Analog Mixers Digital Mixers Powered Mixers Mixer Accessories

The Mixer Pulls the Service Together

The mixer is the heart of your sound system. As the name implies, a mixer takes signals from numerous sources, e.g. pulpit, choral mics, band, CD player, and others and combines them. All of these incoming sound sources can be balanced with each other for volume and frequency response (EQ) and then simultaneously routed to different output destinations, which includes main house speakers, balcony and nursery speakers, monitor speakers for a band, and also recording devices. If you have questions about any of the concepts discussed here, call us at 1-800-222-4700 to talk to one of our knowledgeable Sales Engineers.

Choosing a mixer for worship
A mixer is a mixer, right? Well, if you’re intending to make applesauce, then yes, but when it comes to selecting an appropriate mixer for worship, you just might find yourself with a nice bowl of “orangesauce” if you’re not careful. Most mixers that find their way into a church were initially designed for bands or project studios. This is not to say that they can’t be useful in a church setting, but the chosen mixer must have features that address the needs of your particular environment. Some mixers are now designed and built from the ground up with special needs of the house of worship in mind, such as the Sanctuary Series mixers by Peavey.

Analog or Digital?

Digital Mixers: Digital mixers are becoming more popular for house of worship sound reinforcement due to the “set it and forget it” capabilities they offer a volunteer staff. For example, mix scenes can be set, stored, and recalled at the push of a button, providing consistent levels and EQ. This is a particularly useful and time saving feature for multiple-use environments. In most cases, since you're working with predominantly the same sources each week, you just need to keep a couple of channels ready for the occasional guest musicians or speakers. The Mackie TT24 provides all the advantages of digital mixing at a moderate price. Another advantage of digital mixers is modularity. With a modular mixer system like Digidesign’s VENUE, you can design a mixer system to match your current need, and expand later on as your needs increase. Start off with 16 mic inputs for now, and increase to 40 or more when you're ready. Modular digital mixers can also eliminate the need for a bulky and expensive snake running between the stage and the console. Simple Cat5 computer cables connect the input processor onstage to the mixing console. This allows greater flexibility in the placement of the console relative to the stage.

Analog Mixers: Analog mixers are still a very good choice, particularly where budget is a concern. Peavey’s Sanctuary Series analog mixers such as the S-32 are designed specifically for volunteer staff, church leader, or choir director to run effectively with minimal hands-on use. Certain digital processing devices are built in, such as automatic feedback suppression, along with an Automix function that turns down unused channels to give dominance to the main microphone, minimizing unwanted noise - good features to have for a volunteer staff that is not professionally trained in live sound reinforcement. For small houses of worship that have traditional services a small analog mixer with good EQ for intelligibility is a wise choice. As far as the ability to add channels without replacing the mixer, there are add-on options that exist to increase the number of input channels. (See the section on audio snakes below.)

A Snake Transmits Signal to the Mixer
If yours is a small church that’s decided to go with an analog mixer, then an analog snake from console to stage is a necessity. They come in a variety of configurations in terms of connectors and number of individual channels to accommodate the number of channels and types of input connectors on your console. A typical analog snake is the Pro Co SM1604FBQ100, with 16 channels providing XLR connectors plus four TRS channels.

Make sure it's long enough!
Perhaps the most important bit of advice we can give when it comes to choosing any cable snake is that once you have estimated the length you’ll need, add at least another 20 feet. Aside from the fact that most people tend to underestimate the length they’ll need, it’s important to have an extra length of cable that can be easily pulled out from the stage box in case repair is needed.

Digital cable snake
For long cable runs, digital snakes, such as the S-4000 series from RSS solve two age-old problems of live sound and fixed installations at once: it allows you to transfer 40 channels of high-quality audio over an extremely long distance on a single lightweight cable. That means that with an S-4000 system, you don't have signal degradation issues over long cable runs and cable "pull-through" in fixed installations is a snap. As an added bonus, you can easily expand your setup with its modular design. Since this system also has remote-controlled preamps, you can use it to expand the number of input channels of your present analog mixer and still control the extra channels from your mix position.

