Behind The Mixer

Learn Church Audio Artistry | Church Sound

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Gain, a.k.a. Trim, is a volume control for each channel of a mixing console.  The Gain knob controls the volume being input into the channel, not the amount of volume output through the channel.  Different types of input devices, from mp3 players to guitars to vocal microphones all have different volume levels that are input into the mixing console.  The job of the Gain/Trim knob is to control those levels so the faders can best control the volume output.

Setting the gain for each channel can be done using channel meters within each channel, on the high-end mixers, or the volume meter located on the mixer via use of the Solo/PFL button.  The PFL/SOLO button acts as a controller over which channel is being monitored in the volume meter.
Set The Gain:

  1. Select a channel for setting a level, let’s say a vocal microphone in channel #4.
  2. Have the singer sing a verse or two of a song they will be singing that day – and sing at their normal level.
  3. With the PFL button pressed and the Gain knob set at zero, start turning the Gain knob up.  The fader should be set at 0.
  4. Stop turning the Gain knob when the volume meter is showing 2-3 green bars.
  5. Tell the singer to go up in volume.
  6. Turn the knob back if the meter goes into the red.
  7. Expect it to stay green with an occasional yellow.
  8. You don’t want to be on the edge of green/yellow as when you add in other channels, every 3 channels increase the overall volume level.

Now, with the fader at the 0 indicator, you will have the best control over the vocal volume.

Using this method, it’s possible to set all fader’s to the 0 mark and have equal volume levels for all channels.  That doesn’t mean the mix is finished, it just means the volume levels are in a good range.

*An exception.  Depending on your setup, #4 might not work in your situtation.  If you set the gain using #4 but it’s not loud enough, then keep increasing the gain until it is loud enough.  Let your ears make the right decision.

 

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  1. Thank you, I am learning sound for our Church and sometimes no matter how much volume I give the bass on live stream it will not come through. Please help me with this, if you do not mind. Do I do it the same way for the Bass as for the vocals.

    Reply

  2. Hi Chris,
    This is possibly the most simple and the best explanation on setting gain. There are plenty of Videos on YouTube but none is as simple as this one. Thanks a ton !

    Reply

  3. I’m having issues with distortion from the instrument. (Keyboard in particular) What is the best master volume setting on the keyboard before it goes into my SoundCraft mixer. I was taught, once I turn the master volume of the keyboard down, then I can have more control of the actual signal. If I turn the signal up, then I get lot of distortion from the signal going through the amps. Is there a best volume setting for the keyboard?

    Reply

    • The rule is to get the most gain as early as possible. So turn the keyboard volume up to max. Then turn down the gain on the mixer console. Now you’re getting the strongest signal form the keyboard and with the mixer gain turned down, you’ll get the control you need.

      Reply

  4. I have viewed numerous YouTube videos giving instructions as to the proper method of setting the GAIN on a mixer. They always use the microphone as the input being used. I totally understand how to set the GAIN properly using a microphone, however how is the GAIN set for a bass guitar that is plugged into a mixer via a DI box? What is the correct procedure for this type of input?

    Reply

  5. Hello Chris

    My questions is about the numbers under the trim/gain knob on various mixers. Example on a Mickie 1402 mixer the gain knob states 0 – 60. On the mixer board for the Zoom F-control the gain states 10 – 75. What do these number represent?

    Reply

    • Without reading the manual of all these types of devices, it’s hard to say. I’ve run consoles where the numbers represented decibels but I’ve also seen them as arbitrary numbers. I checked the Zoom manual and it doesn’t say. 10 what? 70 what? I could guess that 10 isn’t zero because if it’s turned all the way down, it will still allow for some signal to pass through but that’s just a guess.

      Reply

  6. Hey Chris!

    I’ve been reading a bit on unity gain, but have been skeptical that it will actually sound better. Why would it sound better? Do you have any examples?

    Reply

    • No examples but look at it this way, the minute you go above or below unity, you the mixer is modifying the signal. The more boosting or cutting (to excess), the more the signal is affected. For example, if you have to boost the signal a lot, you’ll hear more line noise. Set at unity, set the gain so it’s close to what you need, than when done with all of the channels, you can mix with the faders but you’ll have the best signal to work with an avoid excessive boosts or cuts.

      Reply

  9. I’m using a Yamaha MX12/6. My question is about the Gain knob marking, which is from -16 on the left to -60 on the right (mic). Why a bigger minus-value turning it to the right will end up making a “louder” result? How should correctly read the figure? Sorry I’m more an operator rather than a guru understanding many theories. Thank you in advance for any advice.

