Yep. You want to shoot for -12dB to -18dB for internal workflows in the DAW 
Otherwise youāll overdrive your amp sims. So, record and gain stage down.
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Does this mean record at say 0db, then roll it back to -12 while mixing it? If so, thatās what Iāve been trying to do for all of the covers that Iāve done. I picked that tip up somewhere (maybe you?).
I wouldnāt record at 0dB on the DAI/mixer meter; you still need some headroom. Shooting for -4 to -8dB there is probably a good plan. But then yes, gain stage down at the start of the effects chain and back up at the end; most plugins are modeled on the 0dbVU metered signal, which is -18dB full-scale digital in the DAW.
tl;dr, dBU, dBVU, and dBfs are all different scales, and the relationship between them matters.
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Thanks for these lessons! Iām getting ready to record my first cover. You gave me a great starting point, and as I continue recording, I can come back here for more depth.
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Iām back. Turns out Iām WAY out of my league here. Pam and John made it all sound relatively simple, but everything Iāve dug up to help me get started has been over my head with new terminology.
I picked up the cheapest DAI I could find (ENPING TEYUN AUDIO EQUIPMENT CO., LTD) and the free demo of Reaper.
Long story short, Iām not getting good audio quality, and Iāve tried messing with all the buttons and dials, without really knowing what any of them are for.
There is a constant hiss coming through the headphones, and my bass sounds muddy. When I play back anything I record in Reaper, the volume is insufficient (good for the hiss, not good for the sweet grooves).
My question is, is this a case of āyou get what you pay for,ā or am I just doing something incorrectly?
Thanks for the help!
Hard to say but quality always trumps cheap. Not familiar with the DAI tour setup. Are you sure your gains are set right?
Iām not sure Iām setting anything up right. Itās been hours of trial and error all week. I have a call today that should help.
Has anyone tried Spleetergui?
I donāt use stem splitters, but all the stem splitters used to be based on Deezerās and it was also used in many other products (like Ozoneās master releveling). Itās fine.
Cool, itās completely free and opensource but I found it didnāt do as good of a job as Moises.