Plug the Avalon mic preamp into the outlet to provide power for the unit, but leave the power off the unit. Run an unbalanced cable from the output of the mixing board or directly out of the sound card to the input of the Avalon, located on the back of the unit. This cable carries the un-mastered audio signal to the unit for processing.
Plug another unbalanced cable into the output jack on the back of the Avalon unit. This cable sends the mastered audio signal back to the sound card or mixing board to save it as a stereo track after it has been mastered properly. Use a high-quality unbalanced audio cable to assure that the overall quality of the sound is preserved when sending back to a digital source.
Set all the dials to "0" before turning on the unit. Doing so will guarantee that the audio is unaffected when you first hear it passing through the Avalon mic preamp. Set the "Input Instrument" to "Line," so that it adjusts the gain accordingly. Adjust the "High Pass" to 30 Hz. as well to eliminate sub-bass that will only muddy the sound.
Turn the unit on and then play your source audio. It should sound roughly the same as it did before hooking on the Avalon. Set the compressor to squash the sound and eliminate peaks and valleys. Set the threshold to -15 db and the "Compression" to around 3. This gives the audio added power and only compresses the top of the audio spectrum, anything above -15 db.
Set your EQ points on the right side of the Avalon. Boost and cut the various frequencies until you find the right points for your audio. Press the "Equalizer" button to bypass the equalizer to hear the changes you have made compared to the original source material. Watch the VU meter and adjust the "Preamp Gain" and "Output" so that the VU meter needle stays below "0", but remains close to "0" while the loudest parts of the audio source are playing.
Set your computer or whatever your output is plugged into to record the audio coming from the Avalon. Press "Record" on that and press "Play" on the original source player. This sends the audio through the Avalon for mastering and records the final product for use for CDs or finalized mp3 files.