MP3s are also all recorded at different levels, you’ll need to adjust each track a little.Īmplifier : This is pretty simple. Of course the signal will be smaller before the bass kicks in. That means you need to be conscious of what is happening with your signal at all times. If any of those settings cause the signal to clip before it gets to the Master Volume knob, your signal will be distorted no matter what setting the Master is at.
You can increase the size of the signal with channel gain (of course), with the volume faders, and even with the EQ potentiometers. Mixer : There are several “points of gain” here on a mixer. Assuming your equipment isn’t made at Safeway, what should come out of your unit is a nice clean sine wave. Even a Technics 1200 doesn’t amplify the tiny signal the needle produces by vibrating in the groove. It doesn’t really amplify a signal at all. Some controllers have mixers built in, but for this I’m talking about standalone units. Let’s explain quickly what equipment is in your chain and what it does, exactly.Ĭontroller/CD-Player/Turntable : All this does is take the sound from the medium you have and convert it to an electrical signal. Now it looks like a cross between a sawtooth and a square wave, neither of which you want going to your speakers. What you see with the green part of the wave is a CLIPPED WAVE… and therefore… a distorted signal. Once you crank the gain on your channel, and bring those lights into the red, your signal is no longer a pretty sine wave, it looks like the green section of this wave, because the peaks of the sine wave are sheared off by the clipping limits. Remember those tic marks from the other picture? They are represented on this graph by Vcc (Voltage Cycle Clipped) OK, see that blue, smooth sine wave? That’s what it should look like when your levels are all green, or slightly flirting with the yellow. I’ve been to concerts where I’ve stood near giant stacks of speakers and I can still talk to people next to me without shouting, and it’s still plenty loud. I recently attended a house party where an otherwise good DJ kept cranking the volume to the point that you could not speak to anyone at a normal volume anywhere in the 2 story house. It’s a problem with amateurs who don’t understand how it all works and/or believe that louder = better. Maybe of the larger clubs have giant sound systems that never hurt my ears, because knowledgeable stage managers are keeping a close eye on the talent. I almost never have a problem with this when pros are behind the helm. And then, when I leave the club, it sounds like someone has shoved cotton in my ears because they are ringing so badly. While it’s not OVERLY distorted, it’s certainly less pleasant than clean sound. Yet, I go to many clubs and other events where the music is so loud that I can’t hear myself think. Red is primarily not a good thing unless you’re talking about the ripeness of a Washington apple. Ok, I didn’t mean to be vulgar there, but I’m trying to illustrate a point. Once a month, women HATE seeing the color red. It’s a pretty safe bet that when you see something red, it’s not a good thing.