XLR Out - Mic vs line level

[Adam_F]

Forgive me if this seems like a very basic question, but I haven't been able to find any conclusive answer to this one...

 

Line level is hotter that mic level, so sending line level into a device expecting mic level may result in clipping, is that right?

 

But what about the opposite? 

Will it have any negative consequences (other than lower volume) if you set output level to mic when plugging into, for example, active studio monitors which expect line level?

[DunedinDragon]

Generally speaking, most equipment taking in mic and line level inputs can be adjusted up or down to accommodate the difference either via a switch or a preamp gain input knob.  The general guideline is, for direct to live powered speakers you would normally send Line level, although many powered speakers have a switch that will allow you to send Mic level which is used when you want to use a microphone direct into the speaker.  For direct input to a mixing board you would normally send Mic level.  The mixer will almost always send a Line level signal to the speakers after passing through the mixing process.

[PierM]

19 minutes ago, Adam_F said:

Line level is hotter that mic level, so sending line level into a device expecting mic level may result in clipping, is that right?

 

Clipping? Depends; if there is a pad activated, or a low track volume, or negative gain (attenuation) etc... It could clip, and probably will sound awfully noisy....but that's not gonna explode anything.

 

19 minutes ago, Adam_F said:

But what about the opposite? 

Will it have any negative consequences (other than lower volume) if you set output level to mic when plugging into, for example, active studio monitors which expect line level?

 

Nothing bad happen. Just a very low level, since a MIC signal is expecting a preamp which won't be found in a device INput set at line level.

[rvroberts]

Ok, line level is hotter than mic - yes.

Why not send mic level to something expecting line level?

Well, a few considerations -

Firstly, it is quite likely that there will not be enough gain in the line level amp to reach satisfactory levels, very unlikely to reach anything like full volume.

Secondly, all electronic devices and signals has a noise component. If you have to use lots of gain to get a very low level signal up to something usable, you also amplify the noise, so expect a noisy result.

In guitar amplification this is pretty important because guitars are noisy sources, distortion pedals etc are also noise amplifiers, so you are often already needing to do stuff like manage volume on the guitar or a pedal just to keep the noise acceptable, so the last thing you need is to amplify all the noise in your signal even more.