 Gain
Structure - 7 - Setting the gain-5 |
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In more complicated systems, there will obviously be more items of equipment to line up, but if you work from the microphone to the speaker, dealing with each item in the signal chain in turn before going back to the mixer to set up your mix, you will end up with your gain structure set above noise levels and under clipping. I will mention two particular items that require special attention - the EQ unit and the mixer with groups. The EQ unit Commonly, there will be an EQ unit such as the Yamaha GQ2031 between the mixer outputs and the amplifier. This is used to 'tune' the system to create a more pleasing sound and to fight feedback. As with the EQ on the channel inputs, boosting of frequencies may require the input gain to be reset. The GQ2031 has a level slider for each channel which sets the input gain marked '0' to '10', and a peak led light (see Pic 1). Also, and this may apply to many items, there is an input level switch on the back for each channel marked '+4dB' and '-20dB' (see Pic 2). These represent the two common standard levels - see the Q&A on input levels for more information. This should be set to match the standard level output by the mixer and is usually +4dB which is the standard for professional audio kit. With this set, and having set your mixer gains as described, you should be able to leave the slider at 10 and see the peak led light very occasionally if you have set your mixer leds to light at 6dB on peaks. If you have set your mixer peaks at 9dB, the peak led on the GQ2031 will light more often. If the peak lights more than occasionally, you will have to pull the input slider back to 8 or 9. As mentioned, any significant frequency boosting will need input gain reduction to prevent clipping. |
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