    Reply

        • Pan your Mic channel all the way to one side. Set you Mic and master faders to unity. While singing, talking, or playing an instrument at normal levels, turn the gain up until the meter lights up to unity or zero pretty consistently. If unity or zero is at the top, turn gain up until the first yellow light lights up occasionally. If your board doesn’t light up unless you turn the gain all the way up, back off the gain to about 2/3 or 3/4 of the way up.
          Set the pan back to center and adjust the master fader down slightly below unity. Turn your amp or powered speakers up until you have the desired volume.

          Reply

    • thanks guys for all your insight, pls how can I stop my kick drum mic from clipping when I run pfl,am using a crest audio mixer.

      Reply

  13. One question..if you do not use a gain knob (it’s set to 0) on a mixing console do you still benefit from the preamps (color-sound) or does this totally bypass the preamp on a console and you’re just going with the signal true AD/DA on a digital console.. When you record for example synths, the synth has master volume and when you hit the console with the strong signal (loud volume) is ussually allready close to red levels- you can do that I mean.. Is it wise to combine the 50/50 approachx so that you mix the signal with external and internal etc.

    thank you for your comment..

    Reply

    • Bojan, you aren’t bypassing the preamp when you send it greater volume. All you’re doing is sending the channel a greater base volume in which case you are loosing control and you get signal bleed. When I have my inputs coming in and my gain at 0, then I shouldn’t hear anything bleeding through the channel. if I do, I’ll either hit the PAD button or see if I can have the source turn down their output such as with keys or acoustic guitar onboard amps.

      Reply

  14. I use a yamaha mg16/4 mixing console. When i do the above settings, it causes feedback in my monitor, so where should the monitor be set in relation to these settings. The monitor uses an auxilliary channel.

    Reply

      • usually when i set everything, i out faders for the channels and the master to the ‘0’mark and do what you said above. Sometime back when i discovered this feedback issue, what i do is to reduce the monitor (powered speaker) levels to close to ‘0’ bearing in mind that it is the praise and worship that needs the monitor more than others.So, i make sure they can still hear themselves. After a month of struggling with these, i leave every channel to ’10’ on the faders and leave the main at zero. Then yesterday, after refreshing by looking at your post, i resorted to setting the channel faders and main fader to zero and reduced potential feedback settings such as gains and monitor. So what i did for the monitor is that though it is usually at ’12noon’ mark at the main monitor setting on the mixer, while it is at ‘9 0 clock’ level on each channel fader and ‘7 0 clock’ level at the back of the monitor (powered speaker). Then amazingly, there was no feedback as usually happened. So, what i want to know is whether the settings for the monitor both on the mixer and behind the monitor were ideal or not.

        Reply

  16. Hello there. I was always lead to believe that when you pushed up a Chanel slider above the o that it increased the gain / trim on the Chanel .
    Is this fact , true or false
    It has been a major factor in how I set up my mix thru the years.

    Regards

    Paul

    Reply

    • The gain/trim control controls the amount of the signal coming in. When you initially set gain, that’s why it’s best to set the fader at 0. Any time you are increasing or decreasing the fader from 0, you are using the electronic circuitry to alter the signal.

      Reply

  17. While I agree this is a great approach to analog gain setting, does it translate to digital console as well??? The highest gain setting a few meters shy of clipping would allow for more data to be translated and transmitted to the digital world, thus producing a more natural sound. So in that scenario, gain setting is more a visual task vs a listening task. This was a statement made to me years ago by a Yamaha rep, I’m curious, is it true???

    Reply

    • That’s an interesting concept but no. Both analog and digital mixers use analog preamp’s and the gain is altered before the sound is digitized. I’m going to contact a friend and see if it was ever that way in early digital mixers. I would think not but “ya never now.”

      Reply

    • Bart, I did a bit of research (thanks to David McLain from CCI Solutions) and found the Yamaha rep was closer to right than I thought.

      The preamp section is analog, not digital, so yes, you want to give it a good strong signal, and it will “allow for more data to be translated
      and transmitted to the digital world      ,” but the biggest advantage is in signal-to-noise ratio, naturally. But we’re looking for the BEST level, not the HIGHEST level. In other words, establishing a good gain structure RESULTS in a clear strong data-packed digital signal. BEST and HIGHEST being two different things.

      @DukeDejong say from his experience, “The sweet spot for gain on M7 and LS9 is between -18 and -12 dB.”

      Reply