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Skye · 25th February 2009

My professor in class today mentioned that when he mixes, he sets the gain for each channel so he can keep the fader right around unity.

I raised my hand and asked if he was sure this was the proper way to do it. I remembered that my console's manual specifically described mixing with the gain knobs instead of the faders and described it as wrong for various reasons. I remember it because I always used to mix with the gain knobs when I was a lot younger simply because I'm a neat freak.

But my professor said that anytime you're dealing with a console that costs less than $10,000 - $20,000, having the faders far from unity changes and degrades the sound. He said it introduces phasing issues and also frequency abnormalities, but this is less the case on more expensive brands (he listed a few expensive brands, but Midas was the only one I knew already). He said he discovered this when he was mixing drums years ago and he noticed major bass cutoff on the kick mic when he lowered the fader. He thought it was an anomaly for that specific board, but he noticed the same thing on an identical board owned by someone else. So he says we should always set the gain so the faders all sit roughly at unity. He said that his good friend that he talks to weekly mixes for big bands, like Audio Adrenaline and DC Talk, and he does it the same way. Of course he doesn't change the gain during the performance, but still...

A direct quote from my console's manual (A&H GL2400) that I mentioned (but didn't quote) in class is as follows:

Mixing with faders or gain controls? There is a technique
used by some operators where they set all the faders to ‘0’ position and balance the mix using the channel gain controls. We do not advise this method as the signal to noise ratio and control resolution can be severely degraded. In addition, it is impossible to mix monitors from FOH in this way as changes to the gain settings affect the monitors too.

The correct method is to use GAIN to match the source to the operating level of the channel for optimum dynamic range, and then use the FADERS to balance each source into the mix. With correct system gain structure, prime sources such as vocals would have their faders operated around ‘0’ while sources low in the mix such as backing vocals and acoustically loud brass and drums would display their true contribution with their lower fader positions. This is a much more visual and accurate way of mixing.

Well, which is it?

25th February 2009	#1
Skye Gear Head Joined: Aug 2008 Location: Minnesota Posts: 61 Thread Starter	Mixing Console Gain Structure My professor in class today mentioned that when he mixes, he sets the gain for each channel so he can keep the fader right around unity. I raised my hand and asked if he was sure this was the proper way to do it. I remembered that my console's manual specifically described mixing with the gain knobs instead of the faders and described it as wrong for various reasons. I remember it because I always used to mix with the gain knobs when I was a lot younger simply because I'm a neat freak. But my professor said that anytime you're dealing with a console that costs less than $10,000 - $20,000, having the faders far from unity changes and degrades the sound. He said it introduces phasing issues and also frequency abnormalities, but this is less the case on more expensive brands (he listed a few expensive brands, but Midas was the only one I knew already). He said he discovered this when he was mixing drums years ago and he noticed major bass cutoff on the kick mic when he lowered the fader. He thought it was an anomaly for that specific board, but he noticed the same thing on an identical board owned by someone else. So he says we should always set the gain so the faders all sit roughly at unity. He said that his good friend that he talks to weekly mixes for big bands, like Audio Adrenaline and DC Talk, and he does it the same way. Of course he doesn't change the gain during the performance, but still... A direct quote from my console's manual (A&H GL2400) that I mentioned (but didn't quote) in class is as follows: Mixing with faders or gain controls? There is a technique used by some operators where they set all the faders to ‘0’ position and balance the mix using the channel gain controls. We do not advise this method as the signal to noise ratio and control resolution can be severely degraded. In addition, it is impossible to mix monitors from FOH in this way as changes to the gain settings affect the monitors too. The correct method is to use GAIN to match the source to the operating level of the channel for optimum dynamic range, and then use the FADERS to balance each source into the mix. With correct system gain structure, prime sources such as vocals would have their faders operated around ‘0’ while sources low in the mix such as backing vocals and acoustically loud brass and drums would display their true contribution with their lower fader positions. This is a much more visual and accurate way of mixing. Well, which is it?