Questions & Answers

Should you need to boost input level of Digital piano?

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asked Jul 27, 2019 in PreAmps, Signal Processors and Monitoring Hardware by mmatthews (150 points)

Thank you for taking the time to look at this question!  Your answer made me realise that I'm not missing anything in UC therefore, so bypassed UC and created an audio channel strip in Logic Pro instead where I've added Gain as per attached image:

I suppose the question I have now is whether it is expected that you would need to increase gain on a digital piano like this, or what you're supposed to do?

I'm inputting a Roland RD-700GX on line 5/6.  The piano's volume itself is modest (one tick below halfway).  Would you generally boost the volume level of the piano instead?  

I've found that raising the piano volume beyond a certain point increases the input too much and I end up peaking during some songs, especially when there are multiple layers of sound being generated by the piano (e.g. piano+organ).  So have resorted to keeping the piano input modest, and dealing with the output to get the right volume level returned.  And in this case, it seems like extra gain is needed...

I guess I'm wondering if this is normal/expected? 

And from that, is there a right or wrong here for setup, or does it depend on what you're doing?

Thanks again!

1 Answer

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answered Jul 27, 2019 by piggysm (1,290 points)
I think you are doing right.

Its true that piano can play huge dynamic range so you have to deal with volume carefully. adding a gain to piano channel seems fine.

A lot of plugin like EQ or Compressor has Gain control built in, and its very common to trim Audio or Input volume by using gain control. if you dont have knobs on your audio interface, then you use plugin, nothing wrong.

Good luck!
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