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Live Sound Reference Cheat Sheet (DRAFT) by

Cheat sheet for live sound, various information that I think is important

This is a draft cheat sheet. It is a work in progress and is not finished yet.

Mic vs. Line

Mic level - Weaker signal, typically between 1 mV to, at most, a few dozen mV.

Line level - Stronger signal, around 1 volt. This means line level can be 1000 times more voltage than line level.

Check the back of the mic kits to make sure they are sending out mic level. There's very little reason to ever have a mic kit output line level.
IMPORTANT - Never plug a line level output into a mic level input. The input is expecting a few milliv­olts, and is now receiving 1000 times the voltage. This can damage circuits, create feedback issues, create distor­tion, and more.
  

Gain staging

Gain adjusts the amount of voltage in the audio signal. Theore­tic­ally, increasing or decreasing gain makes the signal voltage stronger or weaker without changing the waveform.