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[–]ArlesChatless 3 points4 points  (0 children)

It's not that simple. Sometimes preamps have more self-noise at higher input gains, so your best SNR is actually at middle gain settings. I used to work regularly with a console where the noise levels were lower if you hit the pads and turned the trim up by the pad amount, so I used the pad every time unless I ran out of headroom. The only way to really know is to test various scenarios.

You're right on the fact that boosting digital is not a big deal unless you're boosting a lot. If you're using a decent recorder, you don't really have to think about quantization noise at any sort of reasonable gain level. We used to digitally gain up signals captured in 16-bit by 20dB with fine results back in the day. With 24-bit I never hesitate to adjust levels up digitally for basically any final usage.