> What I meant is that the REC LEVEL dial is an attenuator. So, as
> long as you set it to the maximum position of "10" it does not
> attenuate the signal.
>
> I believe that the HIGH SENSE setting internally inserts an
> additional preamplifier stage (or it increases the gain of the
> preamplifier).
>
> The recording level controls of more expensive recorders work
> completely different. The level controls of the Sound Devices 7xx
> recorders for instances directly modify the gain of the
> preamplifier, which is generally a better concept.
On pro equipment, you have mic preamp gain trimmers and a fader. The
gain trimmers are in the feedback loop of the preamp and therefore
don't go all the way off when turned down. The trimmer is often very
sensitive to pot scratch as the gear ages, so it's not usually used to
"mix" with, i.e. only moved to "rough-in" the recording level during a
rehearsal.
Then you have a fader, which is an attenuator between the preamp and
the A/D. This can be used to "ride" recording level, though we don't
usually do that with soundscapes because we want constant ambience.
There's often a fixed "make-up" gain after the fader so it can be
normally operated at 2:00 or so.
If they did it right on the LS-10 the hi-lo switch is the preamp trim,
and the record level control a fader. But the designers of digital
recorders often have no experience with analog electronics and
sometimes do weird things that make it difficult to get the noise and
headroom optimized.
-Dan Dugan
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