SLink Question – independant gain stage?

[iamkingtritonParticipant]

Scenario:
-FoH running SQ7. Built in SLink to GX4816, which goes to our ME System and two daisychained DX168’s as our stage boxes.
-FoH SQ7 has SLink card, which goes to our livestreaming room. Here, we have another SQ7, with it coming into the I/O port.

Quesiton: Is it at all possible to have our streaming room and FoH have independant gain staging from this setup?

[KeithJ A&HModerator]

Hi @iamkingtriton ,

Preamp gain, along with 48V phantom power and Pad, are digitally controlled but analogue parts of the system that belong to the physical input sockets rather than digital channel processing.
i.e. Each XLR input on your GX4816 has a single preamp, pad and 48V switch behind it.
For the setup you describe, I imagine you will be using tie-lines to route signals directly from each socket. Those signals need to be amplified before hitting the ADC and becoming ‘routable’ though, so ‘routing directly from each socket’ means post analogue preamp.

In short, it is not possible to have independent preamp gain.

The trim in each input processing channel or mix external in section is independent however, so you can use trim for separate gain staging on each console.
I would also recommend switching ‘Preamp On Surface’ to off (in Surface Prefs) for the SQ connected to the GX4816. This will mean you can still access and set your preamp gain initially in the preamp processing screen, but the dedicated preamp control will only control trim (to help avoid quick changes when mixing that would affect both consoles).

Good question!
Cheers,
Keith.

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