volume and gain

Can anyone tell me what are the differences between gain and volume? The only difference i can see is when im automating, i alter the gain instead of the volume, so when i adjust the slider on the mixer it doesnt affect my automation.

The Gain is used as the input volume of your track and the volume (fader) controls the output of your track if I may say so.

 

We mainly use the gain during recording phase.

Can anyone tell me what are the differences between gain and volume? The only difference i can see is when im automating, i alter the gain instead of the volume, so when i adjust the slider on the mixer it doesnt affect my automation.

 

The volume automation has direct control of your fader/slider. The channel fader will follow whatever your automation is doing and will snap the fader back to the automation value if you try to move it to a new value.

 

some people claim they have the automation set perfectly, but it is a bit too low and want to raise it uniformly. This is possible by moving the automation slider or using a gain plug in (at the end of your inserts).

 

I prefer setting the automation to LATCH and re-adjusting as I see fit, then switch it back to READ.

Volume, or better yet level, is the measurement of the amplitude of a signal.

 

Gain is the ratio, or difference between the amplitudes of two signals.

 

It's a bit like elevation: you can talk about elevation level, or elevation gain. For example, I am at an elevation of 500 feet above sea level (level). Or, today I hiked 700 feet up (gain). In the latter example, you would need to know the starting elevation to determine the final elevation.

 

When automating, you're changing the amount of gain you're applying to your signal, for example with a gain plug-in or with the volume fader. And in turn, applying that desired amount of gain gives you a new resulting volume level. For example, if I have a source that starts at +3 dB FS and then later it's at -15 dB FS, and I apply a gain of + 3 dB FS on the first part and automate it to a gain of + 15 dB FS on the second part, the final resulting level will be 0 dB FS on both parts.

 

So basically, when adjusting gain, you're doing: Original level + Gain = New level. And keep in mind a gain can be negative.

 

Hope that helps?

 

Can anyone tell me what are the differences between gain and volume? The only difference i can see is when im automating, i alter the gain instead of the volume, so when i adjust the slider on the mixer it doesnt affect my automation.

 

Are you talking about the difference between using the Gain plug-in and the channel fader?

Thanks for all the answers, makes a bit more sense now, i was just wondering what the gain was used for really. As i know the volume fader controls the output signal. I use a gain plugin on my channels instead of automating the volume , so i can adjust the volume when i want like you said shivermetimbers. Just wasn't sure whether the gain did the same thing as volume when automating.

Just wasn't sure whether the gain did the same thing as volume when automating.

Oh yeah if you mean the gain plug-in then it has the same effect as the volume fader, but in different positions in the signal chain: where the volume fader is always after the last insert and before the pan knob, the gain plug-in can be positioned in any insert you wish.