If Youre Mixer Has Both Line and Mic Level, What Do You Set Speaker to
Acquire the difference between mic-level point, instrument-level point, line-level signal, and speaker-level point.
Mic, instrument, line, and speaker level signals differ when it comes to their voltage levels. From the weakest to strongest voltage level, it goes mic level betoken, musical instrument level signal, line level signal, and so speaker level point.
The verbal level of a signal depends on things like how loud a sound source is, so information technology makes the well-nigh sense to just recall virtually these different betoken levels as weaker or stronger than one another, as opposed to trying to define specific voltage levels for each point type.
Line Level Point
If you feed a mic or instrument level point into a line input on a piece of hardware, you'll finish upwardly with a very weak and, in some cases, almost inaudible sound. This is incredibly problematic when you run the indicate through a device that is input-level dependent, like a compressor. If the input signal isn't strong enough to drive the line input, the signal won't breach the compressor's threshold level, so it's non going to apply pinch.
Line level signal is often referred to as the "standard" pro sound indicate level considering most external hardware similar EQs, reverbs, and delays are built to accept line level signals. Other devices that can have line level signals include mixing consoles and audio interfaces.
In the aforementioned style that it's possible to feed a device a signal that's likewise weak, it's only easy to feed a device a signal that'due south also stiff. For case, if a device is meant to accept a mic level indicate or an musical instrument level point, but y'all feed it a line level signal, y'all'll overdrive the device, which tin result in heavy distortion.
At that place are actually ii mutual types of line voltage levels, which include -10 dBV and +4 dBu. The inputs and outputs on consumer electronics are usually designed to work optimally with -x dBV line signals, while the inputs and outputs on pro sound gear are frequently designed to piece of work optimally with +four dBu line level signals, which are a scrap stronger than -ten dBV signals.
If you're working solely with pro audio gear, most of it likely calls for a +iv dBu line level signal, but some pro audio gear might have a switch that allows you lot swap inputs between a -x dBV and +4 dBu mode. This lets you make use of both consumer and professional-level audio equipment.
Connecting a -10 dBV output to a +4 dBu input volition always increase the noise floor. However, y'all'll unremarkably end upwardly with a cleaner bespeak if you boost the gain within your pro audio gear, every bit opposed to overdriving the outputs of your consumer gear.
Routing bespeak the other fashion, from a +4 dBu output to a -x dBV input, can overload the inputs on consumer gear. In this case, you'll want to pass up the output of your +4 dBu gear.
Pieces of gear that utilise these ii line level signal variations can be continued to each other, but only make certain that you boost or attenuate the point within your pro audio gear to conform your consumer gear. In full general, you want to stick to using gear with +iv dBu line inputs and outputs whenever y'all tin can, since it provides more headroom than -ten dBV gear.
Mic Level Signal
It's articulate that you ofttimes need to boost mic level and instrument level signals to line level somehow, but how do you become well-nigh doing this?
Well, a mic preamp is designed to boost the level of mic level signals, which are usually produced by microphones. If you ain an audio interface, there'south a skillful risk that there's at to the lowest degree one mic preamp built into it, but there are standalone mic preamps likewise.
Fundamentally, mic preamps all exercise the same affair, which is boost mic level signal to line level, but some mic preamps introduce a sure desirable character, while others attempt to provide clarity. Various standalone preamps as well include built-in EQs or compressors, which provide additional functionality.
In some studios, yous'll run into preamp chassis, which are meant to house 500 series mic preamps. Recording engineers will often own a couple of these piddling preamps, which gives them the pick to apply various tonal qualities to their recordings, depending on which preamp they cull to use.
When you tape with the preamps built into your audio interface, you're stuck with the one choice. Although, most audio interfaces include preamps that sound pretty darn good. Fifty-fifty the preamps found in entry-level audio interfaces tin can produce professional person-quality results.
Y'all're not going to hear as well many people arraign a poor recording on their preamps, but an assortment of standalone mic preamps does provide a little more versatility, and may brand it slightly easier to observe the sound yous're looking for.
Instrument Level Signals
Electric guitars and bass guitars produce high-impedance, unbalanced instrument level signals.
The starting time consequence hither is that the pick-ups found in these instruments produce a relatively high impedance bespeak, then you need to run them into an input with an extremely high impedance. Unfortunately, not all audio gear provides high-impedance inputs. When you run a loftier-impedance betoken into a depression-impedance input, in that location'south going to exist a loss of top-cease frequency content, which you probably don't want.
