Author Topic: Mixer Help (Calling all engineers!) (Read 405 times)

jagerphan84 · « **on:** January 09, 2008, 12:49:10 PM »

I'm far from being a skilled sound engineer, so I'm hoping some of the wise folks here will be able to help me with the mixer setup that's being installed in my band's practice room this Friday. A few years back in an eBay frenzy, I picked up a Tascam M-320 mixer for what I thought was a nice deal (about $300). A friend was planning on opening a small venue and I had intended to donate this toward the sound system, but the venue plan never materialized and the mixer has been in storage since. Now I'm in a band that is moving from a practice space shared with another band to our own space, and we need to put together a small PA for vocals and keyboards to compete with the stringed instruments. This is a powered mixer, rated at 75 watts (as per the label on the back). It's got stereo outs, so my first question is (since I don't have the manual and haven't been able to find a downloadable copy) is this 75 watts total output, or 75 watts per channel stereo? Next question: Which outputs are powered, and which are intended to go to an external amp? I've got some old QSC amps which are pretty well matched to the speaker cabinets that I've got (Bag End II 1x12s with horn) but I don't want to accidentally fry the amps or speakers by sending speaker level signal into the QSCs. I also don't anticipate that 75w (even if that's the wattage per channel) is sufficient to compete with a couple loud guitars, a drum set, and a bassist with a not-so-gentle touch , so I do expect the external amps will be necessary. Here are a couple pictures that will hopefully make it clear why a non-soundman like myself is baffled - there's a plethora of 1/4", RCA, and XLR outputs as well as balanced/unbalanced switches for the XLR outs. Please forgive the poor photo quality - I'm no better a photographer than I am a soundman.

If anyone needs clearer, closer pics or clarification on fuzzy text in the photos, I'll do my best to take some better snapshots or explain as necessary. Naturally, I'm open to general suggestions about using the mixer in a band practice setting in addition to my above questions. Thanks in advance for your help! Adam

olieoliver · « **Reply #1 on:** January 09, 2008, 01:05:08 PM »

The Stereo and Mono XLR out's should be non powered as well as the RCA outs too.

I don't see anything that looks like a powered output in the picture here except maybe the second row from the top of 1/4 outs.

75 watts sure isn't very much. Can you post a picture of where this is printed on the board.

Olie

olieoliver · « **Reply #2 on:** January 09, 2008, 01:07:16 PM »

I would use the QSC amps and use the balanced (XLR) connections.

Olie

jagerphan84 · « **Reply #3 on:** January 09, 2008, 01:08:45 PM »

Thanks, Olie. Here's the label with the (blurry) 75w rating:

FC Bass · « **Reply #4 on:** January 09, 2008, 01:09:34 PM »

Could that be Power consumption 75 Watts?
I don't see any speaker outs on the pic...

EDIT: fast thread :-) That's indeed power consumption ;-)

(Message edited by fc_spoiler on January 09, 2008)

jagerphan84 · « **Reply #5 on:** January 09, 2008, 01:15:16 PM »

Thanks, Flip. I admit, the eBay seller didn't have the best feedback and I didn't exactly believe everything in the auction description, but from what I've read on a few forums it's a nice mixer for the price and was geared toward live sound when it was designed.

I'll dust off the QSC's and make sure they're still singing before heading out to practice this Friday!

olieoliver · « **Reply #6 on:** January 09, 2008, 01:16:11 PM »

Yes Flip ( WhAZZ-up Flip haven't talked to you in while) is correct thats power consumption. I thought this was a non-powered board, which I always prefered.

Your QSC amps should have the XLR connectors on them. So I'd get me a couple of mic cables and connect them that way.

danny_bryant · « **Reply #7 on:** January 09, 2008, 01:52:22 PM »

This is definately a non powerd mixer. I would assume that the Qsc amps hook up into the mixer at the stereo and mono outputs of the board. More than likely you would run your monitors thru the mono side and your mains thru the stereo side.

811952 · « **Reply #8 on:** January 09, 2008, 06:51:43 PM »

Run your monitors off the aux bus(es) and your mains off either the stereo or mono, depending upon your amplification and/or needs.

John

jagerphan84 · « **Reply #9 on:** January 10, 2008, 12:47:33 AM »

Thanks, Danny and John, for your setup suggestions. I'll give 'em a try at practice. We've been on 'hiatus' for a couple months awaiting completion of the lead singer/guitarist's new house, so I'm revved up to get back into the action.

I think we'll be recording Friday's practice, and if anything from the recording is worthy, I'll share some snippets with you fine folks.

cozmik_cowboy · « **Reply #10 on:** January 10, 2008, 08:34:16 AM »

1) I concur, definitely unpowered.

2) Olie left out a vital step: run from each output into a 31-band graphic EQ, then to the amps (graphic EQ is a soundman's most important tool.)

3) While Danny's suggestion to run monitors from the mono out would have the advantage of a balanced send, rendering distance irrelevant, it would give you the same feed to the monitors as to FOH - usually not what you want. Unless you have dedicated monitor send(s) that I'm not seeing, I'll go with John on the Aux busses - that way, given sufficient amp channels, you can have as many monitor mixes as you have Aux sends (unless you use some for FX send. You should also look inside at the Aux jacks - if they're TRS, that's balanced, too, and you're golden). If you put up pix showing an input channel top to bottom, I can give more precise advise.

Peter

olieoliver · « **Reply #11 on:** January 10, 2008, 09:04:15 AM »

While I do agree with Peter and I myself would never ever run my PA without an EQ, the board will work direct into the Power amps. You won't be able to get much volume without feed back but it will work if you have no EQ's at the moment.

(Edited for my type-o, ..never run my PA WITHOUT and EQ... is what I meant.)

(Message edited by olieoliver on January 10, 2008)

jagerphan84 · « **Reply #12 on:** January 10, 2008, 11:05:58 AM »

Thanks, Peter, for mentioning the graphic EQ. Looks like I'll be adding those to the list of 'stuff to buy' (which seems to get a little longer every day!). It wouldn't have occurred to me, but now that I think about it, I sat with a friend of mine while he did the monitor mix at a local venue and he did make regular use of the graphic EQs to battle feedback. Makes sense. Here's a couple shots of the input channels.

To clarify the blurriest text, the top red button is marked "30dB." Since it's not preceded by a minus, would this be a boost? I'm doubting myself there, since 30dB seems like it would be a pretty enormous boost. Many of the other controls are self-explanatory enough, but what are the "Line" and "Post" buttons under the Aux 1 and Aux 2 for? I plan to use aux 1 and 2 for the monitors to allow for separate monitor mixes, as per John and Peter's suggestions. Would I be correct in assuming the buttons marked 1-4 are for the busses? And the "L-R" button toggles the pan knob? Is there any way, short of opening up the back, to check if the aux sends are TRS? The board is pretty old, and I fear that I might break some connections if I touch that back panel. Again, a huge "THANKS" to everyone helping me out here. I'm sure you've already saved myself and the band a ton of frustrating trial-and-error time.

811952 · « **Reply #13 on:** January 10, 2008, 11:22:58 AM »

The 1,2,3,4 buttons assign that channel to one of the four sub-masters, so you can assign the drums to one sub, vocals to another, etcetera, to make things simpler when mixing in the field.

The 30db button is a pad, switchable between instrument level and line level, with the Line button choosing which input you're using on the back..

(Message edited by 811952 on January 10, 2008)

kenbass4 · « **Reply #14 on:** January 10, 2008, 11:44:32 AM »

Also, the L-R assigns the fader to the master out, or the stereo main mix. This way, if your assigning faders to the subgroups, you won't get them in the mix twice.