I need advice on safe volume level/s please.

[Cubikated]

Hi all,

I got myself a pair of KRK Rokit G3 5's, I have a Behringer XENYX CONTROL1USB and wondered what is the best/safe volume I should set from the rear panel output (see attached 10dB to +4dB) given the 5's go up to +6dB? I want to avoid any damage to the monitors. I hear that the G5's volume should be set to max anyway?

I also have a pair of Yamaha MSP3's which has +4dB that I need t connect as well.

Thanking in advance.

[BertKoor]

Thx for taking the trouble to attach the screenshots. Makes it really clear what the question is. From the title I assumed it was about listening levels.

Short answer: no worries, getting this wrong will at worst make the sound distorted. Nothing will blow up.

Decibels.... the thing to know about it is they are always relative to a marked zero level. In acoustics 0 dBV is silence, in electronics 0 dB is the level relative to a sine with amplitude of 1 Volt. Consumer level is -10 dBu, pro level is +4 dBV. With slight difference between dBu and dBV (look at wikipedia) the difference is 12dB, not 14. Nice you have options for both standards on both ends, but it is confusing.

There should be 18 to 24 dB headroom before stuff starts clipping. This goes gradually, for measuring clipping level the industry standard is the point where you have 1% THD.

You can go waaay beyond clipping before you blow stuff up. But you will have noticed things are not as they are supposed to be before that.

[Deep Purple]

Gain staging is more important than what hits the speakers - at every point in the signal chain, turn everything down to a low value, and then start taking levels up. If you drive the signal too hot at an early point in the chain, you can't undo that later.