You should not take advice from this guy.
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hi all
please forgive me this question has already been asked a hundred times (or please let me know if theres an answer elsewhere). im getting lost in the sea of really great information here, and im hoping someone can give me a simple, merciful answer to get me on my way. i just want to get my basics sorted in the right way/without doing something unnessacary to compromise my sound.
Im running 4 inputs into the OT (including a mic with preamp) each through a ‘thru’ machine; and i want to achieve the optimum (loudest) signal out to the PA, without adding noise/distortion from adding gain along the way. and then, if i do need to add gain, id like to know which is the cleanest way to do it.
the OT gives me 6 ways to increase the volume/gain:
-mixer page: main vol
-mixer page: gain
-SRC page: level
-SRC page: vol
-AMP page: vol
ideally, i guess you would leave them all at ‘0’ to avoid adding gain, but it would be helpful to have more volume. i gather that leaving the SRC level know at max doesnt add gain so i do that as my default. i gather that raising the mixing page main vol to ‘+ values’ adds gain which is analog, and raising the AMP page vol adds digital gain, but i also got conflicting advice about both of those. also i gather there is a noise gate but i haven’t got my head into that yet; i will i need to. Oh, and the DIR route doesnt apply for me right now as i need to isolate each chennel individually.
thanks for your time
You’ll also want to get the gain staging right going into the OT and returning from the OT. OT inputs/outputs are +17 dBu. Check to see if that is comparable to the outputs that you’re sending to the OT and the inputs that are receiving from the OT.
In my case I have to reduce all my sends from my audio interface by 7 dB since it outputs at +24 dBu. Similarly, I have to boost the signal coming back in by 7 dB.
Once I got those levels set the gain staging within the OT became a lot simpler. I could leave all the stuff on the mixer page at 0, track volumes would be at 127 for unity.
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Hi @Bryan_T
thanks for bringing this to my attention. in a way it seems obvious now you mention it, but also, i feel like i don’t fully understand. i wonder if theres something clever i dont know about, or maybe its just being aware of simple things and making adjustments using the main volumes on your inputs/outputs to cater for the sensitivity of each machine?
anyway, even if it is just a simple thing, i think what you are saying addresses the heart of my issue. i already dealt with getting the mic up to level by using a pre-amp, but one of my instruments (my korg minilogue) is quieter than the others (output of around -10dBV) and its causing me to have to compensate and use something in the OT to boost the signal.
of course, if everything were a good signal before it came into the OT, i wouldn’t need to use the OT to boost it. and of course, on the other end, if i had a powerful PA, i wouldn’t need to worry about maximising volume either. (we’re practicing at home, amplifying vocals through my monitors which arent really loud enough)…
What are the four sources?
my inputs are
A) dynamic mic w/ preamp (*eventide mixing link. boosted by about 30dB)
B) Analog Rytm (only one channel, made into a dual mono via the thru machine)
C) Korg Miniogue (around -10 dBV output level. used as a bass synth)
D) Korg Minilogue XD (same output level as the Minilogue, but in practice its not a problem because im using it for the higher octaves which are more audible)