Question

When connecting an external preamp to the Quantum 2626, all advice is to add no gain on the interface preamps, for obvious reasons. I want to hear the sound of the external not the internal preamp. When I connect a preamp with no gain on that channel of the Q2626, no audio registers, however, if I turn the gain knob up a tiny bit for that channel the signal appears. This suggests there is an 'off' position.

This external preamp is sending out a lot of gain. If I try a quieter external preamp, the gain knob on the Q2626 needs to be around 12 o clock for it to register as a decent level signal for recording.

I've read the manual and looked at a bunch of forums but I can't find the answer to my question anywhere. Where is unity on the gain knob when using a line level input? If I'm sending out a signal and the knob is at 7 o clock (off) am I then removing gain? So unity would be 12 o clock. Or would unity be at 7 o clock? In which case by having the knob at 12 o clock I'm then adding roughly 30dB of gain.

Many thanks in advance for any help!

Cheers,

Alex

Answer 1

I matched the gain of the line inputs as close to the same level as the insert returns. These are the only true line inputs on the 2626 and when signal is patched the gain knobs of inputs 1/2 do not affect the level of the signal, which I assumed must be unity gain. To do this, route outputs 3/4 and 5/6 to insert return 1/2 and line input 3/4 respectively. Play a source with a constant tone and match levels on line inputs to as close as you can to insert returns. Then just never move those gain knobs if you know you’ll always use them like line inputs.