The Monitor Mixer Page is essentially a collection of volume level faders, audio level (or
‘peak’) meters, and solo/mute controls. For each mixer output and input channel there is
one of each: a volume fader, a peak meter, a solo control, and a mute control.
LEVEL FADERS: Each volume fader may be controlled by dragging the fader ‘handle’
vertically with the mouse, or by clicking on the ‘handle’ to make it active and then
adjusting it with the up/down cursor keys of your computer keyboard. Because the mixer
has no gain, these faders only attenuate (reduce) the signal levels. The highest setting is
0dB, or ‘Unity Gain.’ The default fader setting is the quietest setting, –144dB, which
essentially mutes the audio. A pair of level faders may be "ganged" so that both channels
may be adjusted together as a stereo pair.
Also, at the top of each fader and meter is a fader level "fine adjustment" control. Clicking
on the small "up" and "down" arrows will adjust the corresponding fader setting in 0.5dB
increments. Next to each fine adjustment control is a numerical fader readout that is always
current and active.
PEAK METERS: Each peak meter indicates an audio signal level in "dB relative to
full-scale." This means that a full-scale signal is referred to as "0 dB" and a signal that is
12dB "quieter" than full-scale is referred to as "-12dB." The meters are vertically
color-coded into three sections: green, yellow and red. The green section represents a safe
zone, ranging from approximately -48dB to -12dB. Most audio signals should
appropriately fill this section of the meter. The yellow section ranges from -12dB to -3dB
as the signal approaches a ‘hotter’ level. For best capture resolution, recording in this area
is both safe and advised. The red section of the meter ranges from -3dB to 0dB. On the
input level meters, a 0dB condition indicates overload and audio clipping may occur.
Therefore be careful to adjust the incoming audio levels so that they do not peak in the red
section too long (you might use the monitoring capability of the Delta 1010LT to let your
ears be the judge). On all output level meters, 0dB indicates full-scale output. Unlike the
inputs, clipping is impossible on the outputs because of the 36-bit resolution built into the
mixer hardware.
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