Line-level Volume Control Possibilities

[crosswick]

Hi all,

This is my first post here: I'm Steve, 31 from The Netherlands, my biggest claim to fame is having built a virtual singing monk software synth (see audionerdz.com) back in 2002 with friends; I service Rhodes electric pianos for a living.

As a musician/studio tinkerer, I was looking at buying a TC Electronic Level Pilot in order to control the line level to my powered speakers. You can check a review for it by sonicstate here. Basically, it's a balanced passive stereo line attenuator with XLR in- and outputs, made out of beautiful aluminium, for $99.

I thought it could also be a nice typical DIY thing to build... Maybe even a project that could spawn a lot of different volume knobs made by a lot of different studio owners, each making a more elaborate and funky version of the same basic design.

Could someone give me an overview of the possibilities? I can imagine that it can range from an ubersimple voltage divider setup to an exotic network of high-grade relays or something... Personally I'd like to come up with a design that has a respectable lack of sound coloration, which doesn't cost much more in parts than about 20 Euros. That's apart from the lavish housing I plan to build it in of course :-)

Please note that although I am pretty handy with a soldering iron, I'm still pretty much a novice in terms of really understanding electronic circuits, let alone designing them.

Thanks a bunch in advance!

[crosswick]

Maybe asking for an entire overview at once was a bit much for a first post :-)

And come to think of it, maybe sound coloration could be a wanted feature. "How does your volume knob sound?"...

Here's a simple question: if I wanted to dim a line level signal with a simple potentiometer setup (possibly introducing noise, filtering and what not, but doing the job basically), what kind would I use?

Any pointers much appreciated!