Topic: Kinda taping related .... need some opinions FAST !

[Xpanding Man]

Nothing like the last second....

I have a band  ( www.swingfromthehip.com ) and tonight we have a gig (private party, good $).   We use the Bose tower system PA, with the subwoofer, running into a 12 ch Mackie mixer.

We've always had problems getting good levels from our board when i tape, mostly due to the fact that someone who purports to know about live sound insisted that we should have the amp on the bose at about 5 or 6, and to keep the master level on the mackie as low as possible (usually around 1.5 - 2 for our style of music and the gigs we do)

does this make any sense to anyone ? i've been playing around with it and it seems to me that the sound is clearer, with less hiss, when the mackie is at 5 and the amps on the bose are at 2.   plus the tapes come out better.

so, the question is, what is generally accepted as a better practice: crank the amps and limit the mixer, or crank the mixer and limit the amps ?

[Brian Skalinder]

i've been playing around with it and it seems to me that the sound is clearer, with less hiss, when the mackie is at 5 and the amps on the bose are at 2.   plus the tapes come out better.

I'm no help other than to say: sounds like you have your answer. 

[SparkE!]

Noise-wise and interference-wise, it's generally best to use the highest amount of gain in the front end of your amplifier chain and back off on the output if you need to.  If your guy is doing the opposite of that, he probably learned on a PA that needs to be cranked in order to bias up properly. (Think tubes.)

[Xpanding Man]

i've been playing around with it and it seems to me that the sound is clearer, with less hiss, when the mackie is at 5 and the amps on the bose are at 2.   plus the tapes come out better.

I'm no help other than to say: sounds like you have your answer. 

true     tape came out great, sound was decent in the hall, but it's always tough to tell over the din of people talking/laughing/eating/drinking etc.   like most of my tapes, it sounds better in the peace and comfort of my living room

+t

[mmmatt]

cleanest will be unity (-0- gain).  The amps are at -0- when all the way UP.  This would be the unity setting and is where you should set it unless you are getting funky sounds due to a bad pot or something.  Same with each channel on the board.  The gain stage in the pres on the board (like any pre) will sound a little different at different gain levels.  Usually lower gain on the pre is best.  In a perfect world you would be able to keep your chanel faders at or near zero, your pre gain low, and your main fader at or near zero.

My $.02

Matt

[SuperDave]

......  Usually lower gain on the pre is best........

That's true unless your running your monitor mixes from an auxiliary on the board that's pre-fader.  In which case you'll want the channel pre's to be as hot as they can be(without going over unity of course).

[mmmatt]

yes... the reality of the mater is you do have to mix the show/monitor mix.