Stepped Gain, Why?

[Pronecobra]

I was looking at a Focusrite Red Preamp, can't remember which number it was . . at any rate, I noticed that the preamp had stepped gain control. This seems really strange to me, it seems reasonable that a totally variable gain would be ideal and offer the most flexibility. What advantage is there to stepped gain controls? Thanks for any responses.

P. Cobra

[d_fu]

Originally Posted by Pronecobra

What advantage is there to stepped gain controls?

If the steps are precise and equal for all channels, you get a) settings that can be reproduced exactly and b) balanced stereo pairs.

[StefanM]

stepped controls offer repeatability of settings, very small tracking errors (in case of stereo controls) and arguably better sound quality by using high quality resistors as opposed to the poorer resistive element of pots

Stefan

[Pronecobra]

This is probably a little late but, those are some great explanations guys and they make total sense to me. Thanks a lot.

P.Cobra