levels looked OK but recording sounded distorted

[Richard Gooderick]

Hi Tom
If I have understood the foregoing correctly the most likely theory is that the levels were clipped at the trim control level within the menu. Which I had not checked because I was unaware that it existed.
By the time the signal got to the on-screen display (where you would adjust it with the wheels and on-screen level controls) it was 'normalised' (probably a technically incorrect use of the word but I don't know any better) ie it looked like an unclipped signal on the onscreen display of the camera even though I could hear it distorting.
Therefore at any time after that it would appear to be an unclipped signal eg on my Media Composer timeline or your Audition timeline.
BTW When editing the piece I noticed that the sound is distorting occasionally with the replacement mic. I suppose this would support the 'distortion occurred at trim level within the menu' theory. I imagine that the replacement mic (Sanken CS3e) was not as 'hot' as the DPA4061 and that is why there is much less distortion.