Hello,
Do you know if there is any chance to add a manual switch pad (-20 dB) on every XLR input, please? Or maybe just a gain/input control to the EQ or the comp?
It seems easy to implement, but I may be completely wrong.
I have a lot of synths (with line level outputs), and some of them are plugged into XLR sockets. To have consistent levels, I have to turn the synth master volume very down or let the CQ fader be at -20 dB. Both case are not ideal.
Thanks for reading.
What about using an XLR to TRS adapter for those sources instead? Or are you out of TRS inputs?
Yes, exactly. I’m out of TRS inputs. We can “only” plug 5 stereo synths. If we have more, we have to use XLR sockets. Hence my question.
I’m afraid your suggestion would require a hardware change and therefore can’t be changed with a simple firmware update.
Since you mentioned special gain controls: Your input gain controls are already set to the left?
Otherwise, DI boxes with attenuators could help – they’re also available in multi-channel versions.
It would also protect your instruments from accidentally activated phantom power.
That’s what I feared. If an attenuation pad is an analog hardware component, it cannot be added.
Yes, the preamp is at 0 dB.
So maybe we could have an input (or output) gain control allowing negative values to the EQ and/or the comp? So that I could use them just to reduce the signal level.
Or maybe just a “trim control”, separated from the processing chain (placed before, ideally). But if it’s doable, what’s the difference with adding a 20 dB “digital pad attenuation” button, except we could choose a precise value ?
Of course, I could buy and use DI boxes, but this is not the purpose.
In my opinion, a digital PAD attenuation wouldn’t make much sense.
If the gain is already set to minimum and the level is still much too high, it would probably only help to reduce it before the AD conversion – i.e., still in the analog section.
And if the console can’t do it, it will only work with upstream hardware, such as a DI box or attenuators.
I don’t know. SQ consoles have a trim knob which is specifically intended to attenuate too hot sources (e.g. line level plugged into XLR socket). It can attenuate up to -24 dB. So it’s super useful in my opinion, because it allows users to cover specific usage cases without adding extra hardware.
But I agree that a fixed digital pad does not exist in the audio world, from my experience. A trim knob, like the SQ series, would be the perfect solution.
A workaround would be to have dry and wet level knobs for the compressor, which necessarily would also benefit from a “parallel path” option.
Double check that those synths are properly set up to send a balanced signal. In some cases I’ve seen synths that were not properly wired to all three pins on the XLR output.
There are also DIs and isolation boxes specifically designed to lower output of instruments before they reach the board going back decades. The universal standard seems to be that an XLR input on a mixer should expect mic-level signal sources.
The trim control isn’t actually specifically designed for that purpose.
It’s more of a replacement for the gain control when using digital sources that don’t have an adjustable analog preamp before the A/D converter.
For example, if you connect two suitable consoles and want to use them differently (e.g., SR and stream or monitor mixes), only one console has access to the preamps and thus the gains. Therefore, the trim on the second console is the only way to achieve appropriate level adjustment for that purpose.
The CQ has for its digital sources (USB) also trims only .
(And both, the CQ and SQ, have no gains also for their stereo inputs and have only trims there.)
But regardless of what has been said, it would of course technically possible for the CQ to have a trim control on all channels.
It would just take enough users and the engineers to decide to do so.
Thanks for your explanations.
Based on all the feedback we have here, I unfortunately don’t think that the trim knob will come someday.
If someone is interested in the trim knob FR, please vote up!
EDIT: if a mod can change the title accordingly (replace by “trim knob on every input”, for example), it would be great.
Thanks. I didn’t know some output synths were not “true balanced”
A trim knob is only interesting if it can trim before the AD conversion. Trimming in digital space (negative dB) does not work if the signal is already clipped.
I’d suggest an inline pad option like this instead: JTS MA-123 – Thomann Nederland
I’m not sure, since SQ (and even CQ, for Bluetooth and stereo inputs) has the trim knob in the digital world. And that, for a given input, there is enough headroom to convert a signal above the 0 dBVU.
They could us a digital controlled analog volume control …
…or a floating ADC on the inputs? That would allow digital trim.