Padding output

[niccolo]

Hi folks,
what do you use to attenuate the output of your SCA modules that don't have a full fader output control? (if you do of course..)
I have three A12's and two J99 and I'd like to experiment driving the pre hotter and I found these attenuators from Naiant http://www.naiant.com/studiostore/cleverdevices.html (the MPD ones) but I'm a little in doubt about what attenuation fits best, 12 or 24 dB?
If I had the cash I'd go with a Little Labs RedCloud but..

thanks

[christopherleary]

...I'm a little in doubt about what attenuation fits best, 12 or 24 dB

I would think it would depend on what you're going for. I believe these pres are wired for 5dB steps on the your gain control. If you're looking for a little 'colour' than try the 12dB; it would allow three extra steps of gain if you used your trim to scale back the extra 3dB.

If you're really looking for 'colour' and you currently have a lot of room left on your gain control when your ADC is clipping, then try the 24dB pad.

Have you thought about designing one yourself? I'm not an audio guru, but I would think that if you knew the output Z of your pre in the input Z of your next stage you could design a resistor network (Tee, Bridged T, Pi, etc) attenuator. Build it into a cable!

I realise this post was a while ago, but I noticed there were no replies.

[niccolo]

Thanks a lot for the reply, I guess I should build them myself and this thread here
http://seventhcirclestudios.com/SCA/php ... php?t=1677
is just about this topic..

thanks