Gain, level on preamp vs gain on Digi (guidelines)?

[rcook349]

Novice here, and just bought a Shure KSM44 mic and Universal Audio SOLO/610 tube preamp (woo hoo).

So, the preamp has a GAIN knob and a LEVEL knob. My Digi002 has the GAIN knob (of course) where the mic is coming in.

So what's the balance/relationship here? Am I looking for the GAIN on the Digi to be as low as possible (so as not to use the built in pre-amp which is cheaper than my SOLO/610)?

I unstnad that the fatter tube sound I want, the higher should be the GAIN on my SOLO/610.

I'm playing around with different configurations among the 3 knobs. I guess my main question is should the level on the SOLO/610 be high and the GAIN on the Digi low... are there any guidelines?

Thanks,
Ron

[Camilo Toledo]

You should use the line inputs 5 6 7 or 8 in your 002 to plug in your new preamp. NEVER conect a preamp into another preamp.

The gain regulates the input of the mic or instrument your are plugin to the 610.
The level, the output to the 002, easy to check with the level meters if you choose the mix window.

For this specific unit what other people recomend is to have the gain around 10 o'clock to start, and the level a 3 o'clock, but it really depends on many factors.

[rcook349]

I'm a dummy, thanks.

Since I don't have an XLR (Female) to 1/4" TRS (Male), and since I just bought a nice XLR (Female) to XLR (Male) to go from my preamp into my Digi, is there a way I can plug into inputs 1 or 2 or 3 or 4 but somehow disable the Digi preamp or something?

I'd hate to have to buy a whole new cable.

Thanks,
Ron

[bilco]

Buy the cable and read the Solo 610 manual to find out if the output is +4 or -10. It is probably +4. Set the switch on the input (5-8) to match, either +4 or -10.

bilco

[albee1952]

Go to GC and buy an XLRf-TRSm adapter.

[sbag]

hey toledo why do u say dont run a pre to a pre. how do u come up with that. i do it regularly i have a presonus 1 channel pre the 99 dollar one. it seem to work fine for me. think of gettting the presonus
digimax though but . my real ? is why do u say no pre in pre into a pre. no harm but i would like to know your input

[albee1952]

The more active circuits the signal goes thru, the more degradation of the signal to noise ratio. If you are running the line output of an external pre into the XLR input of a second pre, you are preamping twice which gives nothing and adds noise and possibly more distortion. In the heyday of analog recording, the signal to tape was often tapped right off the first preamp stage and bypassed the rest of the console. People would do that even if they were using a NEVE or other high-end desk to keep the recording chain is short and clean as possible. The mic input on a preamp is designed to take in a very low level signal and bring it up to line level. When you stuff a line level signal(output of the first preamp) into another preamp, it is real easy to overload it. You may not notice it on one or two tracks(or maybe you like a little "hair" on the signal), but if you start adding up several tracks with a little distortion on each, you can end up with a mix with no clarity or definition.