If memory serves when I recorded WSP @ Pepsi Center for 12/30 and 12/31 (first recordings with rig) I had the UA-5 set at less than 50%, and the r-09 input was at 10 out of 30. I was pulling solid -12 and jumping to -6 on the r-09 regularly.
Running analog out of a UA-5 into an R09 is a special case. Here you have 3 sets of gain knobs... cranking one and minimizing another is less than ideal.
- the gain knobs on the UA-5 next to the XLR's
- the input gain (0-30) on the R09
- the headphone gain on the UA-5 also controls what goes to the RCA analog outputs.
My experience with the R09 is that it doesn't get particularly noisy running line-in at max, but shoot for the midrange on general principle. When you have a hot signal which causes you to run the R09 gain way down, to like 5 or 8, it doesn't brickwall but it just doesn't sound quite as sweet as when you run midrange.
There are various opinions, but here is what I have done and it works well for me:
- Set the UA-5 XLR gains to about 3 o'clock (because that's where they typically end up for digi out, so I'm optimizing those preamps.) Having a little blip of that red LED once in a while is good, but not a steady red.
- Set the gain on the R09 to 15 and leave it there. That's close to unity, or optimized.
- Assuming the above 2 are correct, adjust the UA-5 headphone volume knob to give you those -6 peak readings on the R09. This might be about 3 o'clock also, but that's just a rough starting point.
You can try turning the R09 gain up to about 20 and turning down the headphone gain a little. Try it one way for the opening act and the other way for the main act, and see if you prefer one or the other.
That's my opinion... I've only run that way a few times. Vanark and Groundhog2 run that way a lot, look to see if they have posted anywhere.