gain staging

Gain staging is the act of setting the gain for each amplification stage in a sound system to achieve a target system volume that minimizes noise and distortion¹. Careful gain staging keeps the noise floor low, since a preamp or EQ stage pushed without it can bump up noise²³. Designers also use gain staging as a shaping tool, engineering it to produce anything from clean boost to edge-of-breakup overdrive to high-gain distortion⁴⁵. A pedal placed before an amp or overdrive can be used for extra gain staging in a signal chain⁶.