Gain vs Speaker volume Q

wingo84

Hi guys

apologies for the noob question but I just need to clarify what the best thing is to do 

I understand how to set the gain for individual channels, but how do you set the volume of your PA speakers/amp in relation to output of your desk? 

For us, having it set at 0db on the master out fader usually has it blasting so much out front. So the question is, is it better to have the PA set lower and the master fader at 0db… or does it matter so much? Will the speakers be pumping their best sound if set lower? 

does either way have a better impact on the audio quality? 

Thanks in advance 

Danny1969

Any active speaker will only give full output when the signal going in is large enough. That's what the volume knob of the speaker is for. To correct the level by either attenuating or in some cases adding gain. 

0dB means unity gain ... generally with a decent desk set master fader to 0dB and speakers to 0dB and get the mix from the channel faders. 

If you find the overall level isn't loud enough then increasing the desk master fader or the active speaker volume knob to get a bit of gain and thus volume is much the same thing really.

Sporky

wingo84 said:

So the question is, is it better to have the PA set lower and the master fader at 0db… or does it matter so much? Will the speakers be pumping their best sound if set lower? 

does either way have a better impact on the audio quality? 

Far as I can think it only matters if you end up having to have the fader set too low so you can't easily make fine adjustments.

ICBM

If the speakers have volume controls, and setting the desk at 0dB doesn't cause distortion but is too loud, then I would turn down the speakers to give the right final volume, which will give you the best control and lowest signal-to-noise ratio. Only turn down the desk instead if setting it to 0dB causes distortion from the speakers - it shouldn't with any professional-quality gear.

wingo84

ICBM said:

If the speakers have volume controls, and setting the desk at 0dB doesn't cause distortion but is too loud, then I would turn down the speakers to give the right final volume, which will give you the best control and lowest signal-to-noise ratio. Only turn down the desk instead if setting it to 0dB causes distortion from the speakers - it shouldn't with any professional-quality gear.

Cheers everyone 

the desk is XR18 

there’s no distortion / the older band members are into a habit that the speakers and SUB get set at 1 o’clock but the main mixer output is usually -20db to compensate. I’ll re-mix everything at the next gig and have speakers lower