# Volume wheel ? Always 100%? **URL:** \ **Category:** Community\ **Created:** [April 14, 2023, 7:46am UTC](https://unity.neuraldsp.com/t/volume-wheel-always-100/10719 "2023-04-14T07:46:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Aymeric](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Aymeric](https://unity.neuraldsp.com/u/Aymeric)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2023, 7:46am UTC](https://unity.neuraldsp.com/t/volume-wheel-always-100/10719/1 "2023-04-14T07:46:00Z")
Hello, For security and a best headroom, must I have level at 100% on the volume wheel ? Thanks ---
**Author:** ![xush](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/unity.neuraldsp.com/xush/32/5100_2.png) [@xush](https://unity.neuraldsp.com/u/xush)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2023, 2:19pm UTC](https://unity.neuraldsp.com/t/volume-wheel-always-100/10719/2 "2023-04-14T14:19:36Z")
The official recommendation has always been 100%; The dial is an attenuator, so it only turns “down.” 100% on the knob is “unity” level. ---
**Author:** ![ASTROFREQ](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/unity.neuraldsp.com/astrofreq/32/6270_2.png) [@ASTROFREQ](https://unity.neuraldsp.com/u/ASTROFREQ)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2023, 2:26pm UTC](https://unity.neuraldsp.com/t/volume-wheel-always-100/10719/3 "2023-04-17T14:26:30Z")
I’m in the minority on this forum, but I leave my volume knob at around 80. Call me crazy, I like to have wiggle room at gigs. Apparently, everyone else leaves it at 100. ---
**Author:** ![MP\_Mod](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ccd318/32.png) [@MP\_Mod](https://unity.neuraldsp.com/u/MP_Mod)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2023, 3:07pm UTC](https://unity.neuraldsp.com/t/volume-wheel-always-100/10719/4 "2023-04-17T15:07:43Z")
As @xush indicated, the main volume knob acts like an attenuator and NDSP recommends to keep it at 100% for the best SNR. ---
**Author:** ![Cheems](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/77aa72/32.png) [@Cheems](https://unity.neuraldsp.com/u/Cheems)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2023, 5:31pm UTC](https://unity.neuraldsp.com/t/volume-wheel-always-100/10719/5 "2023-04-17T17:31:58Z")
dumb question but what is SNR? ---
**Author:** ![MP\_Mod](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ccd318/32.png) [@MP\_Mod](https://unity.neuraldsp.com/u/MP_Mod)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2023, 5:44pm UTC](https://unity.neuraldsp.com/t/volume-wheel-always-100/10719/6 "2023-04-17T17:44:25Z")
It’s not dumb 🙂 It means signal to noise ratio. ---
**Author:** ![Bryceboulie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/848f3c/32.png) [@Bryceboulie](https://unity.neuraldsp.com/u/Bryceboulie)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2023, 12:19am UTC](https://unity.neuraldsp.com/t/volume-wheel-always-100/10719/7 "2023-04-20T00:19:39Z")
You should experiment with this. I use my QC for live gigs and I find that 60-65 gives me a nice, spongy feel. It’s a bit of a dance between SNR and feel but for me it’s worth it. One of the main reasons I love the QC IS the spongy-ness. I see that Fractal has just added a “dynamics” control to all their amps in the latest version of their software. They’ve obviously been checking out their competition! ---
**Author:** ![Aleksi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Aleksi](https://unity.neuraldsp.com/u/Aleksi)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2023, 6:49pm UTC](https://unity.neuraldsp.com/t/volume-wheel-always-100/10719/8 "2023-04-22T18:49:09Z")
I think the volume control is a bit misunderstood. I set the volume where it’s appropriate. I plug straight into monitors so the level is anything from 1-30 and it’s fine. If you plug into a mixer or something (where the signal will be attenuated anyway), then you should probably keep it at 100. If it was meant to be always at 100, there would be no volume wheel. 🤷 ---
**Author:** ![MP\_Mod](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ccd318/32.png) [@MP\_Mod](https://unity.neuraldsp.com/u/MP_Mod)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2023, 10:44pm UTC](https://unity.neuraldsp.com/t/volume-wheel-always-100/10719/9 "2023-04-23T22:44:57Z")
Essentially you can set the volume wherever you want but it is unity at 100% and you will get the best signal to noise ratio at 100% ---
