When mixing a QC, where you do you normally set Gain and Comp on the board? Been using about 25% for each. Wanted to know if anyone else has thoughts.
Any kind of āstandardā gain setting makes no sense at all. All desks are different.
Proper method for setting gain for ANY source:
- Solo the channel (this should generally show you the input level on the main meters)
- Have the person in question make the loudest noise they are intending to make on that source.
- Adjust channel gain to have that channel peaking at around 0dB*
*for analogue desks, or for āanalogue-styleā meters on digital desks.
Essentially you want to have the loudest possible signal you can, without it ever being in danger of clipping. IF you later find you have the channel faders pulled way down because the source is too loud, itās better to pull the gain down and keep the faders closer to unity.
Compression depends on many factors, but namely - style of music, tone of guitar, dynamics of guitar, room soundā¦ If itās a one knob comression control, just adjust it to taste.
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I agree with the post above (though you donāt even need to solo the track if you have either a PFL switch/meter or a dedicated meter per track).
I usually start with Comp off and gain at the minimum possible setting (and pad in) and bring up gain so as to āfill the channelā properly (ie hit yellow to light orange on level meters) to get the best possible signal to noise ratio.
So as a rule of thumb if your loudest presets output at around -18dB FS (per the Output meter on the QC) you should be safe.
Compression only happens if I feel the dynamic rangeās too big and I need to better control it (so low signals arenāt as low and loud signals arenāt as loud). If your levels are properly staged on your presets and they donāt go from super soft to crazy loud, little to no compression is necessary (I usually donāt ever use compression on electric guitars, distorted sounds are pretty compressed as is anyway).
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Makes perfect sense but our mixer doesnāt have a needle. Just a light that blinks when itās clipping.
What about a starting point? Thatās why I mentioned percentages rather than absolute positions.
Thanks for the reply. Iāll turn comp off and see how it sounds. Usually the faders for my guitar are around -10 to -15 dB.
Yup, Iāve levelled all my patches so they output the same level (except for lead).
Why do you engage the pad?
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So as to start from the lowest possible amplification factor (since itās basically what the gain knob is for, and the pad switch allows you to toggle between different amplification ranges). Preamp gain is here to amplify signal as needed, as a rule of thumb I strive to mess with incoming signal as little as possible (might be a byproduct of doing jazz for a while now).
And having the faders around -10dB usually is fine, as they usually are logarithmic and thatās about the spot where the taper gets flatter (hence moves are more precise).
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In that case, turn it up til the light flashes, then back off a bit until it stops. Sounds like itās an analogue desk, so shouldnāt be too bad if you get the occasional clip. They tend to design them so that the clipping LED goes off before it actually clips too.
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Both my setup at home (plain Jane behringer mixer ā power amp) and at church on Sundays (PreSonus something or other) the gain for the channels (I run 2 channels and pan one completely left, and one completely right) is set at 0dB.
I run the rotary āmaster volumeā knob on the QC at 100%. I just feel like it sounds truer and fuller to my ear.
This gives my FOH the whole range of the fader(s) to play with. They love it.
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FOH engineer and guitarist here. The posts above are spot on. Thereās no āoneā gain setting you can pre-set unless youāre working with the same player with the same gear into the same board regularly, and then itās always adjusted to suit whatever level Iām getting on the day.
I always start with the compressor wide open and only compress if my ears tell me it needs it. Thatās always in the context of how the guitar is sitting in the whole mix, never in solo and never in line check. Most of the time, the guitarists Iām mixing are compressing on their board, and even if theyāre not specifically ācompressingā, the amp and the drives are compressing the signal anyway. So Iām rarely compressing at FOH, and if I am itās usually just super fast compression thatās shaving 2-3dB of the odd transient here and there.
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Very helpful, thank you.