[geoff]

On 6/06/2018 1:47 PM, Phil Allison wrote:
wrote:


Scott Dorsey wrote: "And the level control on the amplifier,
if it did have one, would be on the _input_ side before the power amp stage."


Just a basic tech question Scott: When is the knob on
an amp an atttenuator, and when is it a volume control?
What you describe, above, sounds like a proper
attenuator, but I could be wrong. !



** It mostly a matter of common usage.

On radios, TV sets, domestic hi-fi and guitar amps the level controls are labelled "Volume".

On power amps meant for pro audio, the word "Attenuator" is more often seen.

More often 'Level' in my experience. I find "Attenuator' is more often
the label on a switch, often on the rear.


Mic preamps ( fitted to consoles or elsewhere) are a special case and the word "gain" is more appropriate.


'Gain' more often relates to the gain of the input stage (sometimes is a
pot in a feedback loop which makes it very prone to noise when
adjusting, or failure) and not an attenuator/level/volume control in the
usual sense.

Similar paradigm in guitar amps, where gain boosts the input signal, and
Volume attenuates the signal between the pre and power amp sections.

The output Level/Volume, which usually comes after the whole channel
strip, is a variable potentiometer, with the 'low' side shunting the
slider right down to 'ground'. This is also the usual Level arrangement
on the input to a such-equipped power amp.

geoff