Monitor Level Settings - AudioArts Engineering R-5 Owner's Manual

R-5 / Jan 97

MONITOR LEVEL SETTINGS

It is a characteristic of most all rotary potentiometers that they perform
best in the mid and upper portions of their audio control range. This is just
common sense: if the gain structure of your external monitor/speaker
system is set way up so a console level pot setting of only 2 or 3 results in
a very loud signal at the speaker, then a very small movement of the control
will result in a major level change. If, on the other hand, the external amp/
speaker system has its input gain turned down, then the console level
control can have a 6 or 7 setting, resulting in a much a wider control range
(i.e., a small movement of the pot results in a correspondingly small change
in level).
There are other advantages as well: left-right tracking is more consistent
throughout a control's mid and upper range than at the bottom of it's taper;
when a control pot is choked back to "almost off" the signal is radically
attenuated; if the external amplifier is then turned way up to produce a
satisfactory speaker level, any distortion or left/right mismatches introduced
by the control pot will be amplified as well. Bottom line? Set your external
amplifier input gain controls/trims so a console rotary control setting of 6
or 7 results in a satisfactory studio/control room speaker level. This will
give you the best of both worlds.
If your external amplifier doesn't have input gain controls, you may wish
to introduce an external pad (attenuation) circuit at the amplifier end of the
feed. The circuit shown in the drawing below will work with any of the
console's electronically balanced outputs (i.e., any output except mono
mic channel insert patch points and the console's HDPN circuit [see
preceding section]). It will provide approximately 17dB of attentuation.
HI
R-5 CONSOLE
balanced output SSM 2142
( +4dBu )
LO
SH
Suggested external pad circuit (–17dB)
R-5 Console Balanced Outputs
END-USER SUPPLIED PAD CIRCUITRY
1.5KΩ
HI
TO EXTERNAL EQUIPMENT
620Ω
BALANCED INPUT
LO
1.5KΩ
SH
A
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