Edit gain versus Envelope change - one better for audio quality?

[AB7]

If I edit the gain of a clip by using the edit function and changing the gain, or if do it by changing the volume envelope, is the result the same or different in terms of audio quality?
Thank you.

Edited November 5, 2023 by Alan Bachman

[OutrageProductions]

It doesn't really matter much. Copy the track and adjust one with clip gain, the other with track volume, then compare by listening.

Do you hear a difference?

Well... there's your answer.

Do what those of us who are professionals at this do; make a decision, learn to commit to it, finish the project, cash the check, and move on. 

Don't sweat the small stuff. 😉

[David Baay]

All of the non-destructive gain-staging methods available in CbB  are going to process with the same precision in real time - 32 bits or 64  if you have the 64-bit Double Precision Engine enabled (which it is by default). It doesn't matter where you do it in the virtual chain. Nothing happens to quality until you bounce/export to file at a lower bit depth and/or sample rate,

EDIT: I should mention, however, that plugins that affect dynamics will of course behave differently if the change is a pre-FX gain change vs. a post-FX volume change.

Edited November 5, 2023 by David Baay

[Max Arwood]

You already have your answer, but clip gain is special because it is reflected in the wave form graphic. 

[AB7]

1 hour ago, Max Arwood said:

You already have your answer, but clip gain is special because it is reflected in the wave form graphic. 

Exactly.   Thank you.

[ptheisen]

22 hours ago, David Baay said:

EDIT: I should mention, however, that plugins that affect dynamics will of course behave differently if the change is a pre-FX gain change vs. a post-FX volume change.

Just to add to this, other types of plugins can also be affected by gain changes, such as amp and console emulators, those that intentionally add distortion. Usually for those types of plugins, the more input gain they receive, the more distortion they add to the dry audio. But if you use volume changes, the  ratio of added distortion to dry audio won't change, just the volume of the combined audio.

[Craig Anderton]

38 minutes ago, ptheisen said:

Just to add to this, other types of plugins can also be affected by gain changes, such as amp and console emulators, those that intentionally add distortion. Usually for those types of plugins, the more input gain they receive, the more distortion they add to the dry audio.

Yes, and one of the cool aspects is you can ramp up the level over a passage to increase the amount of drive and add intensity.