Location of Level Controls in the Output Chain

S

Scott_B

New Member
I would like to understand the relationship of output parameters and meters in the output signal chain. I believe that this output chain relationship is correct (i.e., in the following order): OUPUT BLOCK --> VU METER --> OUT1 KNOB --> FRONT PANEL OUTPUT METER --> D/A CONVERTER. Is that correct? I am assuming the FRONT PANEL OUTPUT METER is located before the D/A because the manual says the red LED on this meter is -1dBFS, so that implies to me the meter is measuring a digital value going into the D/A. My second question is that I don’t know where these other two items fit into the chain: GLOBAL EQ, and OUTPUT LEVEL (-10 / +4). Can you please tell me where these two items are located in this output chain? So for example, I would think / hope that the OUTPUT LEVEL is an integrated part of the D/A (e.g., the supply rails to the D/A output) so that a full scale digital signal going in to the D/A is converted to 0.316 V (-10 dBV) if "-10" is selected, and the same full scale digital signal to the D/A is converted to 1.228 V (+4dBU) if "+4" is selected. This would also mean that selecting -4 or +10 has no effect on the internal digital signal and thus does not cause any internal loss of digital resolution.
 
Yes, thanks. I spent several hours going through these posts (and the Wiki article) that seemed to be centered around discussions / input from Yek in Dec 2020 - Jan 2021. However, I have not yet found anything that directly indicates where, in the output level chain, the GLOBAL EQ and the OUTPUT LEVEL (i.e. the -10 / +4 selection) are inserted. As I noted in my original post, the -10/+4 point is very important because it if is pre-D/A, then that costs us resolution in the internal signal. Stated differently, if the D/A has to account for a digital signal representing 1.228 V (the full scale voltage for the +4 mode), then that means there are relatively few digital bits being used to represent a 0.316 V signal (the full scale voltage for the -10 mode).
 
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