Originally posted by adero
but then i can't hear it anymore. idk, i'm just screwed up, and would rather turn my sub down a little while i drive by a cop or something. And i like to be able to easily change the bass level depending on the song that i am listening to. it's just easier for me to use a gain.
But that's a misuse of the gain controls. As I understand it from bcae1.com, a gain is used to match the output of the head unit with the amp so that the max output of the amp or the max output the speakers can take is reached at a certain volume level on the head unit, usually around 3/4 of the way to full. The only time you'd want to use it as a "volume control" is when you've properly set the gains for, say, the fronts and subs and one is overpowering the other, in which case you can turn the louder speakers' gain down.