Mixer Topics:
» Using a Digital Mixer Live
» Live vs. Studio Mixers
» Powered Mixer Benefits
» Mixer Busses Explained
» What's the Best Way to Mix Monitors?
» How Can I Add Effects to My Mix?
» What to Look For In a Mixer

Able to perform under nearly any circumstances while giving you the inputs, outputs, and other features you need, a Live Sound Mixer is the heart of your PA system. This Sweetwater Buying Guide includes information that can help you choose a Live Sound Mixer for your needs. Since there's so much to consider when purchasing a Live Sound Mixer, don't hesitate to call us at 1-800-222-4700 for more information.

Using a Digital Mixer Live

It might be hard for some analog veterans to imagine, but a good digital mixer actually makes it easier to mix and develop a consistently good sound. Digital mixers are generally smaller, weigh less, have very sophisticated processing and routing capabilities, and are programmable. Imagine being able to set up your mixer and your Signal Processing so everything is set up perfectly for each song, and even make program changes as the song progresses (verse, chorus, verse, bridge, solo, etc.), and then have it happen - automatically - every performance. This is the state of digital mixing today. It changes the workflow of mixing somewhat because it requires an investment of time up front, but the end result is so much better! Digital mixers also offer you a wealth of options in terms of recording your live performance that simply didn't exist with analog-only gear.

Digital Mixers Evolve Into the Universe of Live Sound
From the live sound perspective there have been two general complaints about digital mixers. First, their menu-based systems often meant that some adjustments can't be made as quickly as they can be made on a traditional mixer, where each function has a dedicated knob or button. Second, until the last couple of years, the sound quality of the A/D converters left something to be desired in the ears of most mixing engineers. Fortunately, both issues have been seriously addressed and resolved by manufacturers. Let's look at the issues in a little more depth.

Mackie's TT24 Digital Live Console

Programmability is Our Friend
Having to page through a menu or two before making a critical EQ adjustment can sometimes be frustrating when you're under the gun. Live sound engineers generally resist digging through menus to find parameters in the heat of battle. This is reasonable because we all know that live sound is... well... live, meaning anything can happen. But recently a new breed of digital mixer has appeared that makes those complications a thing of the past. A good example is Mackie's TT24 Digital Live Console, which is designed to maintain the most-wanted qualities of an analog board while providing digital routing, programmability and sound quality.

Set it and Forget it - Or Tweak it on the Fly
If you are working a show that is rehearsed then there's a good chance you won't have to dig into any menus night after night. Once you get the house PA system set up so it has a relatively consistent sound each night then you shouldn't have to make too many unpredicted changes to the EQ of individual channels. When you have the show down all you normally need to do is tweak the settings and make any manual moves you need to keep up with the production (enabling effects sends at the right time, muting certain channels, etc.). With a digital mixer all of those processes can be automated so you don't have to worry about them in performance. Then you can focus on fine-tuning the sound. Things like channel EQ are rarely more than one layer deep in the menus, which generally means you press a button and turn a knob to make the adjustment you need. With Yamaha's 02R96 and its Version 2 software, you can take a snapshot of just about any mix, effect and patch setup and store it in any of 99 scene memories. Additional scene memories can be managed via memory cards or a computer running the supplied Studio Manager software.

Yamaha's 02R96

Improved Quality
The sound quality of digital mixers has improved dramatically over earlier models. Most new digital mixers are now equipped with 24-bit/96kHz A/D converters that equal many studio mixers in quality. And in a mixer like the TASCAM DM-3200 the converters are connected to high-quality analog mic preamps to ensure a clean audio stream.

Perfect for Your House of Worship, Club, or Tour
For houses of worship a digital mixer can work very well. You can store and recall your setup, making it easy to maintain consistent levels and EQ. In most cases you're working with predominantly the same sources each week, so you just need to keep a couple of channels ready for the occasional guest musicians or speakers.

In clubs you have the added variable that a new band appears each night or each week. Still, you can start with templates and customize settings for each group during the sound check. Then when that act returns you'll have their basic settings ready for recall, which makes setups and sound checks even easier.

A digital mixer could fall short in highly unpredictable environments where you may encounter lots of unscheduled appearances onstage or have very little time to get a mix. The programmability of a digital mixer is much better suited to getting things perfected in advance than it is at getting a mix from "nothing" very quickly under pressure.

