First, I want everyone to know that I understand the frustration.
I read these and it’s a debate with no answer.
@paddy_yo if the answer you are looking for is "turn knob A to X and turn knob B to Y", then yes, there is no answer. The answer is dependent on so many factors, a big one of which is the program material itself.
If you import the file into your DAW, you can do anything you want to it. Put a limiter or a "maximizer" plugin and make the level whatever you need it to be.
Some of these questions are impossible to answer directly, such as:
I would also like to know what are good or recommended settings for the gains and faders when recording a live band on 8 tracks. I have mics on all the vocals, drums and guitar amps.
"The answer is - make the levels appropriate for recording on the machine." I'm sorry
@Troy Bowditch but you are asking an impossible question . How would anyone know what your mic and input levels are, besides you? Use the mixer to adjust the levels where they need to be for a good recording - somewhere in the range of -20 to -16 DBFS with occasional peaks.
I was hoping someone would lay out a procedure step by step to get the Tascam 24 live recording into my computer at the proper volume level. We are looking for a hero here.
You want someone to be a "hero" and give you a step-by-step for getting a live recording "into" your computer at the "proper" volume level. What does that mean?
What is a proper volume level? Do you mean:
- Loud enough to compete with commercial releases?
- Proper volume to upload to a streaming service?
- Proper recording level so you can overdub in a DAW (because you said "computer" I'm not sure what you want to do with the file).
You get the point.
The mixdown file is
what you mixed. If the
mix is good then you have to apply
Mastering techniques to it in order to get the
levels where you need them to be for the outcome you desire. This is how it's done - even back in the analog days. There's no getting around it. The DP machines have a Mastering module, and the Model series do not. The Model series was designed to be used with a DAW for editing/polishing/mastering, etc..
That being said, if you don't have Mastering tools (and I would not expect someone who doesn't do Mastering to have those tools) there are several of us on the forum who can help you with that.
Here is the Mastering Discussion thread in the Recording 101 forum:
https://www.tascamforums.com/threads/mastering-discussion.9065/