I have watched so many videos trying to understand this concept. You are the only one I have found that showed me the wave form and how it was effected, which helped my visual brain truly understand what was being altered with gain. THANK YOU
This actually helped me while designing a mixer. Probably wasn't meant for electrical engineering audience, so that's fun. The guitar reference to gain reminded me of the gain/distortion knob on my Fender, so I'll probably use that to remember gain vs volume in future; for gain, think the knob on your guitar, and volume is the final output volume knob on your amp.
I never understood the difference between gain and volumes until I got an ashdown bass amp, the vu meter shows how much signal is going through the amp and it shows where it will distort in the gain is too high.
Hey Crafty. Great video. I use the same mixer on my work station for playing/recording/playback. Now I know what I'm doing, thanks to you! (after a year or two of doing anything different from first set up. Thank you for sharing. (and we love your guitar playing too!!!)
SUPER helpful! escpecially when you use examples the distortion of the guitar! If the gain is to low, and I crack the channel or master volume ....the distortion from the guitar (or any other effect from the instrument itself) can't be heard!
Unity gain will be different on each channel depending on the source. Unity gain essentially means where the input voltage and the output voltage are the same so you have the best signal quality coming into the console without it distorting and the same on the output as well. Take a vocal microphone for example, if you are using the same brand and model it won’t be the same input gain with different singers due to the strength of their voices (for example). I hope that helps
Good question, depends on what type of signal you’re referring to. I’d say that with a mixing desk it’s always important to have the gain meter around 60%, but guitar amps as an example it all depends on what tone you’re going for ie. more gain = more distorted tone and less gain = cleaner tone
I get that now, thanks. I’m a bass player and look for warmth and roundness without distortion, so I’m generally careful about input to get a clean sound. I’ll keep an eye on the mixing desk settings for the band’s vocal levels. Thank you very much.
@@CraftyMusicTips That's only partially true. When you apply excess gain to the tubes in the preamp of a guitar amplifier, the gain actually alters the signal itself. A volume control can't alter the signal in any way. It can only attenuate. If you want to get the power tubes to distort, it has to be done with volume. However, it distorts in a different way. Since a volume control can't alter the signal directly, volume is increased until the power tubes reach a failure point. Its like a regular stereo system. If you turn it up too much, the sound starts to break up because the equipment can only be pushed so hard. The important thing to remember is the signal is only distorted in the preamp with gain, and in a power amp, the power tubes are pushed to fail with excessive volume, but the signal itself is not altered. "more gain = more distorted tone and less gain = cleaner tone" That's true, but only if you are not pushing you power tubes to distort with volume.
I have a guitar amp that it turns out i know nothing about! I thought the volume was broken because it didn't work without the gain being up. I now understand why! Maybe i should stick to my simple acoustic 😂
Most of the information wasn't really wrong, but there should be more clarification. To start with, never call gain volume, like input volume. Gain is gain and volume is volume, They're different, and if you don't have a clear understanding of which is which, you can have a hard time if you run into problems. This is what you must know. Gain controls are always on the input of a component and volume controls are always on the output of a component. Only a gain control can overdrive or distort the signal. A volume control can't. It attenuates the signal and nothing more. If you have a gain related issue such as excess noise or distortion from too much, you can't fix it with a volume control. You have to alter your gain structure to fix the issue. That's where the term gain staging comes from and why you never hear the term volume staging. Using the guitar amp as an example is very good. Its the only type of amp that you want to make it distort on purpose, and that's why its such a good example. This is a bit off topic, but I think its relevant given the discussion. If you are working with digital products, you should know if your volume control(s) adjust volume in the digital or analog domain. With digital volume controls, you run into a unique problem called bit stripping. You only get the full resolution of a digital music file if all of the digital volume controls in the signal chain are set to max. I'll give an example using MP3 because there's always a bit rate associated with it and everyone is familiar with the format. The highest quality MP3 is 320kbps. In order to get the full 320, all of your digital volume controls have to be set at max. As you lower the volume the 320 keeps going down the more you lower it. So, if you have a mix of digital and analog volume controls, set the digital ones to the max, if possible, and use the analog controls to adjust volume. But if you have to make a choice between too much gain or too much bit stripping, gain is still more important. Also, the best way to mitigate the effects of bit stripping is to go with the highest resolution format possible. Bit stripping will be much more apparent with a format like MP3. Standard CD quality (16/44) is much better, and anything high res, the effect is even less. (24/192).
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Thanks… FINALLY a plain and simple explanation of the difference in Gain, Level, and Main for us beginners!
I have watched so many videos trying to understand this concept. You are the only one I have found that showed me the wave form and how it was effected, which helped my visual brain truly understand what was being altered with gain. THANK YOU
This actually helped me while designing a mixer. Probably wasn't meant for electrical engineering audience, so that's fun. The guitar reference to gain reminded me of the gain/distortion knob on my Fender, so I'll probably use that to remember gain vs volume in future; for gain, think the knob on your guitar, and volume is the final output volume knob on your amp.
I never understood the difference between gain and volumes until I got an ashdown bass amp, the vu meter shows how much signal is going through the amp and it shows where it will distort in the gain is too high.
