Amp Volume

[djsteve10]

Hi folks,

Just bought a new mixer and it is very loud compared to my old one,

last night i had my gains at a quarter of the way up from 0 (not set at 12 o clock) and my amp was on 3 quarters but i couldn't run a full slider as it was that loud, What is the best way to set your mixer and amp up as i was always told to run your amp on full, my master volume was set to half on the mixer and my amp was at 3 quarters, is it ok to run your gain nearly off to get volume,

Any help on this would be nice.

Cheers

[CRAZY K]

Hi folks,

Just bought a new mixer and it is very loud compared to my old one,

last night i had my gains at a quarter of the way up from 0 (not set at 12 o clock) and my amp was on 3 quarters but i couldn't run a full slider as it was that loud, What is the best way to set your mixer and amp up as i was always told to run your amp on full, my master volume was set to half on the mixer and my amp was at 3 quarters, is it ok to run your gain nearly off to get volume,

Any help on this would be nice.

Cheers

Im not an expert but presumably you need to try and cut out the red flashing LED peak lights that come up telling you of any overloading by making necessary adjustments--if you have that problem--if you dont fine its a bit of trial and error.

I dont have my Powered Mixer on full bore because of the potential hissing over the horns during "quiet" times when im giving instructions over the mike.

Also even with dancing leds at high volume there is no distortion from the speakers.

CRAZY K

[spin mobile disco]

I never have my ams at full and never have. I have them about 50% and then control trim with mixer main output slider and channel controls.

[Excalibur]

Spinal Tap setting. ;) ;)
Please have a look here, in particular the article referred by Tony was informative and helpful. Basically it said that the red lights should come on at the same point in all your system, which makes absolute sense.
http://www.mobilediscodirectory.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=13087

[ppentertainments]

Am not saying this is right, but what I was told was to leave your amp turned off, set something playing with your volume at max (or to that sign that looks like a number 8 on its side:confused: ), then turn your gain up till the red lights on the mixer just stay off. Then turn your amp on with the volume turned down and turn amp volume up to the max desired level. If your speakers and amp are well matched (like mine:p ) you should be able to turn your amp up to max without any clipping. Once amp is set use the volume on your mixer to adjust volume, do not touch the gain.

Not saying this is striclty true but since using this method I have never had any problems, can run my amp and mixer on full (with the gain set) and never have any problems or clipping. If I turn the gain up slightly though clipping starts straight away.

[Excalibur]

Now to throw a curve ball, since going Digital, I can't get anything to clip. :D :D Most of the faders live at the top nowadays. The downside is I've acquired a lot of background noise when nothing is happening. :(

[ppentertainments]

Now to throw a curve ball, since going Digital, I can't get anything to clip. :D :D Most of the faders live at the top nowadays. The downside is I've acquired a lot of background noise when nothing is happening. :(

I found that when using the laptop but the cortex behaves the same as my cd's.

[Excalibur]

I found that when using the laptop but the cortex behaves the same as my cd's.

Mine doesn't!

[CRAZY K]

Now to throw a curve ball, since going Digital, I can't get anything to clip. :D :D Most of the faders live at the top nowadays. The downside is I've acquired a lot of background noise when nothing is happening. :(

I did mention this earlier.

Is that because your amp is at maximum Peter?

Shouldnt happen on a matched system.

With my Peavey Powered Mixer at blasting level as it was outdoors yesterday---just over half way for master volumes---no hissing whilst I talk to the punters--admittedly I shout at them a lot at high volume through the JTS:D

CRAZY K

[rob1963]

Spinal Tap setting.

My amp levels go up to 11 :D

[JAMdisco]

My amp levels go up to 11 :D

11, phff - Mine do 12 1/2 :D Admittedly it's in black marker pen :p

On a more serious note, I always have my amp at max, and never have any background noise, might be to do with the GLI but haven't tried it without.

[nigelwright7557]

Hi folks,

Just bought a new mixer and it is very loud compared to my old one,

Any help on this would be nice.

Cheers

The answer varies depending on what devices are connected.

CD players put out about 0dB and so should need no gain through the mixer.

On the other hand a none powered mic puts out a very small signal and needs plenty of gain through the mixer.


The less gain you use the less the noise will be amplified.

[djsteve10]

Thought i would reserect this thread,
Thanks for the replys folks, much appreciated, Been toying with the mixer over the few weeks and had it set with the master volume halfway and my amp at 50% and it sounds well, I always run my sliders at full and trim the gain to suit.

