Members ashivraj Posted November 24, 2003 Members Share Posted November 24, 2003 now that im getting some basic knowledge in electronics, i might be able to understand this! what is the difference between the two? as i see it, both are used to control the signal strength (i.e. voltage). the only difference i see is their place in the signal chain on a channel strip- gain being first, and volume being last. looking at this, and a poweramp, am i correct to assume that gain basically works the input signal, whereas volume controls the output? AS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Old Steve Posted November 24, 2003 Members Share Posted November 24, 2003 That's my basic understaning of it. Gain/trim controls what's coming into the board/effect/etc. I like to think of it as "how hard the board is listening to the mic". Sounds odd, but works for me...therefore when the gain is up, the board's "ear" is right up against the grill of the mic..if somebody shouts it's going to hurt. Turning it down all the way is like plugging your board's "ear" up. "Volume" and levels are what you turn up or down once the signal is running around in the board. If the gain is set properly, you should have plenty of room left to turn the (now processed) sound up or down. I'm sure there will be more technical defintions to follow...but this "idiot" version works fine for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members RickJ Posted November 24, 2003 Members Share Posted November 24, 2003 The gain/trim is used to optimize the channel so you have the highest possible signal-to-noise ratio. Too low of a setting and you raise the noise floor. Too high and you overload the channel. The fader is then used to position that channel in the mix. Ideally you shouldn't see a difference of more than 6dB or so between any of the channel fader settings, and most of the faders will be hovering very close to 0dB. That is, if the stage volume is reasonable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members agedhorse Posted November 24, 2003 Members Share Posted November 24, 2003 Yes, the input gain is basically a sensitivity control, which "normalizes" or optimizes the signal level for the following electronics such as eq, bus drivers etc. It's purpose is to preserve signal to noise ratio while eliminating the possibility (if you follow instructions anyway) of overdriving the channel strip electronics. It basicly allows you to set the signal level within an optimum window for the electronics following the mic pre stage, since the level into the mic pre is not well defined level-wise. Hope this helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ashivraj Posted November 24, 2003 Author Members Share Posted November 24, 2003 cheers for the replies, all. i think im beginning to get it. i've sorta known for a while what they do, and im glad to see that i've been using it correctly. i.e. with each channel, first PFL it and set the gain so peaks are around 0-3dB, then bring up the house fader till it sounds comfortable in the mix (not including details about EQ and aux sends and such). thanks! AS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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