M-AUDIO Delta 410 - Manual (Page 28)

signal that is 12dB "quieter" than full-scale is referred to as "-12dB." The meters
are vertically color-coded into three sections: green, yellow and red. The green
section represents a safe zone, ranging from approximately -48dB to -12dB.
Most audio signals should appropriately fill this section of the meter. The yellow
section ranges from -12dB to -3dB as the signal approaches a ‘hotter’ level. For
best capture resolution, recording in this area is both safe and advised. The red
section of the meter ranges from -3dB to 0dB. On the input level meters, a 0dB
condition indicates overload and audio clipping may occur. Therefore be careful
to adjust the incoming audio levels so that they do not peak in the red section too
long (you might use the monitoring capability of the Delta 410 to let your ears
be the judge). On all output level meters, 0dB indicates full-scale output. Unlike
the inputs, clipping is impossible on the outputs because of the 36-bit resolution
built into the mixer hardware.
MASTER VOLUME: At the left side of the Monitor Mixer page, you will see
the ‘Master Volume’ faders and peak meters. These faders have the longest
‘throw’ and highest meter resolution of any level controls in the mixer page.
They control the overall stereo level of the mixer output. The peak meters
indicate the output signal levels with respect to full-scale and are directly
affected by the settings of the master volume faders.
MIXER INPUTS: The ‘Mixer Inputs’ are inputs to the monitor mixer. These
inputs accept hardware audio streams (directly from the Delta’s analog and
digital input ports) and software audio streams (digital audio generated in
software to be output). This combination of streams makes the monitor mixer
extremely flexible. Each mixer input channel has its own level fader and may be
panned anywhere in the left/right stereo field. Each input also has its own peak
meter. The peak meters indicate the incoming "pre-fader" levels of the incoming
audio and are therefore not affected by the fader settings. However, the input
faders do affect the levels of the signals exiting the mixer and you will see the
affect of the input faders on the output "Master Volume" peak meters.
Because of the large number of mixer inputs, not all inputs are displayed
simultaneously. You may use the scroll bar at the bottom of the Delta Control
Panel to scroll the view left or right. From far left to right the inputs are labeled
"SM/ASIO 1/2” through “ SM/ASIO 7/8," then "SM/ASIO S/PDIF." These
inputs accept the digital audio streams being sent from your software application
(or the Sound Manager) to those driver devices. Each name begins with
"SM/ASIO" to remind you that these are software streams and may not
necessarily be routed to any physical outputs, and need to be connected (see
Patchbay/Router Page).
Further to the right are more channels, labeled "H/W In S/PDIF" and "H/W In
1/2." These mixer inputs are audio streams from the physical Delta 410 hardware
inputs, hence the "H/W" at the front of each label.
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