Mixing Consoles

This isn't related to computers per se, but I couldn't think of anywhere else to put this. Feel free to move it if you think it would fit better elsewhere.



Does anybody here have any experience with these? I have a new job at the church, taking over the operation of the console from those who are currently operating it. I've noticed several things, but in particular, I've noticed that they have a tendency to control the volume using the gain control knob. I'm no sound engineer, but I know enough that this isn't the proper way to mix. Much of the time, the gain is set very, very low, barely enough to light up the bottom two green LEDs on the meter, and the fader is set very high, sometimes as much as -5dB! (There is a 10dB preamp before the fader, "0" is equal to 10dB of fade, and it goes up to -10, which would be the raw signal from the first preamp + the fader preamp.)

I told him we should really turn the gain up, and the fader down, but he just won't listen, because "this is the way we've always done it, and it works". Perhaps, but is it right? And could we get better performance by turning the gain up? (S/N ratio, etc.) I tried to explain the fundamental difference between the gain control and the fader, but I don't think he got it.

Which leads to my question: What is a good level to set the gain at? I know it varies from input to input, but I mean, in general. He has it set so that it barely lights up the bottom of the green area of the meter, I had it set so that it went mid-way into the yellow (but not so high that any anomalies would cause the signal to clip.) Who is right? Did I set the gain too high? The input souce is a small wireless microphone. The microphone itself has an extremely strong input, we have to turn the pad (26dB ) on to control it.

Any help is appreciated.

How ya doing, buddy?