1 Topic by george (edited by george 2019-03-10 04:35:29)

  • Registered: 2019-03-08
  • Posts: 4

Topic: Why independent gain controls for stereo L/R channel?

On the Fireface UCX

When I stereo link line inputs 3 and 4 in TotalMix, then navigate to those channels on the front of the Fireface UCX — those `stereo linked` channels still have independent controls for Gain.

What is purpose of independent controls for gain on a stereo signal?
Just for reference, I'm recording the output of a record player.

Apologies if this is an obvious answer, pretty new to recording. Thanks in advanced!

Also, is there a way to `link` the gain together when `linking` stereo channels?

2 Reply by ramses (edited by ramses 2019-03-10 10:49:54)

  • ramses
  • DAW Mastermind
  • Offline
  • From: UTC+1
  • Registered: 2012-10-14
  • Posts: 12,885

Re: Why independent gain controls for stereo L/R channel?

george wrote:

Also, is there a way to `link` the gain together when `linking` stereo channels?

Hi George,

sorry, but I do not understand your question / problem.

In TM FX this is already the case where it makes sense, i.e. for Mic and Inst inputs: one Gain knob and 2 individual displays for Gain (L/R). There you have the possibility to enter a different value by double-clicking on one of the two gain displays (L/R) and this offset will be kept when controlling the gain with one gain knob.

For Analog Inputs this doesn't make sense, there you record from a stereo device and have then the possibility to adjust the gain a little for L/R, but in this case for both channels at once, assuming that something like an external effect or a player has the same level on its output channels.

On the front panel of the UCX you have a LED display with only two digits which makes it impossible to show different gain levels for a stereo channel. Therefore it's more consistent to control the gain for each channel individually.
It's btw also possible on the device to check the panorama of a channel, see panorama mode in chapter 23.2.

Also on the flagship interfaces UFX II and UFX+ with a large display the Mic Input gain is also being handled individually.
You see both Mic channels on the display and there you have two encoders right beside the display which control the gain of the left and right channel. By pushing any of the encoders you can toggle AutoSet.

BR Ramses - UFX III, 12Mic, XTC, ADI-2 Pro FS R BE, RayDAT, X10SRi-F, E5-1680v4, Win10Pro22H2, Cub13