PFL Buttons
- Thread starter DJ Strutt
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sonusman
Banned
Hey doc. Usually, PFL ONLY interupts the Control Room output you would have your monitors set up to.
There is another option called Solo In Place, which is a AFL (After Fader Level) which as I recall will interrupt the mix output too as I recall (can't remember, will have to play with that again on my Ghost).
If you are monitoring off of the Main or Mix output of your mixer, or the outputs of your mixdown device, PFL will not effect the mix. This is that way because for example while I am mixing a band live, and I need to view the preamp level on a channel, I don't want the main mix being interrupted in the process!
I just need to view the preamp, PFL, level to see if it is set within the parameters that I want.
Clarified now?
Ed
There is another option called Solo In Place, which is a AFL (After Fader Level) which as I recall will interrupt the mix output too as I recall (can't remember, will have to play with that again on my Ghost).
If you are monitoring off of the Main or Mix output of your mixer, or the outputs of your mixdown device, PFL will not effect the mix. This is that way because for example while I am mixing a band live, and I need to view the preamp level on a channel, I don't want the main mix being interrupted in the process!
I just need to view the preamp, PFL, level to see if it is set within the parameters that I want.Clarified now?
Ed
sonusman
Banned
Oh, and vox is correct in that you can usually turn down the PFL level with a supplied knob somewhere on the mixer.
Another thing I forgot is that not only will PFL disrupt the Control Room output, but will disrupt usually the Headphone out on most mixers. This ALSO depends on whether the Headphone Out has options on where it get's it's source. If you CAN choose the source of the headphone output, if you were mixing, you would want it to be possibly the Control Room output because then you can hear the track that PFL is engaged on. But, if you were a performer who was tracking a song, you would probably want the Main Mix output so that the engineer can PFL a channel without disrupting your headphone mix.
Ed
Another thing I forgot is that not only will PFL disrupt the Control Room output, but will disrupt usually the Headphone out on most mixers. This ALSO depends on whether the Headphone Out has options on where it get's it's source. If you CAN choose the source of the headphone output, if you were mixing, you would want it to be possibly the Control Room output because then you can hear the track that PFL is engaged on. But, if you were a performer who was tracking a song, you would probably want the Main Mix output so that the engineer can PFL a channel without disrupting your headphone mix.
Ed
drstawl
Banned
Cool. The adjustment PFL on the Mix Wiz is the pre-amp gain. Top knob on each channel strip. But that will effect the whole mix if you change it while recording.
Here's a good question brought on by your clarification.
Do you want to trust your ears on setting the PFL and just use the LED display as a rough guide or trust the light and use the audio output as a rough guide?
Remember I'm talking about a live mix- there might be a considerable SPL in the room that will obfuscate even a mix heard in cans that seal pretty well.
Here's a good question brought on by your clarification.
Do you want to trust your ears on setting the PFL and just use the LED display as a rough guide or trust the light and use the audio output as a rough guide?
Remember I'm talking about a live mix- there might be a considerable SPL in the room that will obfuscate even a mix heard in cans that seal pretty well.
sonusman
Banned
Usually doc, the Peak light that is on most mixers is set somewhere between -4 and -8dB BEFORE the circuit starts to actually clip. Think of this as being a "dummy light" more then anything else. If the light blinks a little bit, pretty good chance that you are about where you want to be. Check your manual, or call tech support for your console to inquire as the were they set the Peak LED light to engage (what ACTUAL level).
Another couple things to consider about Peak LED's and what circuit distortion in general.
Whether you can get away with a bit of clipping depends a lot on the signal that is causing it. Lower frequencies last longer in the time domain, thus, if they cause clipping, there is a better chance that you will HEAR clipping.
Higher frequencies are very short lived, and thus, clipping them will obviously mean a square wave on the resulting signal, but the transient peak may have been so short lived anyway that you probably would have not heard a difference between it clipping and not clipping. This is a trick that is very useful.