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Live vs. Studio Mixers

With the arrival of digital mixers, many issues from the past have come back into focus in the "live vs. studio" argument. Studio and live mixers are both simply elaborate signal combiners. They perform the same basic function, just for different applications. Those different applications require a mixer to be able to do different things. For one obvious example, a live mixer's inputs, such as those found on Mackie's SR24x4 VLZ Pro, are normally mixed together and sent to a finite number of places: usually the main speakers, monitors, separate balcony speakers, etc. A "studio" mixer such as the Mackie 32-8 eight-bus recording console on the other hand, can send individual channel inputs to a multi-track recorder plus a variety of mixes to control room monitors, headphone mixes for the performers, and a "safety" recorder, so it's set up for increased routing flexibility.

Mackie SR24x4 VLZ Pro Insert Section

The first major difference becomes apparent when you consider the different workflow requirements between a studio recording and a live performance. Many digital studio mixers, although they can process many tracks at a time, lack the physical mic/line inputs necessary to connect an entire band at one time. This is changing fast, however, as mixers like Mackie's TT24 have 24 mic inputs and Yamaha's 02R96 V2 weighs in with 16 mic ins. The second major difference is the need to get the proper signals in and out of a multitrack recorder. Studio mixers must be able to route individual or group channel signals to individual recorder tracks. This line is also blurring as digital live mixers add digital I/O in the form of ADAT, AES/EBU, FireWire or S/PDIF. Sometimes studio mixers have more monitoring capabilities (different sets of studio monitors, and multiple headphone mixes for talent), and a more comprehensive master section that includes enhanced talkback capabilities and a wider selection of inputs from things like tape decks, CD players, DATs and so on.

Historically studio mixers were of higher quality and sounded "better," and while this may still be true in some circumstances, both are of such high quality today that those lines have become blurred. Nevertheless it is often true that audio signals in a live setting aren't under anywhere near the scrutiny they may be in a recording session. The digital age now means that both live and studio mixers are about equal in terms of automation capabilities.

VCA Groups

There are some things you may find on live mixers that aren't typically on most studio mixers. For example, some modern live mixers have group matrix mixing, which make it easy for the engineer to send groups of signals (or mixes) to alternate locations in a venue. Live mixers may employ convenient features such as mute and/or VCA groups, as is the case with Allen & Heath's ML3000 series large format consoles. VCA groups make it easy for an engineer to mute and/or control the volume of specified groups of inputs through one switch or fader. This is not the same as subgroups (also common on live mixers), which actually route the signal through a combined audio path. With VCA and mute groups the signals have their own routing, but are controlled by a common control fader or mute button. This function typically isn't needed on a studio mixer with automation. Live mixers also tend to be built with portability in mind so their general construction may be much sturdier.

Powered Mixer Benefits

You may have asked, "Why would I buy a powered mixer?" While there are a number of answers to that question, the following three gives you room to believe that it's a great solution for a number of musicians!

• A powered mixer is right on the money for the gigging musician who works in smaller venues such as clubs, coffee houses, and even school/church multi-purpose rooms. A high-quality powered mixer provides all-in-one integration: mixer, effects and power to drive house speakers.


• A well-designed powered mixer is smaller, lighter and more durable than a component system and allows quick, simple setup and operation.


• With built-in dynamics and effects processors there's less to set up, adjust and carry around. That means that it can fit in the back of your Honda and you WON'T have to purchase a second mini-van or box truck just so you can perform down the block.

An example of one of our best-selling powered mixers is the Peavey XR 600G , which features seven inputs plus 9-band EQ, digital effects, and 200 watts per channel.

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Mixer Busses Explained

Bus section.

In audio terms, a "bus" is a point in a circuit where many signals are brought together. In mixers, you find Mix Busses, where multiple channels' signals are brought (or blended) together and Aux Busses, where feeds from channels are brought together to be routed to an outside destination - an external processor, monitor send, etc. In general, the more busses a mixer has, the more flexible the routing capabilities of that mixer will be. For example, vocal mic channels assigned to one aux bus can be sent to an outboard reverb processor and then returned to the mixer, while all the drum mics can be assigned to a mix bus to raise and lower the volume of the entire drum kit as needed.

A widely used mixer is Mackie's SR32-4 VLZ Pro, which has four busses.

Channel strip including the Aux section

What's the Best Way to Mix Monitors?

