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== Gain Staging ==
Analog devices (and digital devices that emulate them properly) have a <u>'''noise floor</u> ''' - a small amount of noise that is inherent by nature and cannot be reduced. The further the signal is attenuated, the louder the noise floor will be relative to the signal, decreasing the SNR. Amplifiers cannot differentiate between signal and noise; they just amplify everything they receive as input. If any part of the signal chain lowers the SNR, there is no way to improve it later in the chain.
Running your devices to output at maximum strength means that the signal is much higher than this noise floor, maximizing signal-to-noise. (Devices have other forms of inherent noise that will increase with certain settings and output levels, but we are only concerned with the signal level vs. noise floor here.) Depending on the settings of the device, maximum output may be too strong for its internal amplifier and clip it. Then output should be reduced to avoid clipping.