Preamp gain staging: gain vs. output

flanneljammies

New member
OK here's the deal...
My ART DPS preamp has an Gain knob, an Output knob, and a Digital Output knob. The only meter is for analog output.

My questions are about how to set up my preamp to record only using the SPDIF out:
If I'm not using the analog output, can I turn the Output knob all the way down?
How do I set the Gain and the Digital Output in relation to each other? I can watch the input meters in my software to set the Digital Output, but how do I gauge where to set the Gain (input)?

My DMP3 is really straight forward: I just turn the Gain knob until my levels are good in the software. I'm stumped with this Gain vs. Output thing.
 
This means you have two amplifiers in a chain, and the first one is the actual mic preamp, and the otehr one is to set the output volume so that you can adapt it to different inputs. In theory, the last one should not bet needed (and indeed, many preamps doesn't have it).

The meter should measure the level between the amps, or it is simply useless (which wouldn't surprise me, since it's an ART).
 
A good trick I use, and have seen recommended else where (and this works for any signal chain) is to crank up the gain to the point where you hear the noise, then back it off a bit until the noise disappears, then pass audio through it and adjust gain until there is no distortion. After this, set the output level as needed. Initially you will want to set the output to relatively low levels as to not overload the inputs of your mixer/soundcard so that you'll only be listening for distortion in your pre.
 
This is a very important feature in high end preamps, makng them twice as versatile.
ON the API or the Great River NV, the idea is to go really low gain setting to get a super clean sound, and cranking it at the output stage to hit the yellow zone on your medium, or to get some thick sounds with some meat and potatoes, crank the input gain up tp smack the transformer (or tubes) real hard and back off the output until you are in the yellow again. The whole idea of the NV is to be able to push the transformer and get that tasty color out of it.
 
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