#1
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Purest sound
Ive got a gig next month. This is my signal chain--Gibson J45 with ultratonic k&k conversion>Tonedexter>Behringer unpowered mixer>Yamaha powered speakers. Which would give me a better sound--fixed gain coming out of the TD and turn down the gain on my channel at the mixer, or variable gain out of the TD turned down and higher gain coming into the board?
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2023 Gibson 1960 Fixed Bridge Hummingbird w/Ultratonic 2021 D'Angelico EXP-1 Throwback archtop 1983 Martin HD-28 w/Ultratonic 1965 Gibson J-45 w/K&K/Ultratonic conversion 1940's??? Harmony Patrician archtop 2002 Taylor Big Baby 1985 Kentucky KM850 mando w/lr baggs radius 1959 Gibson A-5 Mando 2004 Fender Strat (Mexican) Army bugle Old autoharp Indian flute Cowbell |
#2
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It's hard to answer this definitively, but neither extreme would be recommended. This is about gain staging - too much level out of ToneDexter, and you'll overdrive the board, too little, and you'll probably get more noise. It's the goldilocks rule - you want everything to be "just right". Send a nice healthy signal from TD - if you've set TD to have the output volume affect the XLR, start with the output perhaps half way up, then go from there.
A common approach when going to a board is to have fixed gain coming out of the preamp's XLR send and have the output control only affect the 1/4 inch ou t (for a stage amp, perhaps). If you set the TD DI-out switch that way, then TD will just send a set signal level that should be "right".
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Music: Spotify, Bandcamp Videos: You Tube Channel Books: Hymns for Fingerstyle Guitar (std tuning), Christmas Carols for Fingerstyle Guitar (std tuning), A DADGAD Christmas, Alternate Tunings book Online Course: Alternate Tunings for Fingerstyle Guitar |
#3
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Well thats easy. Will check it out. When I did a gig on a venue's PA (the first time I used the TD "out") they were blown away by the signal coming at of the xlr with switch set at fixed. But they eventually wised up to lowering my gain on their board.
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2023 Gibson 1960 Fixed Bridge Hummingbird w/Ultratonic 2021 D'Angelico EXP-1 Throwback archtop 1983 Martin HD-28 w/Ultratonic 1965 Gibson J-45 w/K&K/Ultratonic conversion 1940's??? Harmony Patrician archtop 2002 Taylor Big Baby 1985 Kentucky KM850 mando w/lr baggs radius 1959 Gibson A-5 Mando 2004 Fender Strat (Mexican) Army bugle Old autoharp Indian flute Cowbell |
#4
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TD's nominal output, according to the manual is -15dBV, which is not especially hot for an active preamp. Some, like Felix output as much as +22db. Anyone running sound should know how to set the trim on a board to accomodate various levels from gear.
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Music: Spotify, Bandcamp Videos: You Tube Channel Books: Hymns for Fingerstyle Guitar (std tuning), Christmas Carols for Fingerstyle Guitar (std tuning), A DADGAD Christmas, Alternate Tunings book Online Course: Alternate Tunings for Fingerstyle Guitar |
#5
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Quote:
There are so many disparate pickup and preamp systems associated with acoustic instruments that any sound tech should be approaching the situation with no assumptions.
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Give a man a fishing rod... and he's got the makings of a rudimentary banjo. |
#6
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Quote:
Are you sure you've worked with volunteer sound techs before? (I'm smiling) |
#7
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Well, I said *should* :-) Honestly, tho, you turn knobs until it sounds good. *Should* be easy, tho I have certainly run into people who had trouble with that. My favorite was the (paid) guy who, upon hearing feedback from my guitar, kept cranking *up* the monitors. The more it fed back, the louder he made it. Seemed to be challenged with the concept of up vs down. So you never know.
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Music: Spotify, Bandcamp Videos: You Tube Channel Books: Hymns for Fingerstyle Guitar (std tuning), Christmas Carols for Fingerstyle Guitar (std tuning), A DADGAD Christmas, Alternate Tunings book Online Course: Alternate Tunings for Fingerstyle Guitar |
#8
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As Doug said, you want it "just right."
First, I start with my level faders (or knobs) and the main mix faders at "unity," or 0. I then set my microphone input gain first, setting it so it doesn't clip at my loudest. I set the guitar channel input gain about the same. Then I set my ToneDexter input gain so it doesn't clip at the guitar's loudest, and the output so at its loudest without the mixer's guitar channel clipping. I then adjust the individual channels using the level faders or knobs as necessary, and adjust the total output volume using the Main Mix faders. I have been using this approach for online open mics, and I continually get comments about how great my guitar sounds. Perhaps not scientific, but it works for me. Your mileage my vary.
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Patrick 2012 Martin HD-28V 1984 Martin Shenandoah D-2832 2018 Gretsch G5420TG Oscar Schmidt Autoharp, unknown vintage ToneDexter Bugera V22 Infinium |