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Collaboration, Voice & AV · Foundational

Gain Structure

Setting the gain at each stage of an audio system so signals stay well above the noise floor without clipping.

Definition

Good gain structure establishes a proper level at the first gain stage (usually the mic preamp) and maintains unity or appropriate levels through mixers, DSPs and amplifiers. Poor structure either raises noise (too little gain early and too much later) or causes distortion (too much early gain). Technicians often use a reference tone and meters to align each stage.

Example

A technician sets each DSP input so speech peaks reach about -20 dBFS, then sets the amplifier input sensitivity accordingly.

Exam tip

Set gain at the first stage; avoid fixing a weak preamp level by boosting at the amplifier.

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