Become a member

Log in

Log in

< Back to Getting Started

Agrandir

Articles 589 589

Media 4,560 4,6k

Tutorials

Forums 1,253 1,3k

Thread [Getting started] Why Headroom is Important

2 replies
2 participants
1,908 views
2 followers

Mike Levine

Author

First post

1 Posted on 04/15/2014 at 16:09:21

Why Headroom is Important

You’ve probably heard the term “headroom” thrown around a lot. What it is, essentially, is a margin of safety between the loudest peaks of your track — or tracks, in the case of a mix — and 0 dB on your DAW’s meter, where your signal starts to clip and digital distortion can rear its ugly head. The difference between the peaks and 0 dBFS is your headroom.

Read the article

This thread was created automatically after the publishing of an article. Feel free to post your comments here!

Watch by email

Kronmeister

New AFfiliate

2 Posted on 05/06/2014 at 00:23:28

Very good article... on the money. Being an 'old head', I still think in terms of linear analog... but I'm getting into the 21st century!

Mike Levine

Author

3 Posted on 05/06/2014 at 09:52:26

Thanks! I'm glad it was helpful. The idea of leaving so much headroom is definitely counterintuitive for anyone who started in the analog era. Even those who started recording when 16-bit digital was the standard were taught that getting as hot a level recorded to disk was advantageous from a signal-to-noise-ratio standpoint. Of course, you still couldn't exceed 0 dB without distortion, like you could with tape.

List of moderators

cookies

We are using cookies!

Yes, Audiofanzine is using cookies. Since the last thing that we want is disturbing your diet with too much fat or too much sugar, you'll be glad to learn that we made them ourselves with fresh, organic and fair ingredients, and with a perfect nutritional balance. What this means is that the data we store in them is used to enhance your use of our website as well as improve your user experience on our pages and show you personalised ads (learn more). To configure your cookie preferences, click here.

We did not wait for a law to make us respect our members and visitors' privacy. The cookies that we use are only meant to improve your experience on our website.

Configure my preferences
Accept all

Our cookies

Cookies not subject to consent

These are cookies that guarantee the proper functioning of Audiofanzine and allow its optimization. The website cannot function properly without these cookies. Example: cookies that help you stay logged in from page to page or that help customizing your usage of the website (dark mode or filters).

Google Analytics

We are using Google Analytics in order to better understand the use that our visitors make of our website in an attempt to improve it.

Advertising

This information allows us to show you personalized advertisements thanks to which Audiofanzine is financed. By unchecking this box you will still have advertisements but they may be less interesting :) We are using Google Ad Manager to display part of our ads, or tools integrated to our own CMS for the rest. We are likely to display advertisements from our own platform, from Google Advertising Products or from Adform.

You can find more details on data protection in our privacy policy.
You can also find information about how Google uses personal data by following this link.

We did not wait for a law to make us respect our members and visitors' privacy. The cookies that we use are only meant to improve your experience on our website.

Select all

Our cookies

> Cookies not subject to consent

These are cookies that guarantee the proper functioning of Audiofanzine. The website cannot function properly without these cookies. Examples: cookies that help you stay logged in from page to page or that help customizing your usage of the website (dark mode or filters).

Google Analytics

We are using Google Analytics in order to better understand the use that our visitors make of our website in an attempt to improve it. When this parameter is activated, no personal information is sent to Google and the IP addresses are anonymized.

Advertising

This information allows us to show you personalized advertisements thanks to which Audiofanzine is financed. By unchecking this box you will still have advertisements but they may be less interesting :) We are using Google Ad Manager to display part of our ads, or tools integrated to our own CMS for the rest. We are likely to display advertisements from our own platform, from Google Advertising Products or from Adform.

Confirm my preferences

As an alternative, you can also prevent us from using cookies and permanently hide this cookies popup by clicking here.

You can find more details on data protection in our privacy policy.
You can also find information about how Google uses personal data by following this link.