Gain structure in multitrack outputs

[zarndyhoff]

Hi,

I recently used my Model 24 to record the symphony orchestra at the town hall in my city.

It performed well, but I was surprised by one thing. The gain pots on each channel don't seem to affect the gain on the multitracks that get out put to USB and SD card.

This meant that, because it was a live orchestral performance in a town hall, there were some very quiet patches of audio that weren't very far above the noise floor of the preamps.

I understand that this may not have been what the Model 24 was designed for, but I was slightly disappointed to discover this issue. The stereo master fader recording is clean, because the gains are appropriate, but the multitracks are quiet and noisy because they're so near the noise floor.

Is this going to be addressed in a firmware update, or is this permanent?

Thanks

 

[-mjk-]

A quick look at the block diagram shows that the sends to the SD MTR and USB interface are post input gain trim.

 

[Matthew Fogel]

So I have been looking at just this issue for a few weeks and looking at the schematics and everything. As far as I can tell, because the USB/MTR “send” is located post input gain, they have calibrated the recorder (specifically the built in recorder) to never clip. So you can max out the gain to create real analog transistor distortion without digitally clipping. What I have taken to doing with the USB recorded tracks is running a normalize. The mic pre’s are actually super transparent silent so this adds zero noise floor.