Mixer Settings

[TripleM]

I've been trying to read up on gain staging and trying to understand what it is. I've read a few posts, but I think I'm still a little unclear.

Anyway, it rasied a question in my mind on the best levels to set on a mixer during recording. I understand that you want to get your levels "up there" but without any clipping.

There are different ways to do this. I have a Mackie 1202 vlz mixer. Each of the 1st four channels has a main Gain setting and a trim setting (for the mic preamp). Both of these affect the recording level.

So what are the best ways to set the levels? Should I set the gain to unity and adjust the trim to get the desired recording level? Should I turn the gain down below unity and boost the trim more? Are there better ways? Does it change based on what you're recording (electric guit, acoustic guit, vocals, etc.)?

My mixes tend to suffer from sounding "thin" and I'm wondering if it's due in part to not recording the tracks optimally.

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

[KingstonRock]

Im not really sure about the mackie board, I dont think it makes a difference, but i would say ideally you want all but one gain stage set to unity.

So keep the trim and channel fader at unity, and adjust with only the gain.

[TexRoadkill]

On the mackies and most boards you set the fader to unity and adjust the preamp gain for the best level. I think if you hit the solo button it gives you the Pre Fader Level which is what you use to set the preamp gain.

[TripleM]

Thanks for the advice!!