Questions about input and output volume

[pjbrewer44]

Does anyone have any idea about what a good starting point would be for the input and output volumes would be specifically on the XLR outputs. I see people who run their amp blacks with a level that is significantly higher than what I can. I seem to get a lot of clipping and harshness when I run presets without significantly adjusting volume. 

[silverhead]

This seems to be a question about gain staging, which is a whole world of its own. In the digital world there is an opportunity for clipping and harshness to occur at virtually all points in your signal flow, especially if you increase a block's Level parameter above 0db. This can potentially overdrive the input of any following block(s) causing clipping and harshness.

 

The Stadium's Output block will tell you if/when clipping is occurring, as described in the manual. If it is, you need to identify which block(s) in the signal chain is causing it and reduce the output level of that block. In my experience the best way to do that is to bypass all blocks and listen to the effectively dry incoming signal. If the Output block still shows clipping then you need to reduce the level of the incoming signal from external equipment, or address it in the Input block by lowering the Trim parameter.

 

After all blocks are bypassed and the Input Trim is reduced if required, then you begin to turn the processing blocks ON one at a time. I generally begin with the amp . If that introduces clipping at the Output block you need to lower the Gain, Level, or Master level - or perhaps the Tone stack levels -  in the amp block. These interact with each other so you may need to adjust more than one. Then I move on to the cab block which can introduce fizz and harshness. Experiment with mics, and Hi/Low cut levels.  

 

Once the Output block is no longer clipping with amp/cab active, and you don't find the tone too harsh, you can move on to other blocks in the preset. Continue to activate them one at a time. If clipping appears at the Output block, lower the levels in the offending block. Rinse and repeat until your preset no longer shows clipping at the Output block.

 

Tedious? Yes. But learning how to properly gain stage your signal path is a critical part of preset and tone development. The art of Gain Staging is not specifically  a Line 6 or Stadium topic. It's a general audio engineering art/skill. Google and/or your favourite AI agent can help you learn more.

[bbehrens]

Also, the Stadium allows you to create multiple parallel paths using Splits and Joins. Every split can create a slight increase in dB output because of the parallel paths. This is obviously true when using parallel Amp Model presets. Unfortunately, Line 6 Stadium STILL exacerbates this problem by automagically setting the Join at an additional +3 dB, which alone is noticeable. I usually set all joins either at -1.5 dB for parallel splits such as dual parallel delays or parallel delay and reverb and I set the join at 0 dB for parallel Amp joins.

 

But the bottom line is that if you happen to have 4 different joins in your presets (as of Stadium firmware v3) then you can automagically have +12dB added to your signal chain without you doing anything else. Additional effects or Amp blocks can make this even higher.