Preamp / Studio Monitor Settings

[esldude]

Is the preamp a DAC pre doing digital volume control or is it an analog volume control? Ideally on analog controls you want the volume well up because channel tracking is usually better there.  In your case I would put monitors on the low side of the middle like a 4. Put the pre on the high side of middle like a 6 since that's the one you will be adjusting up and down.

[esldude]

Well you could do some sophisticated fiddling.  Turn the monitors all the way down.  Set the pre to say 7.5 or give a bit of headroom left over.  Find the loudest recording you have.  Start that recording and turn up the monitors until you reach the loudest volume you can imagine ever wanting to hear.  That should put you in the ballpark to minimize further fiddling. 

 

If your volume controls are log-taper pots, which is more or less the norm for audio, keep in mind that 5 will be -6db from max setting.  2.5 will be -12 db from max setting.  With the best setting you probably will find times to be down around 2.5 and others up near 10 on the volume position.  What you are trying to avoid is running the pre-amp always below 2.5 out of 10.  It would be much too touchy to be comfortable to use, and if there are channel tracking issues this is where they will be the worst.  So set the monitors wherever you get to keep your preamp pot in that highly usable range for normal listening.