Good job explaining something "boring" I Love the inserted clips.
Hey Crafty. Great video. I use the same mixer on my work station for playing/recording/playback. Now I know what I'm doing, thanks to you! (after a year or two of doing anything different from first set up. Thank you for sharing. (and we love your guitar playing too!!!)
Thanks for your help Crafty.
Yes! Great video! If my input is an ipad/iphone, etc. how should I set the volume on the ipad/iphone?
You want to give a strong signal into your mixer so turn your iPhone to a good level otherwise you’re just sending a weak signal to the mixer.
SUPER helpful! escpecially when you use examples the distortion of the guitar! If the gain is to low, and I crack the channel or master volume ....the distortion from the guitar (or any other effect from the instrument itself) can't be heard!
Yooo my guy, thanks for this Tip, made things a lot clearer. 🎉
Great info. Thank you. Short sweet and to the point. Concise.
It would be helpful to understand where unity gain is on those volume/gain controls and how that effects the sound..
Unity gain will be different on each channel depending on the source. Unity gain essentially means where the input voltage and the output voltage are the same so you have the best signal quality coming into the console without it distorting and the same on the output as well. Take a vocal microphone for example, if you are using the same brand and model it won’t be the same input gain with different singers due to the strength of their voices (for example). I hope that helps
Very well explained! Very clear.
i agree
That was without a doubt THE best explanation of gain I have ever seen. I get it now!! Thank you!
Absolutely helpful. Thanks!
Awesome video thanks! 🤘🏻
really help me to understand. thanks
Brilliant, thank you!
You helped me so much, thank you!!!
I really enjoyed your video. What funnn.. love it.
Does the 50/60% level recommendation apply to both mics and instruments? Great advice, and easy to understand visuals, thanks.
Good question, depends on what type of signal you’re referring to. I’d say that with a mixing desk it’s always important to have the gain meter around 60%, but guitar amps as an example it all depends on what tone you’re going for ie. more gain = more distorted tone and less gain = cleaner tone
I get that now, thanks. I’m a bass player and look for warmth and roundness without distortion, so I’m generally careful about input to get a clean sound. I’ll keep an eye on the mixing desk settings for the band’s vocal levels. Thank you very much.
@@CraftyMusicTips That's only partially true. When you apply excess gain to the tubes in the preamp of a guitar amplifier, the gain actually alters the signal itself. A volume control can't alter the signal in any way. It can only attenuate. If you want to get the power tubes to distort, it has to be done with volume. However, it distorts in a different way. Since a volume control can't alter the signal directly, volume is increased until the power tubes reach a failure point. Its like a regular stereo system. If you turn it up too much, the sound starts to break up because the equipment can only be pushed so hard. The important thing to remember is the signal is only distorted in the preamp with gain, and in a power amp, the power tubes are pushed to fail with excessive volume, but the signal itself is not altered.
"more gain = more distorted tone and less gain = cleaner tone"
That's true, but only if you are not pushing you power tubes to distort with volume.
Cool to see how the peaks of the waves get chopped off with high gain
What is that on the back of your head ?
Great Crafty
I have a guitar amp that it turns out i know nothing about!
I thought the volume was broken because it didn't work without the gain being up. I now understand why!
Maybe i should stick to my simple acoustic 😂
Nice teaching. I am a beginner:)
Yeah it was an awesome video
Most of the information wasn't really wrong, but there should be more clarification. To start with, never call gain volume, like input volume. Gain is gain and volume is volume, They're different, and if you don't have a clear understanding of which is which, you can have a hard time if you run into problems.
This is what you must know. Gain controls are always on the input of a component and volume controls are always on the output of a component. Only a gain control can overdrive or distort the signal. A volume control can't. It attenuates the signal and nothing more. If you have a gain related issue such as excess noise or distortion from too much, you can't fix it with a volume control. You have to alter your gain structure to fix the issue. That's where the term gain staging comes from and why you never hear the term volume staging. Using the guitar amp as an example is very good. Its the only type of amp that you want to make it distort on purpose, and that's why its such a good example.
This is a bit off topic, but I think its relevant given the discussion. If you are working with digital products, you should know if your volume control(s) adjust volume in the digital or analog domain. With digital volume controls, you run into a unique problem called bit stripping. You only get the full resolution of a digital music file if all of the digital volume controls in the signal chain are set to max. I'll give an example using MP3 because there's always a bit rate associated with it and everyone is familiar with the format. The highest quality MP3 is 320kbps. In order to get the full 320, all of your digital volume controls have to be set at max. As you lower the volume the 320 keeps going down the more you lower it. So, if you have a mix of digital and analog volume controls, set the digital ones to the max, if possible, and use the analog controls to adjust volume. But if you have to make a choice between too much gain or too much bit stripping, gain is still more important. Also, the best way to mitigate the effects of bit stripping is to go with the highest resolution format possible. Bit stripping will be much more apparent with a format like MP3. Standard CD quality (16/44) is much better, and anything high res, the effect is even less. (24/192).
It sure would be helpful if the naming was consistent across products.
Yep 👍
It doesn't matter. Just remember, gain controls can only be put in the input of a component, and volume controls are only on the output.