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Somebloke

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  1. Found the CO2. So now optical out>crossover. Same results across the board, Pro DAWS 1 iTunes 0, still OK on the Pro, too much red in iTunes. Curiously, very close inspection seems to show that my crossover clips when the DAWs are peaking at about -0.3dB ! I know you can get discrepancies with analogue meters. But I'm all digital, thought these were 100% accurate. It's a Behringer DCX 2496, half modded (power supplies only, I haven't altered the in, or output boards yet except giving them clean power. A better clock, ins and outs to follow). The inputs (and out) has loads and loads of cheap opamps and with balanced input connected to my unbalanced Saffire SPDIF out could be the cause here. So the Behringer then for a small quantity of extra reds. But the Saffire still says iTunes clips and the DAWs don't and the Focusrite and DAWs agree. Wierdness. I now think my initial idea that iTunes has a hidden inflator is wrong. Too many other people with too much other kit don't get these results. It IS me again . . . sigh . . . again. Therefore just taking the very top off the gain WILL work as I think the problem is somewhere else now. It's localized to this set up. It happens in Mac and XP. So, specifically this computer. Now I can relax, put all my kit back to normal and enjoy the music. If I ever find the source of the extra reds I'll post here. Thanks for your input and may you stay out of the red forever. Blokeout
  2. The dim switch is only applicable to the main line audio outs. I'm using Mac Pro>firewire>spdif>crossover. No analogue until crossover outs. +16dBu is VERY high and I found the dim switch slightly degraded the sound hence digital all the way. There's no point my sound card doing D>A then the crossover doing A>D I want to run at -0dB throughout to get the lowest noise floor then control master volume with an analogue control just before the power amps. At the moment I'm using large pads on the power amp ins to achieve this. I've got an M-Audio CO2 opticaldigital format changer somewhere I'll plug Mac optical into it then spdif to crossover. This will eliminate the Saffire. Unfortunately that also means I'll loose its metering and will have to rely on what the crossover digital in says. Will post when I find it.
  3. Sorry, didn't mention that I get exactly the same results using the Cubase LE that came with the sound card (Mac Pro, Boot Camp, XPsp3 - it doesn't like 10.5). The red goes away. Everything works fine in with the pro side, red on the consumer. Try it yourself. Same (loud) file in a DAW of your choice. Then iTunes. All at unity. Check the outputs further down the line. My iTunes and VLC (100%) are too hot. Haven't tried WMP yet. Hang on . . . . christmas tree again, possibly worse than the others. Would need longer to compare properly. It would be nice to know if everyone else's iTunes work OK because that would localize "the problem" to this setup on the consumer side or this machine. Am I somehow using different routing/do they use different routing, Focusrite ASIO vs Direct X ? Red herring ? - I get the same results in mac 10.5 with core audio. The routing should be irrelevant. 0dB is 0dB. From this end it's almost a non problem, the Pro stuff works, the consumer distorts. But would Like to get a consumer player working as they are far better for just enjoying the music. Blokeout
  4. My "problem" is very similiar to the above. I've been looking to find the answer for ages. I've registered just to post this: Mac Pro into Focusrite Saffire into active crossover all set at unity. Play ripped media (ripped as mp3,AAC,WAV or AIFF) with iTunes at unity too = lots of red all over the crossover and the Saffire. Too much even for these decibel war days. Load exactly the same file into TRacks and play back at unity = no red. Well . . . . the very occassional red . . . or loads of red if you listen to modern over compressed junk. Exactly as it should be. I thought there was something wrong with the crossover. I'm slowly modding it (I'm into DIY audio) and suspected my own work until I tried the same files in TRacks. It's nice to know I'm not alone and my work on the crossover is OK. With my own experience and after reading the above, the most logical conclusion is that there is some kind of chicanery going on in iTunes. An exciter on all the time perhaps, apart from the one in iTunes preferences that you can turn off. If I remove iTunes fron the equation then my ears, eyes, crossover, soundcard and TRacks agree - iTunes at unity is too hot ! What we need is an Uber Geek of the first order to tell us how to turn the exciter off. Most music these days is pulverized rather than mastered and I don't want iTunes adding even more distortion. In the mean time if you want to honestly evaluate music or listen for pleasure use a more honest player. Just turning down iTunes won't work. Yes it will get rid of the red but the "exciter" is still working (distorting) away, just not pushing the signal into clip. VLC has the same problem in Mac and PC too. Nice to know we don't have a problem - it's iTunes ! Blokeout.
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