Anyway just thought i would post my outcome :D

[Excalibur]

Thought i would reserect this thread,
Thanks for the replys folks, much appreciated, Been toying with the mixer over the few weeks and had it set with the master volume halfway and my amp at 50% and it sounds well, I always run my sliders at full and trim the gain to suit.

Anyway just thought i would post my outcome :D

Isn't it interesting how we differ? I set all master controls, I also set the individual gain controls on the mixer channels, full up on the laptop, full off on the MD, and flat on the Cortex. I then use the sliders as required. Chacun a son gout. ;) ;) :D :D

[nigelwright7557]

Now to throw a curve ball, since going Digital, I can't get anything to clip. :D :D Most of the faders live at the top nowadays. The downside is I've acquired a lot of background noise when nothing is happening. :(

Have you set the volume to max at the digital end ?

MP3, IPOD, laptop etc all have volume settings you can change.

[Excalibur]

Have you set the volume to max at the digital end ?

MP3, IPOD, laptop etc all have volume settings you can change.

Refer to post #11! ;) :D :D :D

BTW. Ipod!? Wash your mouth out with soap.!!:eek: :eek: :mad: :mad:

[mr rusty]

You need to think about the gain stages in the signal path. There are often at least 4:-

pre-amp on mixer (trim)
channel strip on mixer
master volume on mixer
amp volume.

The thing to remember is that if you add gain to the signal you also add gain to the background noise, but if you reduce the gain to the signal within the mixer the background noise level stays the same. For this reason you should start with the trim as hot as possible without clipping. This way the pre-amp is delivering close to 0db (the point where the clip light comes on) and the noise floor of the equipment is prob down at say -70db. In an ideal world you want to keep the difference between the signal and the noise as great as possible, so have the channel strip higher than the master volume, and use the amp itself to regulate the main volume for the room.

Try it. adjust your rig to get the same volume in two different ways by first running the gains low to high, i.e. trim low, channel strip a bit higher - say -30db, master volume a bit higher - perhaps -15db and the amp pushed high to work from a weak signal. Then try it high to low, with the trim high - just not clipping, channel strip at say -3db and master volume at say -3db to -6db.The amp will be running lighter at the same volume as the first setup working from the hotter signal from the mixer. In both set-ups the overall volume will be the same, but the background noise should be much lower in the second set-up.

Its easy to demonstrate the impact of noise if you plug the mixer output into a PC line input and open it up as a record input in some recording software that has VU meters (e.g. reaper). Play with the faders and watch how the noise floor changes.

[One Vision]

Hi folks,

Just bought a new mixer and it is very loud compared to my old one,

last night i had my gains at a quarter of the way up from 0 (not set at 12 o clock) and my amp was on 3 quarters but i couldn't run a full slider as it was that loud, What is the best way to set your mixer and amp up as i was always told to run your amp on full, my master volume was set to half on the mixer and my amp was at 3 quarters, is it ok to run your gain nearly off to get volume,

Any help on this would be nice.

Cheers

I work through 2 mixers and this is how I set things up.
All equipment is initially turned on with all volume levels set to zero (amp turned ON last and turned OFF first so I don't get any pops through the speakers when I turn the rest on or off), I then turn the amp to full volume, then the master volume on the DJ mixer is set to the top thicker marker line which is ¾ of the volume.
The gains on the DJ mixer are set to about 10 too, because I know the setting on this now I then set the channels on the DJ mixer to about 2 bars up which is just under ¼ volume.
I know with these settings that as a rule the led lights are just below amber and only hit amber at peak, so that's the DJ mixer basically set.

Because I use a desk mixer as an addition (more control of the mic and sound independently), I also have to set that up, so I set the master again to the ¾ mark and the input faders (I have 2 as plugged in on mono channels) are again set to roughly 2 bars.
I find that when I initially play the first track the volume is under what I want so I then take up the desk mixer input slider volumes to the desired volume.
From there on I just alter the DJ mixers input volumes if a particular track is recorded with slightly less volume.

[mldiscos]

i tend to keep my amps at about half which leavesa bit more room if you need a little more volument and then tend to control it with the mixer and bass enhancer when i'm using subs other than that i try not to ever let the mixer of amp run on clipping for any amount of time, just asking for a real amount of trouble especially if the amp clips out and you have to wait for it to reset. asking for all the boo's etc etc.