The second outcome is that the signal that guitars and basses produce is unbalanced; this means that if you endeavour to run the signal through cables over roughly 25 feet, yous'll innovate unwanted racket to the signal. Factors like how well-shielded your cables are, dictate the severity of the noise. However, at a certain point, heavily shielded cables aren't going to cutting it.
You need a device that's going to provide a loftier-impedance input, and convert the incoming loftier-impedance, unbalanced signal into a low-impedance, counterbalanced signal. Luckily, this is exactly what a direct inject box does—these are also commonly referred to as DI boxes. Yous plug your electric guitar or bass into the DI'south input jack, and it produces a low-impedance mic level signal.
You tin can then use a balanced XLR cablevision to run the signal over a pregnant distance without worrying about racket, and procedure it only like you would whatever other mic level signal. If you wanted to run it into a firm mixer or PA, you lot would at present be able to do and then.
In that location are both passive DIs and agile DIs. Passive DIs isolate footing-level voltages and eliminate ground loops; they're great for instruments with a strong output, and they're besides inexpensive and durable. Because of this, they're an extremely pop choice.
Active DIs comprise a preamp, while passive DIs do non. They can aid drive long cable runs, and heave the gain of weak signals. Since they tend to provide more than headroom than passive DIs, they're also well-suited for instruments with agile pick-ups. The downside of active DIs is that they require a power supply, which can be a bit of an inconvenience, and on top of that, they're often quite a flake more expensive than passive DIs since they're internally more complex devices.
Many DI boxes include a throughput, in add-on to a low-impedance mic level output. The throughput passes the loftier-impedance input point straight through the device to a separate output, assuasive you lot to road the signal into an on-phase amplifier. Amps have high-impedance inputs, and then unsurprisingly, they take high-impedance instrument level signals.
You can route the low-impedance mic level signal that a DI box produces to a PA, using balanced XLR cables, while running the high-impedance throughput signal to an amplifier simultaneously.
When it comes to recording, this set up lets you to record a guitar indicate free of effects, while simultaneously recording a guitar signal run through pedal effects and an amp. To tape the amp, yous just set up a microphone in front of information technology. And then, you have the selection to use processing to the unaffected guitar signal in-the-box using plugins, or if you want, you tin can blend the dry guitar signal with the candy guitar indicate you lot've recorded.
For recording guitar at habitation, you probably don't need a DI box, unless yous want to split the indicate in the style I just mentioned. Near audio interfaces have a high-impedance input, which is often indicated by the text "HI-Z." If you lot plug your electric guitar or bass directly into a Hi-Z input on your audio interface, you don't need a DI box. You can record your guitar directly into your digital audio workstation using the HI-Z input on your sound interface.
Speaker Level Signals
Speaker level signal is signal that has been amplified using an amplifier. When y'all run a line level signal into your studio monitors, the amplifiers built into your speakers boost the signal up to speaker level. Smaller speakers require less volts to produce sound waves, whereas large speakers require more volts.
If you find a speaker level output on a piece of hardware, similar a power amp, be very cautious. Connecting this output to a mic, instrument, or line level input on a piece of gear can damage it. Make sure that you only connect speaker level outputs to speaker level inputs.
You'll also want to brand certain that you course these connections using speaker cables. Speaker cables are unshielded and use thick wires. If y'all use the wrong blazon of cable, like an musical instrument cable, which is shielded and contains sparse wires, you lot can actually melt the cable, and damage your amplifier as well.
Near companies label their cables, so information technology's easy to tell which type of cable you're dealing with. All the same, if yous find yourself looking at a cablevision that's non labelled, and you're not 100% certain which type of cable information technology is, just unscrew the cease of the cablevision and take a look inside.
An entry-level audio interface, like the Focusrite Scarlett 2i2, will allow you to record mic, instrument, and line level signals. If y'all're looking for a more robust recording solution, consider taking a look at Universal Audio'south Apollo x8 audio interface.
To put your knowledge of the concepts covered in this article to the test, and learn how to create quickly customizable hardware processing chains, cheque out our video on "How to Fix Upwardly and Use a Patch Bay."
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Source: https://www.blackghostaudio.com/blog/audio-signal-levels-explained-mic-instrument-line-and-speaker
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