summing amp

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mixaholic

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i have a yamaha mg10/2 and i have a gain control, summing gain, and an output control. i only use my mixer as a mic preamp so all i'm doing is running my mic through the mic preamp and that's it. i was wondering should i set the summing gain for that one channel that i'm using to all the way up since and the output to low so it wouldn't distort? or should i set the summing gain to a lower setting and the output higher? i read that the "summing gain" is where the actual mixing takes place of all the signals but i'm only using 1 channel which is for my 1 mic so how should i set the summing amp? should it be high or what? and how should the output be set? i know people are going to reply "it depends on what you're recording" lol but i'm just curious on how the summing gain works if you're only using one channel. doesnt that make it just like the output? so basically what its the difference in the summing amp and the output when you're only using 1 channel so there isnt a whole lot of mixing that the summing gain needs to do because only one channel is occupied. thanks
 
I'm also pretty new at this, but the way I understood it, is that you want to get the gain as high as you can without clipping. Each stage adds a little bit of hum, so if your volume is already high it won't be as noticeable (better signal-noise ratio, I believe they call it).

For the channel gain, turn it up as high as you can without having the red peak-light flickering as you sing/play into the mic.

For the channel level (or summation gain, as you call it) I'd say put it up as high as possible, since you won't be mixing anyways. Then set the output level (the red knob on the bottom right) to the right level so that the peak meters stay in the green (no orange/red lights). Also check if there's no clipping on whatever you're recording onto (software, 4 track....).

This way you should be ok.

So basically... you were right...
 
First off - You DO NOT want the level to be as high as you can get it without clipping. That's 18dB into the headroom of a $100 mixer. NOT a good idea (even with a $100,000 mixer). 0dBVU is NOT -0dBFS.

That mixer has line outputs - You want to plug the mic into channel one, keep the output knob at unity (0) and adjust the pre-gain until the "meat" of the signal is riding around 0dBVU. Run the line out to your interface. On the digital meters, that signal should be riding around -18dBFS or so with occasional peaks *maybe* hitting -12dBFS. Right around there is where the gear is designed to run - The best sound, the best S/N ratio, the best focus, the most clarity - even the most "potential volume" when you're done.
 
LOL, I won't be answering any posts for a while. Good to have some really knowledgeable people around. Thanks massive.

What I meant by "as high as you can get it without clipping" applies to the pre-amp gain though, right? At least that's what's in the yamaha manual...
 
thanks guys. massive, i always used rca cables to connect the mixer to my computer. i plugged the rca cables into my "rec out" on my mixer and plugged the other end to to "line" on my soundcard. is that the wrong setup? When u say keep the output knob at unity 0 what do you mean by that? cause my output knob is not labled with numbers if that's what you mean. Also are you sayin that i shouldnt adjust the main gain to the highest without it clipping? and you said adjust the pre-gain till the signal is at 0dbvu where is that at and is the volume going to be really low when i record into a software? how should i adjust the regular gain before i adjust the pre-gain and output? i know it's too many questions but it's hard to explain all of this LOL. thanks alot
 
also are rca cables the right thing to use to connect a mixer to a computer and if not do you have a link to which cable is correct
 
Joepie said:
What I meant by "as high as you can get it without clipping" applies to the pre-amp gain though, right? At least that's what's in the yamaha manual...
I'd say that I couldn't believe that - But I've seen it for myself recently in several user manuals. Unbelievable.

mixaholic said:
Also are you sayin that i shouldnt adjust the main gain to the highest without it clipping? and you said adjust the pre-gain till the signal is at 0dbvu where is that at and is the volume going to be really low when i record into a software? how should i adjust the regular gain before i adjust the pre-gain and output?
I'm not sure what you're using - Everything you can set at unity should be at unity for the start except the pre-gain on the preamp. Adjust the preamp gain up until the signal is riding around 0dBVU. Digitally, that should be somewhere around -18dBFS with peaks maybe around -12dBFS.

Some would call that "low" as far as volume is concerned. Most would call it "NORMAL" and leave it at that.
 
Massive Master said:
I'd say that I couldn't believe that - But I've seen it for myself recently in several user manuals. Unbelievable.

I seem to find that a lot of manuals these days are geared not towards proper practice, but towards lowering the number of calls to tech support.
Also, with manuals being translated umpteen times and being typed up by people who may not be all teh fluent in the language, I can see that the "RTFM" method of troubleshooting may not hold true for much longer...
 
cpl_crud said:
I seem to find that a lot of manuals these days are geared not towards proper practice, but towards lowering the number of calls to tech support.
Also, with manuals being translated umpteen times and being typed up by people who may not be all teh fluent in the language, I can see that the "RTFM" method of troubleshooting may not hold true for much longer...


There goes my faith in the good'ol manuals. This means more work for u guys on the board though, since I'll be asking all my noob questions here... I feel so naive now
 
Well, as I said, the manuals are written so that you will get signal out through the output jacks. So, to the noob, it will look like everything's working.
But when people plug everythign in, following the manual, they're going to find that they mixes may lack something...

So, still, RTFM before asking for help, but I wouldn't take it as gospel anymore, espically when they suggest gain/eq settings.

Also, some manuals have some decent information on other topics that may come in handy one day...
 
Manuals are a good place to find out how to make the equipment do what you want it to, but it is a terrible place to learn proper recording techniques.
 
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