How to Get the Right Head Room on Pro Tools for Recording in a Home Music Studio

Signal to noise ratio is an important consideration in home studio recording. In the days of analog tape recording, good signal to noise ratio was achieved by keeping the signal hot and minimizing head room. More than likely, you are using digital software like Pro Tools to record, so the rules of head room change. Here are some tips for getting the right head room in Pro Tools.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

1. Know your equipment. It is important to know where your signal from your analog preamps registers in the digital world of Pro Tools. Select some of the gear you use the most and test it in Pro Tools. Make note of where the meter on a channel strip is in Pro Tools when the VU meter on the preamp is at zero or higher. Pro Tools HD interfaces, like the 192, have a calibration mode you can use to tweak your hardware.

2. Keep your signal from clipping in Pro Tools. Pushing analog gear often gives you an edgy and full sound. Analog distortion can even sometimes be desirable. Digital clipping is not pleasant and is nearly impossible to fix after it happens. The only way to keep from dealing with digital distortion is to be sure Pro Tools doesn't clip. Keep your levels below clipping in Pro Tools at all costs.

3. Get your signal to noise ratio right on the analog side. Any noise you have on a track is most likely from analog gear because digital floor noise is nearly non-existent. Because of this, you can have low Pro Tools signal and have a great signal to noise ratio as long as you have good signal to noise on your analog preamps and mics.

4. Use compression and limiting to keep from overloading Pro Tools. You can still get high levels but protect yourself with a little compression or limiting. Utilizing compression to control your peaks will give you an overall higher signal. Consider layers of compression to keep it sounding natural while maintaining optimal signal.

5. Utilize your bit depth. The reason to not record everything as low as possible in Pro Tools is because you utilize your bit resolution more when you have a hotter signal. One way to get more head room without sacrificing resolution is by upping your bit depth. Try recording in 24 bit even if you are planning to bounce at 16 bit. It will increase your head room and your resolution, but beware that your audio files will take up more hard drive space.

Tips & Warnings

• If you do get a red clipping indicator in Pro Tools, do not automatically think the take is ruined. Go back and listen to see if there is digital distortion. Also check when the clip happened because something like bumping a mic at a nonessential time could cause it.