[Scott Dorsey]

Nate Najar wrote:

with the yamaha, I take the balanced, xlr line out from the bass amp and wi=
th the gain on the preamp all the way down, the little red channel led ligh=
ts up on transients and it spends a pop to my speakers- not good.

1. The XLR input and the 1/4" input on that console are at diferent levels.
You can use an XLR to TRS cable and go into the 1/4" input that has lower
gain.

2. You can put an XLR barrel attenuator in the line. You should have a bag
of them lying around, they are amazingly useful for all kinds of things.


So I ins
tead take the signal from the unbalanced line out through a DI and pad it (=
15db is my option) and then I have to crank the gain and the channel fader =
to get decent level. It isn't the end of the world, but when I have to set=
up and operate everything myself, one less step (in this case the DI) is he=
lpful.

So what if you go into the DI without the pad?

The big reason to replace the yamaha is that the external line lump scares =
the hell out of me. I want to get something with an internal supply that t=
akes an IEC cable. If I'm going to get something new, I want something goo=
d. I don't buy crap anymore which is why I have schoeps mics and prism con=
verters now but I also rarely buy anything because I don't want to spend mo=
ney on crap. When I need more mics I borrow or hire them.

It's true that those things do fail a lot, although the advantage of them is
that they get the transformer physically away from the electronics which is
otherwise hard to do in a tiny little compact box.

Scott, I looked at the sonosax the other day- it's almost perfect but it is=
beyond the budget especially considering the types of gigs I do where I wo=
uld need my own rig.=20

The Sound Devices mixers are made for similar work but are less expensive
and more stripped down. But I think you'd be better off just buying some
pads and a spare line lump.
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."