Engage an input pad when a source clips the preamp even at minimum gain

Sometimes a source is so loud that the channel meter hits the red ‘peak’ LED even with the gain turned all the way down — there is no gain reduction left to give. The fix is a pad: a fixed attenuator that drops the signal by a set amount (commonly 10-20 dB) before it reaches the preamp, restoring usable gain-setting range. Pads are found in several places in the chain — a switch on the microphone, on the instrument or DI box, and on the desk channel. When it is the microphone capsule itself being overwhelmed by the sound source, the mic’s own internal pad is preferable, because it lets the capsule handle the level cleanly and deliver a distortion-free signal to the desk rather than merely attenuating an already-distorted signal downstream.

Examples

A kick-drum mic peaks into the red with the channel gain at minimum. Flipping the mic’s -10 dB pad brings peaks back into the yellow, and the gain knob regains a normal working range.

Assessment

A channel clips even at minimum gain. Explain what a pad does and why, for an overwhelmed microphone, its internal pad is preferable to the desk’s pad.