Re: Mackie Master Fader V3, Gain or Trim ?
Hi Pierre,
GAIN:
The first thing a signal sees when it hits an analog OR digital mixer is the analog preamp section.
Right after the preamp the signal on a digital mixer goes to an ADC, Analog to Digital Converter.
Some digital mixers, like the Yamaha 01V96 have analog controlled preamps, others, like your Mackie, have digitally controlled preamps.
On any mixer, you want to get a good strong signal level from the preamp in to the mixer, but below clipping.
So the GAIN control sets the preamp level.
TRIM:
Say you have an Acoustic Guitar going in to a DI, Electric Guitar with a mic on a loud amp, an Acoustic Piano and Vocals on stage.
Relative to the other inputs, the Electric Guitar amp and Piano are already pretty loud in the hall, so when you turn them up, you are actually bring the fader up just a little to fill them out in the hall.
The digital TRIM control boosts or cuts the digitized signal so you can get the fader to sit near up near 0, with the other faders, in the 'sweet spot' of the fader's travel range.
With maybe a 10db cut at the TRIM control, your fader is now in the sweet spot.
Alternately, you have a signal coming in the mixer that isn't very strong. The GAIN is cranked all the way up on that channel and the fader is near the top of its travel to get enough level out in the hall.
Boosting that signal 10db with the TRIM control allows you to bring that fader down near the other faders.
For most inputs you can optimize the GAIN settings and the faders will be close enough to do a good mix without using the TRIM controls.
Good health, Weogo
