Hello, I am using the CQ20B as an interface in my studio. I often listen to YouTube as a reference. When I playback The Band The Weight, Levon’s snare clips and I get digital distortion.
I am getting clipping on the CQ and the only option I see is to lower the trim on the input (if I lower it like -3db it seems to make the clipping go away).
Pardon my ignorance (and improper use of terminology), but being a digital mixer, why can’t it seem to handle digital full scale signals from YouTube.
What am I missing? Am I thinking about this in the wrong way? It is coming in Stereo 1 (17/18). Thank you to all you brainiacs.
We did a full scale alignment using a tone generator in Reaper and found that by pulling down the trim by 1db it aligned… I bet the software designers have more insights into why this is. Would be nice if that trim knob had finer control, and if you could enter values into the number boxes rather than only being able to drag the knob.
Hi bsalomon, This sounds interesting. From your original post, I’d suggest it might have been the difference between the metering in the mixer and the metering/levels in your computer (more info here - https://support.allen-heath.com/hc/en-gb/articles/4403616287889-General-Levels-and-Metering-in-A-H-Digital-Consoles). The peak indicators also come on at -3dBFS, which would match up.
The findings in your follow up post make less sense though…
Could you let us know more about the test you set up (here or via support.allen-heath.com) please, as I’d like to try and reproduce your findings.
Thanks,
Keith.
Hi Keith! Thanks for replying. Here is more info on my test setup:
I performed a full scale alignment using Reaper. I used Tone Generator with Wet Mix set to -0 dBfs at 20 Hz and verified that it was -3 dBfs RMS and -0 dBfs peak using VU Meter. Changed the channel routing to disable the master send, and created a new hardware output to send to the stereo channel on the CQ. I then recorded the main output from the CQ back to Reaper, and used VU Meter to check the level, Oscilloscope Meter to view the waveform, and Frequency Spectrum Analyzer to check for harmonic distortion. I found that I needed to pull the trim on the stereo channel down to -1 dB in order to get VU Meter to read -3 dBfs RMS and prevent distortion. The CQ only displays whole decibel settings so I can’t tell what the decimal value was.
