What About That RMS?

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RockChild56
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Re: What About That RMS?

Post by RockChild56 » Thu Sep 03, 2015 4:29 pm

MJRivard wrote:Hi all,
From my studies, RMS is a power rating of a electronic signal. I read an article in a Recoding mag on signal levels. In their example, they showed 3 different wave forms ( one a pulse wave, a sine wave, and a square wave ) all at the same peak meter level. The peak level showed that the signals had the same voltage level. They showed what the level of each wave form looked like on a VU meter. On the VU meter the pulse had the smallest level, the sine wave had a higher level, and the square wave had the highest level. If you have an analog synth you can listen to the sounds of the different wave forms. Just listening you will hear them as viewed on a VU meter. The differences are because of the power level each waveform produces. So with peak level meters, just having a high reading is not enough to get a louder sound. That is what a compressor does. It will reduce the strong peaks of the signal and increase the lower level parts. This increases the power of the sound. If you can see your wave forms, look at them before and after compressing. Before compression, it will be like a thin dark middle section with taller hair like peaks. After compression the middle gets thicker and the hair like peaks get smaller, and the output level is also higher. The thicker wave form shows that there is more power in the signal.

Hope that helps.
- Myran
There you go that makes a lot of sense.
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Re: What About That RMS?

Post by mojobone » Fri Sep 04, 2015 12:48 am

RockChild56 wrote:
MJRivard wrote:Hi all,
From my studies, RMS is a power rating of a electronic signal. I read an article in a Recoding mag on signal levels. In their example, they showed 3 different wave forms ( one a pulse wave, a sine wave, and a square wave ) all at the same peak meter level. The peak level showed that the signals had the same voltage level. They showed what the level of each wave form looked like on a VU meter. On the VU meter the pulse had the smallest level, the sine wave had a higher level, and the square wave had the highest level. If you have an analog synth you can listen to the sounds of the different wave forms. Just listening you will hear them as viewed on a VU meter. The differences are because of the power level each waveform produces. So with peak level meters, just having a high reading is not enough to get a louder sound. That is what a compressor does. It will reduce the strong peaks of the signal and increase the lower level parts. This increases the power of the sound. If you can see your wave forms, look at them before and after compressing. Before compression, it will be like a thin dark middle section with taller hair like peaks. After compression the middle gets thicker and the hair like peaks get smaller, and the output level is also higher. The thicker wave form shows that there is more power in the signal.

Hope that helps.
- Myran
There you go that makes a lot of sense.
And opens up a can of worms; a VU meter reads averages, not peaks. Visual representations of a waveform can tell you quite a lot, but they won't tell you where the onset of distortion begins-for that you have to use your ears. This is where a good set of headphones and a solo button can be handy.Sometimes it's better to turn off your video monitor and listen.
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