If you're new to sound reinforcement you might be surprised to find out about the world of monitor mixing - the process of sending signal back to the performers so that they can hear themselves. It's a vital element in achieving a good performance. Often getting a good monitor mix is much more difficult than setting up the front of house sound! On large national tours monitors are handled by a separate mix console with its own engineer, but for most performers the monitor feed comes from the main mixer. Here are a few concepts to help you get through the monitor process.

Mixing Monitors from the FOH
In most cases the monitor mix is quite different from the front of house mix. That's because performers must deal with a number of stage sound variables - loud amps, drums, etc. - that make it necessary to emphasize certain signals and blends. A vocal-heavy group will usually need lots of vocals in the singers' monitors and probably not much drums.

Using the Aux Sends
Fortunately, most mixers can be used for mains plus monitors using their Auxiliary (Aux) Sends. These tap your mixer's input channels and route the signals to another output. Even inexpensive mixers such as the Yamaha MG16/4 offer two Aux Sends per channel, which means that you can set up two different monitor mixes. This can make the gig go much easier - your drummer can hear what he needs to hear, and the lead singer can get the mix he or she wants!

Pre or Post?
When you're using Aux Sends for monitors, you normally want to capture the signal 'pre-fader." That means the signal goes through the preamp (and "Trim" or Gain adjustment) but is routed to the Aux Send without being affected by the volume knob or fader. This gives you control over the level of the channel in the monitors - by using the Aux Send level control - without affecting the main mix. Many live consoles, including the Mackie CFX-16, allow you to select pre-fader or post-fader outputs for Aux Sends (post-fader sends are often used for effects - see below).

How Can I Add Effects to My Mix?

Even the most inexpensive mixers usually provide access to outboard effects units. These effects might include compression, reverb & delay, gate, or any number of combinations of all of these - and more. The point is that once you have your mix just right, you will likely get to a point where you'd like to add "something" else to a vocal, drum channel, etc. The following are a few ways you can do so with your mixer.

Aux send controls

Using the Aux Send
The most common routing, just as with a monitor mix, is through an Auxiliary (Aux) Send. The difference for effects use is that you want to send your signal to the effects unit POST-fader rather than pre-fader. This way, when you need to adjust the overall level of a channel, the level it sends to effects will also change.

Using the TAPCO Blend 6 as an example, you see that each channel offers two separate Aux Sends. The first (labeled "Monitor") is a pre-fader send. The second (labeled "Effects") sends a post-fader signal. On the Blend 6 and many similar consoles this is a monaural send. However, the Effects Return offers stereo inputs. That allows you to use (for example) an effects unit that creates a stereo reverb from mono inputs.

Insert jacks on the back of a mixer.

Using the Insert Jack
A second method for connecting effects is to use your mixer's INSERT jack, if one is included. Inserts usually are assigned to individual channels. They behave differently than simple sends. The Insert actually interrupts the channel's input signal - from a microphone, for example - and routes it back out to an outboard processor. The processed signal then routes back to the Insert jack and goes on its way through the mixer. How does that work? Most Inserts use a TRS plug and jack, with the tip comprising the output, and the ring carrying the return signal, while the sleeve is the ground for both. Insert cables consist of a 1/4" TRS connector on one end leading to two individual TS connectors at the other. Inserts are most often used for dynamics (compression) or EQ when they are needed on a particular channel.

Some mixers, such as the Mackie SR24-4 and SR32-4 VLZ Pro models, offer inserts on the main outs as well, which makes it convenient to connect a master reverb or limiter to the sound system. The Allen & Heath MixWizard3 16:2 goes one step further, with six Aux Sends, channel and main Inserts and channel direct outs for sending signal to a recorder - or to a separate monitor mixer!

The Alesis MultiMix 6 FX features onboard effects.

If you don't want to carry racks of outboard effects processors from gig to gig you might want to consider the available consoles that feature built-in effects. They are convenient to set up and often offer quality to match higher priced individual processors. The Alesis MultiMix 6FX is a small-format mixer with 99 internal effects presets (with an internal effects send plus an external Aux Send). Another example is the Yamaha MG16/6FX, which also includes a dedicated effects send knob on each channel (these are basically hard-wired Aux Sends). Its digital effects cover halls, rooms, plates, and vocal reverb presets with adjustable parameters. Note that the MG16/6FX also allows you to connect outboard units using either Aux Sends or channel Inserts, for true versatility.