging from approximately -48dB to -12dB. Most audio
signals should appropriately fill this section of the meter. The yellow section ranges
from -12dB to -3dB as the signal approaches a 'hotter' level. For best capture
resolution, recording in this area is both safe and advised. The red section of the
meter ranges from -3dB to 0dB. On the input level meters, a 0dB condition indicates
overload and audio clipping may occur. Therefore be careful to adjust the incoming
audio levels so that they do not peak in the red section too long (you might use the
monitoring capability of the Delta 44 to let your ears be the judge). On all output
level meters, 0dB indicates full-scale output. Unlike the inputs, hardware clipping
is impossible on the outputs because of the 36-bit resolution built into the mixer
hardware. However, please note that it is possible to mix multiple tracks within your
software application and cause clipping to occur in the output stream before it
reaches the Delta output hardware or monitor mixer.
MASTER VOLUME: At the left side of the Monitor Mixer page, you will see the
'Master Volume' faders and peak meters. These faders have the longest 'throw' and
highest meter resolution of any level controls in the mixer page. They control the
overall stereo level of the mixer output. The peak meters indicate the output signal
levels with respect to full-scale and are directly affected by the settings of the master
volume faders.
MIXER INPUTS: The 'Mixer Inputs' are inputs to the monitor mixer. These inputs
accept hardware audio streams (directly from the Delta's analog input ports) and
software audio streams (digital audio generated in software to be output). This
combination of streams makes the monitor mixer extremely flexible. Each mixer
input channel has its own level fader and may be panned anywhere in the left/right
stereo field. Also, each input has its own peak meter. The peak meters indicate the
incoming "pre-fader" levels of the incoming audio and are therefore not affected by
the fader settings. However, the input faders do affect the levels of the signals
exiting the mixer and you will see the effect of the input faders on the output "Master
Volume" peak meters.
The two leftmost peak meters are labeled "WavOut 1/2," "WavOut 3/4." These
mixer inputs accept the digital audio streams being sent from your software
application (or Windows) to the driver devices with those same names. Each name
begins with "WavOut" to remind you that these are software streams and may not
necessarily be routed to any physical outputs (see Patchbay/Router Page). To the
right are more channels, labeled "H/W In 1/2," and "H/W In 3/4." These mixer
inputs are audio streams from the physical Delta 44 hardware inputs, hence the
"H/W" at the front of each label. On the Mac, these inputs are labeled "SM/ASIO,"
as these software streams will be receiving their digital audio either from the Sound
Manager or the ASIO driver, depending on your selection.
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