Behringer X32 Producer - low mic levels when recording via USB to Logic Pro X

[Donald Bakerian]

Hello - X32 producer connected to my Mac via USB. Using Logic Pro X to record.

Mic input #1 - gain set at 27db - running from the mic directly to the x32 producer - when recording my vocals, everything sounds fine in my headphones and the level meter is bouncing between -20 and -18db on the Behringer mixer - verified using solo button.

When I look at the wave pattern in Logic Pro x it is barely visible, just a straight line. When I use the wave pattern zoom in Logic Pro it barely reveals the wave pattern. Listening to the mic 1 channel through Logic Pro X, the output level seems very low and thin sounding.

I’m not sure why this is as when I record my piano, guitar, drums, the levels look and sound great in Logic Pro X.

Is there some output level on the mixer that is set really low for usb recording that I’m missing in the settings? This just doesn’t make any sense to me why this is happening. Maybe I should do a factory reset? Thank you.

 

[Tim McCulloch]

The full scale display in your DAW is literally ZERO dB Full Scale. You would be out of 1's and 0's.

From the early days of digital recording and all of analog recording, "hitting the tape" with the most level before clipping was important from a signal to noise standpoint. With 24 bit words (or 32) this is no longer necessary but old ways die very, very hard. You can crank up your inputs by 16dB and turn down all your live outputs by 16dB and have a pretty picture in the DAW.

FWIW, in Ye Olde Analogue Dayz we'd solo/PFL an input and raise input trim/gain until the signal was more or less at 0 dBVU, which left about 16-20dB of analog headroom in the output circuits. If you look at most digital mixers these days, -16 to -20 corresponds to the same voltage as 0 dBVU (1.4 volts into 600 ohms) while the mixer has a full output voltage of 15v or more, which corresponds to the mixer's 0 DBFS level (out of 1's and 0's).

The whole point - the digital noise floor is well below the analog noise floor so there is no reason to squeeze the last half dB out, but broadcast and recording expect it because it's always been done that way.