i have been using a CARVIN board which has a PAD function on it, i have now moved to an ALTEC board on the monitor side but cannot figure out how to get the mic level or line level to not peak out when sending it from the tape machine to the ALTEC board(the altec does not have a pad function). any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

i am sending out of the AMPEX 440B 8 track to the ALTEC mixing board via 8 XLR cables, should i get some XLR to 1/4"-unbalanced and make it a line level connection? or is there anyway i can still send to the board at microphone level and pad it? or am i doing it all wrong? thanks

You absolutely DO NOT want to use mic inputs for tape returns. The Ampex is putting out in excess of 10 times the rms voltage the mic inputs are designed to accept. You need to bring the 8-track outputs into the line inputs of your console.

Regards,

Steve