From reading many posts i think its the slight imperfections in sound quality that people love. Eg vinyl over high quality cds/dvds and just analog to digital in general. Im not saying its a bad thing because i prefere analog to digital myself. Please... dont let this start a analog vs digital theirs enough of em goen around!

If you do not get enough speaker output at 0db then, either:

a) Your speaker amp requires more input than your mixer is giving.
b) you need to crank up your speaker amp and not the mixer.

Compensating by cranking up the mixer is only a patch. You need to match your inputs correctly.
What are you feeding your mixer output to?

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You can run a mixer slightly above 0dB without noticable distortion because mixers are designed with some headroom, that is, they allocate some of their dynamic range for input levels slightly above line level. Furthermore, it is possible that the mixer is distorting, but in a way that's pleasing to the ear. If you read the user's manual for the Xone:V6, it mentions that valve amplifiers actually have a strong 2nd-harmonic distortion which is responsible to the "warm" sound of a valve amplifier. That said, it's still better to run a mixer at 0dB because that's the level that all the downstream components (amp and speakers) are designed to work at. Thus if 0dB sounds soft, you should correct for it by turning up your amp, not by turning up your mixer.

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quote:

Originally posted by Freak its not a digital mixer- no need to keep it at 0dB- will probably sound better by going over it.

if the mixer is designed to clip @ 0dB then one should peak around -3dB to prevent random peaks from clipping the mixer, like wise if the mixer is designed to clip @ +3dB then one should peak around 0dB.

there is no need to introduce added distortion to the signal. it will only make things sound worse.
if you have problems with the volume coming out of your mixer then turn up your amp/speakers/etc as high as they can go with enough headroom to avoid clipping.
if the volume cannot go high enough for your pleasure, then it is up to you to buy new equipment fit for the job. too many times have i seen djs clipping everything trying so hard to achieve a "louder" signal but the outcome always only results in deteriorated muddied sound.

correct me if i'm wrong, but wouldn't there be no use for compressors or limiters in the signal chain if djs knew how to correctly operate their equipment?

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