Re: Finally pulled the trigger on a StudioLive 24.4.2
If you look at the picture of the board in operation you can see that the "fat channel" meters are set to "output" mode. So the FC meters are really functioning as a meter bridge. The output level of the first three channels are showing two of them maxxed out and one with the clip LED lit. On my SLive this would mean some digital distortion was being sent TO the summing amps. They'll have enough 1's and 0's to sum things, but what they'll sum will be crunchy. The possibility of clipping exists well before the summing amps. The answer to your question is "no", it should not make an audible difference. But the picture in this instance is showing clipping and high load BEFORE the summing amps.
While the SLives are very "analog" friendly and easy to navigate it does take a bit of practice to set proper gain structure through it. With the change to the digital metering standard from analog combined with the fact that the board uses both metering systems it is easy to crunch things the first time out. After that it works fine.
When my SLive is set up as in the picture with the meter bridge showing the channel output levels, the LED's would be peaking around the middle of their travel, not hitting the tops. And with the channel faders at "unity" as in the picture, the peaking of the meters probably means that the input gains are set higher than -15, which is what Rob cited as optimum in his last post. -15 is the correct input level IME.
Again, the answer to the question is "no", but the real question is about the gain structure and whether the visual evidence shows excessive levels prior to the summing amps.
