[phillysoulman]

Originally Posted by bgrotto

OK, fair enough. I'm spoiled by working with a desk and enough outboard to easily regulate levels to tape (or DAW, or whatever). Anyway, in the situation you mention, I'll find myself using the preamp with the separate gain AND output control to tailor exactly what needs to happen to tape; in our case, peaks that don't exceed -6dB. In fact, I take a very British approach by setting all faders at unity and getting sounds AND levels to work within the confines of unity gain. Better resolution at the fader, better signal-to-noise at the desk, and a no-bullshit/no-questions-asked mixing approach if the record leaves my studio for somebody else's.

I Second that emotion