Reply To: Gain staging question…

Gain staging is something is still good practice, but more common in the “analog world” where volume really did matter so that you didn’t over drive equipment, and cause unwanted distortion.. (again there is intentional, and intentional distortion).

So gain staging in the “digital world” isn’t really as important (which we work in with FL Studio.. 32-Bit floating point).

Warning: One main exception to this rule is plugins that are trying to emulate old analog equipment.. if you push too much volume into them, they will simulate that similar distortion characteristic (which is sometimes sought after).

In my opinion, as long as you follow the practice of when you turn an insert’s plugin chain off and on, that a close volume comparison is there, then you are good to go! (Or if you turn off a single plugin, the volume before and after should be similar, too, so you know if you are adding benefit to your instrument you are trying to mix).