A "high gain" distortion amp is just that. Tweaked for heavy gain. JCM-900, Dual Rectifier, etc, etc. It will provide a highly distorted or overdriven tone at quiet to loud volume, any volume setting. They will often have a clean channel, though.
WHAT IS GAIN? Put simply, gain is the maximum amount an amplifier can increase a signal. In the world of headphones, it's usually voltage gain. The diagram above shows a source with a weak output made 3 times stronger by an amplifier.
Gain can be thought of as the input volume to the preamp stage (gain adjustments can produce changes in overall volume, which might account for some of the confusion between the terms), although it's more of a tone control than a volume control.
If the gain is set too high, the amplifier will reach full power when the volume control has not reached full; if the volume control is turned up higher, the amplifier is now pushed beyond its limits into clipping.
So remember: gain and volume are very similar concepts, but their difference is very important to your mix. Volume is how loud the OUTPUT of the channel or amp is. Gain is how loud the INPUT of the channel or amp is. It controls tone, not loudness.
Your gain setting determines how hard you're driving the preamp section of your amp. Setting the gain control sets the level of distortion in your tone, regardless of how loud the final volume is set.
Gain and Levels. Both gain and levels refer to the loudness of the audio. However, gain is the input level of the clips and volume is the output. In recording audio, gain is the first control that the microphone signal goes through in a mixer while levels are adjusted after that.
Difference between Pitch and Loudness
The pitch of a sound is our ear's response to the frequency of sound. Whereas loudness depends on the energy of the wave. The pitch of a sound depends on the frequency while loudness of a sound depends on the amplitude of sound waves.Generally gain adjusts the amplification of the pre-amp and the volume adjusts the volume to the speakers. Adjusting gain is used a lot to adjust the tone or sound and can cause distortion or clipping, frequently intentionally. Its how guitar amps create distortion.
On some amps, you can control the level or strength of the signal sent through this first stage; this control is called "gain" (also often labeled as "drive"). Setting the gain control sets the level of distortion in your tone, regardless of how loud the final volume is set.
Distortion often happens when a speaker develops mechanical failure due to high volume. When a speaker receives higher volume than it can handle, the cone may move way beyond what it's designed to, such that the cone material becomes stressed.
The gain control on a home audio subwoofer allows us to calibrate the bass levels produced by the subwoofer to match the output from the speakers in the system. A gain control adjust the output levels *relative* to the input levels.
Gain just means the amount your signal level is increased. Some preamps have a gain control, while others (like onboard bass preamps) have a fixed amount of gain. Either way, they usually have a "volume" knob which just passively turns down the overall signal level at the very end of the preamp circuit.
While “gain” is used to set the right input gain of level from the source, “level” is used for additional mixing. Once you've set the gain properly, you're ready to go for the time of using the same source.
gain refers to how much a signal is amplified as it passes through a circuit or device. Trim refers to changing the level of a signal (up or down) to more appropriately align it for a particular device.
How to boost Mic volume on Windows
- Right-click on the active microphone.
- Again, right-click the active mic and select the 'Properties' option.
- Then, under the Microphone Properties window, from the 'General' tab, switch to 'Levels' tab and adjust the boost level.
- By default, the level is set at 0.0 dB.
- Microphone Boost option not available.