If you are for say, using a overhead mic on the drums, don't feel shy to engage in a hair of "clipping" on it. This will help you get the most sound to noise ratio, and if you can get it to clip enough without HEARING a bad kind of distortion, this clipping can in effect "warm up the track" as most like to say. You are cutting off the transients, thus creating a smoother sound.
This is obviously not something you would want to do on say a kick drum, bass guitar, most keyboard patches, etc.....These instruments tend to have a lot of low frequency content that can easily cause audible distortion. But something like clean guitar, snare drums, drum overheads, some vocal tracks, percussion in general, etc.....can benefit from a hotter signal to tape by clipping the preamp a bit.
As with most things, this is something to try out. You will have to get a "feel" for how far you can clip your preamps on any given instrument before you hear distortion. Once you do though, you will find yourself really pumping the preamps pretty hard to get the most out of them. Tube preamps definately give you even more room to play than solid state circuits do, so if you have one, do play around with running it hot. I would suspect that the reason that many don't see the big deal with a preamp like the ART Tube MP is that they never ran it hot enough for it to get "that sound".
Ed
Another couple things to consider about Peak LED's and what circuit distortion in general.
Whether you can get away with a bit of clipping depends a lot on the signal that is causing it. Lower frequencies last longer in the time domain, thus, if they cause clipping, there is a better chance that you will HEAR clipping.
Higher frequencies are very short lived, and thus, clipping them will obviously mean a square wave on the resulting signal, but the transient peak may have been so short lived anyway that you probably would have not heard a difference between it clipping and not clipping. This is a trick that is very useful.
If you are for say, using a overhead mic on the drums, don't feel shy to engage in a hair of "clipping" on it. This will help you get the most sound to noise ratio, and if you can get it to clip enough without HEARING a bad kind of distortion, this clipping can in effect "warm up the track" as most like to say. You are cutting off the transients, thus creating a smoother sound.
This is obviously not something you would want to do on say a kick drum, bass guitar, most keyboard patches, etc.....These instruments tend to have a lot of low frequency content that can easily cause audible distortion. But something like clean guitar, snare drums, drum overheads, some vocal tracks, percussion in general, etc.....can benefit from a hotter signal to tape by clipping the preamp a bit.
As with most things, this is something to try out. You will have to get a "feel" for how far you can clip your preamps on any given instrument before you hear distortion. Once you do though, you will find yourself really pumping the preamps pretty hard to get the most out of them. Tube preamps definately give you even more room to play than solid state circuits do, so if you have one, do play around with running it hot. I would suspect that the reason that many don't see the big deal with a preamp like the ART Tube MP is that they never ran it hot enough for it to get "that sound".
Ed
Tom Hicks
Well-known member
PFL thoughts:
In a live mix,the pre fade listen button lets you send that one (or really any combination of ) track(s) to the phones to check signal quality,level etc.
In recording,you might want to return a pair or more of tracks to the board for monitoring the mix while doing overdubs without having the return tracks go back to the recorder.usually this is done at the top of the channel strip.
But,some boards also let you set the aux returns as pre or post fader.PFL on auxes permit sending the tape return to delay or other effects to give the person overdubbing an effected signal in their phones while tracking the dry signal only.This preserves your flexibility to add effects at the mixdown stage instead.
The PFL is very useful and most recording handbooks will detail several ways to skin that cat.
Tom
In a live mix,the pre fade listen button lets you send that one (or really any combination of ) track(s) to the phones to check signal quality,level etc.
In recording,you might want to return a pair or more of tracks to the board for monitoring the mix while doing overdubs without having the return tracks go back to the recorder.usually this is done at the top of the channel strip.
But,some boards also let you set the aux returns as pre or post fader.PFL on auxes permit sending the tape return to delay or other effects to give the person overdubbing an effected signal in their phones while tracking the dry signal only.This preserves your flexibility to add effects at the mixdown stage instead.
The PFL is very useful and most recording handbooks will detail several ways to skin that cat.
Tom