**Author:** ![Aleksi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Aleksi](https://unity.neuraldsp.com/u/Aleksi)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2023, 3:58am UTC](https://unity.neuraldsp.com/t/volume-wheel-always-100/10719/10 "2023-04-24T03:58:20Z")
Yes, keep it at 100 if you’re plugging into something that has it’s own volume control like a mixer. But if I set it to 100 and plug into my monitors, it will blow my ears off. So instead of keeping the QC at 100 and plugging it into something else that will attenuate the signal and introduce more noise, I will just use the volume control on the QC. ---
**Author:** ![VapnFagan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5a626/32.png) [@VapnFagan](https://unity.neuraldsp.com/u/VapnFagan)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2023, 7:46pm UTC](https://unity.neuraldsp.com/t/volume-wheel-always-100/10719/11 "2023-06-27T19:46:04Z")
I am still very new to my QC, So you guys are saying the large volume wheel should be set to 100%? I always thought it was just to adjust overall volume? I have my QC plugged straight into 2 12" active PA speakers. I set the speakers volume on the back to about 1/2 and then i adjust the volume to taste with the large dial on the QC. So should i set the volume wheel to 100% and adjust volume either on the preset or on the back of my speakers? ---
**Author:** ![MP\_Mod](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ccd318/32.png) [@MP\_Mod](https://unity.neuraldsp.com/u/MP_Mod)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2023, 8:26pm UTC](https://unity.neuraldsp.com/t/volume-wheel-always-100/10719/12 "2023-06-27T20:26:56Z")
Yes, the volume wheel is to adjust the attenuation etc., unity is at 100% ---
**Author:** ![MrBollie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/898d66/32.png) [@MrBollie](https://unity.neuraldsp.com/u/MrBollie)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2023, 10:40am UTC](https://unity.neuraldsp.com/t/volume-wheel-always-100/10719/13 "2023-06-28T10:40:47Z")
Keeping it at 100% is just a pain as soon as you plug in headphones and forget to dial it back. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![MP\_Mod](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ccd318/32.png) [@MP\_Mod](https://unity.neuraldsp.com/u/MP_Mod)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2023, 12:58pm UTC](https://unity.neuraldsp.com/t/volume-wheel-always-100/10719/14 "2023-06-28T12:58:01Z")
Set your HP levels and you never need to touch that level again. ---
**Author:** ![Aleksi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Aleksi](https://unity.neuraldsp.com/u/Aleksi)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2023, 4:01pm UTC](https://unity.neuraldsp.com/t/volume-wheel-always-100/10719/15 "2023-07-01T16:01:39Z")
In this case you should use the master volume wheel for overall volume adjustment. Otherwise you will need to bring the volume down (attenuate the signal) on the speakers. ---
**Author:** ![Okimotdm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/d78d45/32.png) [@Okimotdm](https://unity.neuraldsp.com/u/Okimotdm)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2023, 12:16pm UTC](https://unity.neuraldsp.com/t/volume-wheel-always-100/10719/16 "2023-07-03T12:16:44Z")
When I’m live in a club it’s 50, I like having room to move up. All patch outputs are level at around -10 db and then I boost to -5db if I need punch out w volume vs eq. That gives me the ability to tweak the headphone volume up at home. I run to the effects send on a deville and front of house ---
**Author:** ![PickinPete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/aeb1de/32.png) [@PickinPete](https://unity.neuraldsp.com/u/PickinPete)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2023, 2:44pm UTC](https://unity.neuraldsp.com/t/volume-wheel-always-100/10719/17 "2023-08-07T14:44:07Z")
At gigs, I run my two Headrush FRFR108 cabs at 12:00 and run the QC at 1:00-3:00. It gives me room to adjust and I’ve never had any noise issues. As long as your presets are set up using proper gain staging, you should be good.