Mixers

I’m restoring an old Soundcraft 600 mixer and discovered it doesn't use dedicated line amps and pads the mic amp signal.

I’m trying to drive my Rupert Neve Designs 5057 Orbit summing mixer for some transformer saturation warmth, but I run into digital distortion before the levels are anywhere near to clipping the Orbit. What am I getting wrong?

I recently rewired my studio and patched a compressor and an effects unit into my mixer’s master inserts. Both processors were set to work with +4dB signals but the levels from the processors seemed low, so I switched them to their ‑10dB positions and the levels seem healthier. Have I done the right thing?

One input on my Peavey PV10BT mixer is running hot and clipping. Yet, when I hit the Solo button it sounds perfect on the headphones. What is going on?

I have a very nice domestic CD player with line outs on unbalanced phono connectors, and I want to connect it to the balanced line input of a mixer...

I've been wondering whether my Soundcraft Signature MTK 12 was a defective unit, because it has the aux outputs polarity inverted with respect to the main output section. What is the purpose of such a design choice?

How should I pan my drum recordings in the mix? For instance, should the hi-hat be on the left or on the right?

What is the best tape to use for sticking to mixers and writing down what each channel is being used for?

My Soundcraft EFX12 mixer is pretty new, but when I try and use a channel with a microphone, and an insert cable running to an effects loop with various Moog pedals, I get almost no level from the mic. Can you help?

I have a slight level mismatch that I don’t know how best to resolve. I want to patch the Dangerous Music Compressor through the inserts on two of an Allen & Heath GL2400 mixer’s input channels. The problem is that the send signal from the mixer is a tad weak for hitting the compressor where it works best...

Will the audio quality from an Allen & Heath XB-10 paired with a JK Audio Innkeeper telephone hybrid be better than the Allen & Heath ZED-10, also paired with an Innkeeper?

Please help me to understand the terms ‘aux’ and ‘bus’ in the context of a mixer. Is there any difference between them? Do they perform the same function?

I’m using a Yamaha EMX 5000-20 for live sound and I seem to be unable to get the foldback working for some sources, even though it works for others. Am I missing something obvious? 

I’ve read that pro gear should use balanced connections, but I’ve been looking for a mixer recently and find that most have unbalanced insert points. My interface uses balanced I/O, as does most of my outboard gear. What gives?

As I use several sound sources at club gigs and festivals, I usually prefer, to sub-mix myself.

I'm trying to hook a Behringer Denoiser and an SPL Vitalizer MK1 into an older-model Alesis Multimix 16USB mixing console,...

Excuse the simplicity of the question, but I'm always coming across these terms in the magazine, and I don't know what they ...

I recently read Mike Senior's review of the Alesis Multimix 16, and he listed as one of the cons the lack of a high‑impedance instrument input. I agree with him, but have been searching for ages for a small mixer with this kind of input and can't find one anywhere. Is there one? The mixer isn't actually for me, but for a musician friend who still records to eight‑track cassette via an old PA and various pedals and outboard. He plays bass pedals and has an ancient drum machines, plus he sings and plays guitar and banjo. The outboard and the PA mixer are noisy, and as I transfer his tapes and mix them I spend far too much time on noise reduction and not enough on mixing and production. He is not technically savvy, and getting him to use several of the eight‑track inputs is not a option, so I am looking for a mixer he can plug his instruments into and get a clean relatively noise‑free signal from, to feed the eight‑track.

I have a Core 2 Duo PC, Yamaha MW10 USB mixer, Alesis RA150 power amp and JBL speakers. I use high-quality cable from amp to speakers, a TRS-wired jack lead between the mixer output and amp, and a good-quality USB cable between my mixer and computer.

I'm looking for something to record my latest project with. I currently own an Apple iMac running OS X Tiger, and the main program I use for recording is Apple's own Soundtrack. I'm thinking of upgrading at some point to Logic Pro 8, but for the moment I'm with Soundtrack. I have eight Audio Technica mics for the drum kit and I'm really looking to record through a mixer into Soundtrack (Logic in the future). However, I still want to be in control of individual mic levels after I've recorded within Soundtrack or Logic, even having those individual mics on different tracks.

Since experimenting with drum-kit miking (thanks for the useful articles in SOS), I have been aware of the limitations of...