Yamaha MG12XU Mixer Tutorial Part One

hello and welcome back to GLB productions bruno Lucia thanks for joining me in this video we'll be taking a look at the Yamaha mg 12x u mixer which is the small brother to the mg 20x you recently covered on the channel this is a 12 channel mixer with many similarities but also some important differences to the larger model as always we'll start with an overview of the entire mixer and then look at each part in detail the audio you're hearing is a 50/50 blend of my lavalier mic and the output from the console unless otherwise indicated so to begin with you can see that the mixer is divided into a channel section and a master section also referred to as the input and output sections there are total of 12 inputs for mono input channels 2 stereo mono hybrid channels and two stereo channels this includes one channel input which is switchable between analog and USB inputs the output section has main stereo outputs on both XLR and quarter-inch connectors to aux ends 2 group outputs a monitor output and a headphone output all on quarter-inch connectors the back panel of the mixer has an IEC socket for the internal power supply and a b-type USB connector for the USB input now let's move on to the channel section the first four channels on this mixer are mono and feature an XLR combo connector this accepts XLR connectors as well as in the center balanced or unbalanced quarter-inch connectors the XLR input will generally be used for microphones the center quarter-inch connector for instrument or line level sources such as keyboards active acoustic guitars and active basis input impedance is only three kilohms so this is not suitable for direct connection of passive sources as some high frequency loss will result due to pickup loading there is also no Heisey mode on these inputs so passive sources should be connected using a DI box for more information on this please see my video series on di boxes link in card below the input you will see a pad switch that drops the input level by 26 decibels this is useful for very loud input signals for example kick drum or snare drum or very powerful singers next to that is a high-pass filter hpf set at 80 Hertz with a filter slope of 12 decibels per octave this is used to remove unwanted low-frequency information from the input signal such as air conditioning noise Rumble from large trucks passing by etc this should be switched in for all non bass signals and should be switched out for signals such as kick drum and bass guitar we'll just demonstrate that on the first channel check check one two three four this is the high-pass filter in check check one two and this is the high-pass filter out check check one two one two note that the pad and hpf apply to both the XLR as well as the quarter-inch sections of the combo connector these are combined internally we then have the gain knob the function of which is to bring the input signal up to the point where the mixer can deal with this a quick recap on this the output levels of most microphones known as mic level is between minus 40 and minus 6 DBV that's between 0.001 and 0.01 volts most mixes operate at line level which is around one volt this can be referred to as zero DB v which is exactly 1 volt or more commonly as +4 DBU which is 1.2 volts both are used depending on which reference voltage is chosen there is also consumer line level which is -10 DB v or 0.3 volts which explains why some gain may still be necessary when connecting CD players iPads and the like in a similar way almost all electronic instruments operate somewhere between mic level and line level although the input of some electronic keyboards can be very high indeed necessitating the use of the pad switch okay so now that's cleared up let's look at gain setting procedure my recommendation on this mixer is to start with the compressor knob fully counterclockwise channel fader all the way down channel switched off and the master fader at 0 DB press the PFL button on the relevant channel down here speak or sing into the mic or play the instrument as appropriate and raise the gain knob until the meters indicate a level of around 0 DB check check one two check one two check check one two three four once that's done you can release PFL turn the channel on and raise the channel fader check check one two check one two there's no need to hit 0 dB exactly all the time it's just intended as a guide remember there are no correct settings for this gay knob it'll be different for each input as everyone speaks sings or plays their instrument differently an exception to this would be the left and right sides of the same stereo signal for example if gain is around 11 o'clock for keyboards left it's reasonable to assume that the gain on the right side of that same keyboard would be around 11 o'clock as well if you find that the signal is at or above 0db on the meters even with the gain all the way down then it's time to engage the pad switch which will give you the necessary gain range to deal with louder sources the white on black numbers here show the normal gain range the black on white numbers show the gain range with the pad switch engaged while we're here let's cover the phantom power switch which supplies 48 volts DC 2 pins 2 & 3 on the XLR inputs only this is used for powering condenser microphones as well as active di boxes dynamic mics such as the sm58 ignore phantom power and can be used safely with it on just remember not to plug and unplug mics while this switch is on or you'll get very loud bangs and thumps going through your PA system next we come to the compressor knob I've done a full video on the concept of compression and how this function works on the previous generation of Mg mixes so please take a look at that for more information link in cod the stats on this compressor have changed slightly from the older version as you can see on the screen but in practice its use is very similar personally I'd start with the compressor off fully counterclockwise if you feel that the signal has too much dynamic range in other words you're constantly riding the fader up and down try setting the compressor to 12 o'clock and adjust from there it's a process of experimentation and there's no correct setting for any input the correct setting is the one that keeps the dynamic range under control and sounds the best to you bear in mind however that this type of compressor adds gain as you turn the knob clockwise so it may cause feedback in a live sound situation if that happens you can wind your gain back just slightly we then come to the equalization or EQ section on this mixer we have a 3-band EQ with fixed frequencies a shelving low at a hundred Hertz a shelving high at 10 kilohertz and a peeking mid at 2.5 kilohertz for a complete discussion of this EQ as well as suggestions on how to set it please see part one of the recent mg 20 Xu series link in card now we'll have a demonstration of the EQ section channel is on check one two this is flat the highs check check one two check one two check one two check check one two three four the lows check one two check check one two three four