Control 24 Reference Guide36
Each mic-line preamp section is adjustable with
a dedicated rotary potentiometer knob, and in-
cludes a selectable low-cut (high-pass) filter to
minimize microphone rumble and other low-
frequency noise. A Peak LED indicates clipping.
The gain and switching controls for these
preamps can only be accessed directly from the
Control 24 surface. They are not accessible
within Pro Tools on-screen. For this reason, you
will need to adjust and optimize your initial lev-
els and gain structure by hand before these sig-
nals enter your Pro Tools session.
About Signal Levels
There is a balance for optimal gain structure and
signal integrity that varies greatly, depending
on the dynamic range of a given signal. This bal-
ance is highly subjective, and can vary depend-
ing on program material, microphones used, or
an engineer’s preference depending on the
sonic context of the signal.
The general guidelines are to keep levels low
enough to avoid clipping (and associated distor-
tion artifacts) yet high enough to stay clear of
the noise floor (where the signal can be lost in
the preamp’s inherent noise characteristics).
There are no absolute rules or strict formulae for
attaining optimal levels. In fact, depending on
the signal character and sonic context, there are
occasions where this balance ratio can shift sig-
nificantly in either direction.
In other words, there are times when you want
to avoid one extreme more than the other, and
certain sonically-pleasing textural results can be
achieved by pushing into the two extremes of
distortion and noise floor.
To give a single example from which to extrap-
olate: Certain engineers find certain distortion
characteristics to be texturally pleasing, and
might even route an already-recorded signal
back through a microphone preamp a second or
third time to achieve a certain effect. While this
practice is not necessarily recommended, it is
nevertheless cited as an example of the subjec-
tivity of preamp levels. You will have to experi-
ment to find the optimal gain structure for var-
ious contexts.
However, it is most likely that you will become
quickly acquainted with the behavior character-
istics of these excellent preamps, and be able to
estimate settings based on source and micro-
phone placement and types.
Selecting a Preamp Source
To choose a source input:
■ Push a preamp’s Source button repeatedly un-
til the LED next to the type of input you would
like to access on that preamp becomes high-
lighted.
To connect a line-level signal:
1 Turn the level control all the way down
(counter-clockwise) as a safety precaution.
2 Connect your Line-level source to the bal-
anced 1/4” input jack on the rear of Control 24
that corresponds to your preamp number
(1–16).
3 Push the Source button until the Line LED
lights.
4 Adjust the level control.
Control_24.book Page 36 Wednesday, January 17, 2001 2:51 AM
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