Is high volume better on Pro3?

Is high volume better on Pro3?
« on: February 16, 2021, 10:24:18 AM »
Hi Everyone,

I’m curious if you get different tones by running the pro3 “hot” with its volume knob high vs in a lower position.

Mine is at about 1/4 of the way up, at the 9 o’clock position. I use that because it’s plenty loud when I use headphones on it.

However, since the synth has an analog signal path, should I run it higher and attenuate it down in my mixer?

Best regards,

Gino

timboréale

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Re: Is high volume better on Pro3?
« Reply #1 on: February 16, 2021, 02:44:26 PM »
No, the output does not intentionally drive from the volume knob (it's mostly an attenuator, not a boost), although you can overdrive your system inputs perhaps. But if you want controlled and useful distortion, use one of the many distortion options in the synth's signal path instead. Set the output volume for proper levels in your mixer or A/D converters, and don't worry about it.
Prophet 6 keyboard, Rev2-16, Prophet 12 Keyboard, Nords, etc...

Re: Is high volume better on Pro3?
« Reply #2 on: March 07, 2021, 11:20:11 AM »
In my experience, the Pro-3 outputs on the hotter side of line-level:  particularly if you have a lot of gain going on in the signal path on the way to the output.  If you have all oscillators cranked to 127, you're going to get a hot output.

This doesn't mean that the volume knob itself is acting as an overdrive or otherwise changes the tone of the synth going out, it's just that a louder signal is more likely to overdrive whatever is receiving the signal from the Pro-3 with the volume cranked than you are compared to many other synths.

Conventional wisdom from audio engineering dictates that you want a signal somewhat quieter than the level that causes your receiving device to overdrive or clip.  I find that on the Pro-3 running into my Behringer UMC1820 interface, I usually have the volume knob turned to about 2 o'clock to give me plenty of room to crank things without clipping my interface.