Newbie with questions seeks Experienced Ones with answers

[Sharon Jessen]

Hi, I am new to this forum. I joined because I have questions about using my Behringer Xenyx 1622FX mixing board. I am a singer, not a sound engineer, and I found the user manual for my mixer to be too advanced for me! In spite of my limited experience and knowledge, I managed to get the board hooked up and do a basic mix and sent the mix out to my computer to make a recording which I transferred to CD. I want to do some more recording and I have a few problems, so now I want to understand my mixer better so I can fix some of these issues.

I found the book "Basic Mixers" by Paul White and am starting to go through that. I would be interested in knowing what others might recommend as a good place to start to learn about understanding and operating a mixer. Is there a book or magazine or website you would recommend?

A specific problem I am working on at the moment is how do I create a mix in the headphones that is different from the main mix. I use headphones to listen to my accompaniment music while I record myself singing, and to get the sound to balance on my computer I have to turn the music up really loud (I am using an iPod hooked up in the tape in ports). When I turn the music up on the iPod to the volume necessary for it to register on the computer, I can't hear myself singing and I tend to strain my voice to sing over the music. I'd like to be able to send a different mix to the headphones than to the main. I'm wondering if this can be done through the aux sends which I am just learning about. Am I on the right track? (no pun intended) or is there a better option?

Thanks

[Sharon Jessen]

Well, I spent the day reading my "Basic Mixers" book by Paul White and I believe I am slowly starting to get a grasp of what all those knobs and sliders are there for. With White's book and my mixer's User Guide in hand, I am beginning to make some progress in understanding my mixer.

I also found a website called Sound on Sound that White contributes to that seems to have some good info if anyone is interested.

To answer my own question above, it appears that using the aux is a way to create a "cue" mix that is different from the main mix. I'm still trying to figure that out completely. Will have to fiddle with my mixer a bit to see if what I am understanding is going to work.

I don't believe these guys anymore who say that the mixer is not as overwhelming as it appears. I think it is! There is a lot to it!

Well, I'm still open to any help. Just thought I would do an update on what I have discovered so far.

Thanks!

[Glenn Slater]

Hi, I am new to this forum. I joined because I have questions about using my Behringer Xenyx 1622FX mixing board. I am a singer, not a sound engineer, and I found the user manual for my mixer to be too advanced for me! In spite of my limited experience and knowledge, I managed to get the board hooked up and do a basic mix and sent the mix out to my computer to make a recording which I transferred to CD. I want to do some more recording and I have a few problems, so now I want to understand my mixer better so I can fix some of these issues.

I found the book "Basic Mixers" by Paul White and am starting to go through that. I would be interested in knowing what others might recommend as a good place to start to learn about understanding and operating a mixer. Is there a book or magazine or website you would recommend?

A specific problem I am working on at the moment is how do I create a mix in the headphones that is different from the main mix. I use headphones to listen to my accompaniment music while I record myself singing, and to get the sound to balance on my computer I have to turn the music up really loud (I am using an iPod hooked up in the tape in ports). When I turn the music up on the iPod to the volume necessary for it to register on the computer, I can't hear myself singing and I tend to strain my voice to sing over the music. I'd like to be able to send a different mix to the headphones than to the main. I'm wondering if this can be done through the aux sends which I am just learning about. Am I on the right track? (no pun intended) or is there a better option?

Thanks

Hi Sharon,

This is really about two things: How you have your equipment connected and how you are routing your signals.

It is really important to make sure that you are using the control room feature of your mixer. Your studio monitors should be connected to the CTRL ROOM OUT of your XENYX1622FX mixer.

Now what is coming out of your studio monitors is the same as what is coming out of your headphones. Your headphones are independent of your main mix.

On the right side of your mixer is a section labelled SOURCE. These buttons decide what you hear in your headphones. If you press the red button labelled "2TR/USB" you will hear what is coming from the I Pod.
If you press the "MAIN MIX"button you will hear what is being recorded.

Whenever you are recording with a live mic, make sure your studio monitors are muted and that you are using headphones.

The best way is to record you iPod first, so that it is recorded at a proper level. Then setup your recording software to play back the iPod track while you record your vocal.

1. In the SOURCE section, press the 2TR/ USB button, and the MAIN MIX buttons.Make sure that the 2 TR/USB TO MAIN button is UP.
2. On your software, adjust the level of the playback of your iPod track that you are listening back to. If you can't hear the backing tracks, turn them up on your software and turn the "PHONES/CTRL ROOM" knob on your mixer DOWN a bit.