Hi Lee
Do not give up
I had a word today with a Yamaha support guy uk.
I said to him that i get low gain and i cannot get it up!!
He laughed out loud and the penny dropped after being somewhat confused
I fell for that one!!
He said he uses a plugin from ik Multimedia Mixbox to get the gain for recording right.
I will have a look as i have Mixbox.
He also said that it is a problem and you will have to use software to get in the ballpark.
You are absolutely right in saying that VST is so much better than the Genos and less problem for gain.
The Genos has styles and everything you need for ideas and i just like to get some quality out of the machine
Having a Focusrite box he suggested that i use the mic inputs at the front left and right or two mic inputs so to speak.
This way the Focusrite Scarlet 6i6 can be controlled from the monitor gain.
This would get you there.
That could make sense as that is what you would do if you had a guitar.
The next step for me after he also suggested is to have the EQ Flat and raise the gain on the genos EQ section.
if i raised that to full it would then theoretically get you to 23 luf's which then would be only 5 luf's away from the sweet spot for mixing.
This comes from support and he does know that the Genos has a low output gain.
So using software is the only way to get to 18 Luf's approximately.
It does make you think when you see quality demos from Yamaha!!.
It would be nice to have Yamaha explain the Genos gain and getting the best out of your machine.
There is a lot of things Yamaha could explain in plain English , But!
I also said to him about Genos 2/3 and he replied " I don't know what your talking about"!!
i have watched several gain staging video's and one stood out for me.
This way record your song and watch every track and just adjust the hot ones an adjust to near 18luf's.
If you made all tracks equal this will probably make the master bus over the top.
It should by according to experts only take abou 30 minutes to gain stage. It is just understanding it which takes the time.
Some instruments do not need to be 18 luf's as they are strong anyway and need to be lowered.
Having a recording from the Genos must be quite near a balanced song if done right , so your song must be somewhere near rather than live instruments which can be all powerful or weak..
It all comes down to ears in the mix before mastering .
The thing is,is to get a system going and that is where i am at. The ears are paramount.
I have done several mixes on the song that i am determined to get right and i am getting near to judging where i am at.
I know what the Genos can and cannot do now and now after my disussion with a Yamaha support guy ,i can now move on.
it is like riding a bike , once you get over a few bumps and bruises. Still got a few to go!!!
ie, Windows 11 Lol!! flaming AS media drivers causing unknown devices!!
Now fixed after a 2 hour headache.
all the best
john