Operation Manual

AUDIO BASICS
56
About audio levels
When recording and playing back in Reason, you should keep an eye on the Audio In and Audio Out Clip indicators
on the Transport Panel, or on the Hardware Interface and the Big Meter. If any of the clip indicators light up, the audio
level is too high, resulting in clipping (digital distortion).
The Clip indicators on the Audio In and Audio Out meters on the Transport Panel
The Big Meter on the Hardware Interface
D To remedy Audio In clipping, adjust the level at the input source, i.e. on the hardware audio interface or on the
preamp connected to the hardware audio interface.
! When sampling external audio signals, clipping cannot be adjusted in the Reason application - it must be ad-
justed at the audio input source!
! When sampling audio internally from devices in the rack, you have to adjust the Output Level on the source de-
vice to make sure clipping doesn’t occur in the Hardware Interface.
D To remedy Audio Out clipping, lower the master level on the Mixer (or other device) that is connected to the
Hardware Interface, until Audio Out clipping doesn’t light up on playback.
You could also use the MClass Maximizer as an insert effect after the Mixer to ensure that clipping never occurs -
see “The MClass Maximizer”.
D To get a better overview of the levels, bring up the Big Meter on the Hardware Interface, by clicking the “Big
Meter” button on the front panel. Then, select the input or output pairs to view in the Big Meter by clicking on
the corresponding channel selection button below each input or output pairs. Alternatively, select channel by
turning the channel selection knob.
If the audio level is, or has been, too high, the Clip indicators on the Big Meter will stay lit until you click the Reset
button, or select new audio channels for the Big Meter.
! In some situations, the Audio Out Clip indicator on the Transport Panel and the Output Clip indicators on the
Reason Hardware Interface might light up if the metronome Click is active in the sequencer during playback
(see “Click and Pre-count”). This is nothing to worry about and won’t cause any distortion in your song. To de-
termine if the metronome is causing the clipping indication, just disable Click and see if the clipping stops.
The Clip indicators will stay lit for a short
moment, to make them easier to spot.
Channel Selection buttons
for the “Big Meter”
The “Show Big Meter” button
Clip indicators
Reset
button
Channel Selection knob
for the “Big Meter”