Hello,
I use the Heat mainly as mastering device in the main bus, to add subtle saturation / color on the mixdown by using the Clean Boost circuit.
I always be careful to input a signal with enough room to the Heat work. Problem is, if i put the Drive knob more than half, with wet level at max, the exclamation signal starts to show on the ‘OUT’ section of the display.
As the Heat does not have a built in compressor, how can i optimize my settings to get the best possible output ?
The ‘AMP’ menu has a volume setting, this adjusts the output volume
Sadly. If Heat had a “DT style” compressor it would be an instant purchase for me. What a huge improvement it could be!
Why do you max out the wet level? I normally use it to keep the output signal within AH’s headroom.
Make sure the input sensetivity is set to the lowest of the three settings and turn down whatever is hitting the inputs.
Heat is much better at making quiet stuff louder than it is at making loud stuff quieter.
…full wet and full dry/wet ratio does not do the trick for me, when it comes to “fake” the old analogconsole bus summing overall impression…
having direct acces to a dedicated wet AND an additional dry/wet ratio is THE advantage that splits the heat from all the rest…
really no need for 100ds here…
while source gainstaging remains essential…
I have to agree. Maybe it’s because the lack of a compressor on the Heat leaves room for a new product, something like a ‘Analog Super Compressor’ :-p
Well i’m not sure why, but because i’m using the Heat on my master bus, the final mixdown sounds better with max wet level. But i’m open to suggestions, how do you guys configure your AH when using it on the master bus ?
I don’t have a Heat anymore, but I don’t think my wet level often went past about 70 when I was using it on the master, and I like things crunchy.
As with most Elektron gear, gain staging is always a little complicated but the flexibility that is afforded by that complexity is well worth it.
For final stage, depending how hot the mixers main out is and wheter the sound, if you push it over 0Db, saturation wise is pleasent is needed i would set AH input sensitivity to the point it doesn’t clip and then decrease the level on the mixers mains to give some headroom. I use full wet and full wet dry and adjust drive to taste. After EQ low and highs on AH i’ll bring the amp volume down so both VU meters are in aprox the same range. I leave the fysical volume pot on max.
That’s interesting as so far i never adjusted the physical volume to max because i’m afraid it will somehow distort the signal. But i noticed that when the physical volume is below 70 or 80% , the final volume tends to be low
Does it sound bad when you hit that mark?
Not bad really, but there is a lot of floor noise as i increase the volume / drive knobs. Actually i measured in Ableton and with drive knob at maxium and no incoming sound, the Heat alone generates about 30db of noise ; for instance with the ON button turned off, the channel has -80db of volume and when i click the ON button, the same channel jump to -50db, both measured with no incoming audio 
Well, Ive got the slightest bit of exclamations on the input signal.
Lowest sensativity.
I’m running some tracks out of ableton through the heat then back into ableton for compressor and limiter. All analogue connections, none of that usb overbridge nonsense.
I can crank the WET level as hard as I want, no issues. Dry/wet where ever I want.
Although I’m using the WET level to balance the levels. I dont want extra gain, just colour and shine.
If figure if I cant hear the clipping, no one else can, so it doesnt matter.