Mic Check one two check check one two three four and now the mid range check one two check one two Mic Check one two check check one two as I say in many of my tutorials begin with the EQ set flat if it sounds good don't adjust it after this we come to the auxiliary section the mg 12 Xu has to auxins aux one can be set pre or post fader and is generally used for stage monitoring and a live sounds that you set to pre fader for a full explanation of what pre post-fader means and when to use each one please see part 2 of the recent mg 20x u series Lincoln card aux 2 is fixed post fader and feeds both the mixers internal effects engine as well as the aux 2 output located in the master section note that both can be used at the same time plugging into aux 2 output does not disable the internal effects however having only one control for two separate purposes would probably be somewhat inconvenient to use the internal effects section select an effect using the program knob turn and then push down to confirm in this case we'll use number 1 get your channel working as normal raise the white box to knob on the respective channel and then raise the FX return fader to route the effected signal back into the mixer obviously you would turn it on check check one two check check one two and there's your effect in a live sound situation you would use the FX return and channel faders to blend between the dry or unaffected and the wet or affected signal you can also turn this FX on and off using this or by using a foot switch plugged in to the foot switch socket in the connector section next to the headphone output the blue ox one knob above the FX return fader is used to send the wet or affected signal to stage monitors that are connected to the aux 1 output for a full explanation of the concept behind internal effects as well as a rundown of all the effects and their variations please see part three of the mg 20 xu video series linked in cod below this below the aux section you have a pan knob which pans mana outputs between the left and right mixer outputs as you can hear in this demonstration channel is on panning left check check 1 2 check 1 2 pan center and panned right check check 1 2 1 2 this knob is also used in conjunction with the group 1 2 buttons and fader which will demonstrate when we cover the master section below the pan knob is a channel on button when this is off it's the equivalent of pressing mute on other mixes it's important to note that on this mixer both aux ends are post mute so when the channel is off everything is off including stage monitors that are connected to aux 1 and external effects units that are connected to aux 2 this is my preferred configuration for live sound because it allows you to kill feedback on stage with a quick button press below this you have a red peak light which illuminates when the input signal is 3 DB before clipping and thus serves as a warning that your input signal is about to become distorted this is particularly important when recording this light can come on occasionally but it should never stay on if it does you need to reduce your gain a quick demonstration of this channel pfl is on I'm going to turn the gain up until the peak light comes on check check one two two two two there you go finally we come to the fader as well as the channel routing buttons let's begin with the fader this should generally be positioned somewhere around zero DB as this gives you the most resolution when mixing as you can see at this position there is quite a bit of travel between 0 and 10 DB when you're down here a relatively small amount of travel gives you 10 DB of change if your faders are way up at the top of their travel it's generally an indication that you need to raise your gain settings on the other hand if they're way down at the bottom it's often a symptom of a power amplifier or active speaker level that is set too high remember also that these faders work in conjunction with the master fader which should generally be set around 0 DB and not change very much at this point let's discuss the channel routing buttons the gray 1 2 button and the red St button these tell the mixer where to send the channel signal once it has passed through the fader and work in conjunction with the pan balance knob here the simplest way to route a signal is directly to the main stereo outputs in order to do this ensure that the red st button is down and the grey 1/2 button is not this will route any channel that is on directly to the main outputs via the master fader bypassing this group fader entirely this is fine for most users and in fact many professionals mix like this you do not have to use the group function if you don't need it have said that when would we use the group function and routing buttons the first time would be when we have a group of similar inputs for example let's say that you have four backing singers on channels one to four all of them have slightly different EQ gain and pan settings and slightly different fader positions once you have balanced them to their respective voices so what happens during the show when you need to turn all of them up or all of them down you can try and move four faders at the same time but chances are is that you will disturb their relative positions this is where the subgroup comes in what you would do is you would engage the one two routing button on each channel and disengage the red st button then on Group one two fader engage the red st button and raise the fader to unity the group one two fader thus allows you to control the level of all four of these channels simultaneously so using our example of four backing singers backing singers louder backing singers softer this application is commonly used for similar instruments for example drums stereo keyboards or a guitarist who has maybe multiple guitars you can also use the group outputs separately from the main left-right outputs for example to feed delay speakers front fills a recorder etc in this case you would engage both st and one two routing buttons and disengage the st button on the group fader because you are using the group output to feed a separate set of speakers if this is used for recording you would press down the one two button on the channels that you want sent to the recorder it's important that in this application we disengage the red st button on the group fader in order to prevent duplication of the signals from each channel being sent to the main stereo outputs finally it's important to note that when the one two routing button is engaged the pan knob does double duty sending the signal to group 1 when panned hard left and group 2 when panned hard right it's thus possible to create multiple mixes using this function in particular in recording environments the topic of subgroups is quite an extensive one more than the time we have to cover in this video but I hope that this has given you the basics you

Channel: GLB Productions

Views: 138,647

Keywords: Yamaha, MG12XU, mixer, mixing console, live sound, sound reinforcement, training

Id: J_yOvdlMUAg

Length: 21min 27sec (1287 seconds)

Published: Thu Jun 18 2020