Automatic Mixers to the Rescue

Automatic mixers can help eliminate feedback and phase distortion. Some consoles, such as the Peavey S-32 have Automix capabilities on some of the channels. These channels employ a sensing circuit that turns the channel volume up or down as needed. There are also dedicated 4- or 8-channel auto mixers, such as the Peavey S-4 that can be rackmounted and placed at the top of the signal chain to mix all stage microphones to a single house console feed. Because auto mixers manage volume control and gating of all pulpit microphones, the result is reduced feedback, better articulation, and overall less hassle for engineer and pastor alike.

Powered Mixer Benefits
A powered mixer offers an excellent cost-to-functionality ratio, as well as convenient setup for smaller churches and multi-purpose rooms. A high-quality powered mixer provides all-in-one integration: mixer, effects, and power to drive loudspeakers. A well-designed powered mixer is often smaller, lighter, and more durable than a component system and eliminates the need for racks of external equipment, such as equalizers or dynamics and effects processors. An example of a popular powered mixer is the Yamaha EMX312SC, which features 12 inputs plus graphic EQ, digital effects, and 300 watts per channel.

Mixer Busses Explained
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 blended together into what is called a subgroup. An example of a subgroup may be drums, horns, or singers. In general, the more busses a mixer has, the more flexible the routing capabilities of that mixer will be. A popular mixer is Mackie’s Onyx 3280, which has eight busses.

Aux Bus
Aux (Auxiliary) Busses are where feeds from multiple channels are combined in order to be routed to an outside destination, such as an external effects processor, monitor system, balcony, nursery, or other locations.

VCA Groups
Some live mixers have group matrix mixing, which make it easy for the engineer to send groups of signals (or sub-mixes) to alternate locations. Live mixers may employ convenient features such as mute and/or VCA (Voltage Controlled Amplifier) groups. 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 particularly useful in a blended service that combines a band and/or choir with spoken word. VCA groups allow the sound engineer to control the overall volume of the band or choir with one fader without having to route them all through a common subgroup.

Mixing for Monitors: An Essential Job
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. Perhaps one of the greatest problems a sanctuary faces, is the mix in the main speakers being muddied by too loud a monitor mix on stage. This is why in-ear monitor systems have become so popular. They reduce stage volume and help produce a better overall sound for the entire system. See the "Monitor Basics" section here.

Using the Aux Sends
In some very large sanctuaries, the monitor mix may be controlled via a separate mixer. Fortunately, most mixers can be used for mains plus monitors by 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 along with your main mix. In situations where more monitor mixes are needed, choosing a mixer with more Aux Sends is the solution. Another solution is a personal monitor system such those by Hear Back or Aviom, which take one aux send out of the console while providing individual level controllers for each musician.

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 mixer’s volume knob or fader. This gives you independent 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-16mkII, allow you to select pre-fader or post-fader outputs for Aux Sends. Post-fader sends are often used for effects, however, for the house of worship, effects such as reverbs and delay are rarely if ever needed.

Using the Insert Jack
In a case where you need to use an external effects processor (such as reverb) for an individual channel, another method for connecting effects is to use your mixer's insert jack. Many mixers offer an insert for each input channel. Inserts 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. Inserts are most often used for dynamics (compression) or EQ when they are needed on a particular channel.

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.

So how do you begin to narrow down the hundreds of mixers on the market to find the one that best meets your situation? Begin by creating a checklist of your own needs: Mic/Line/Instrument Inputs: How many do you need? Don’t forget to include direct inputs from keyboards, guitar and bass amps, and CD players. It’s a good idea to keep future expansion in mind. EQ Some mixers offer basic low/high frequency adjustments; others provide multi-band parametric EQ on each channel with high and low shelving. A more complete EQ section enables better control for activities such as notching out problem frequencies of lectern mics, etc. Direct Outs/Inserts: Do you need input channels to be routed to external effects or other processing gear? If so, make sure your mixer provides direct outputs or inserts. Onboard or Outboard Effects? If you are inserting a new mixer into your current rig with outboard effects gear you already own, you may not need built-in effects on your mixer. However, one appeal of onboard effects is that you don’t need to manage a rack full other gear. How Many Busses? This depends on your signal routing needs. If you’re sending monitor mixes from your main mixer you may need an 8-bus mixer to handle several different monitoring demands. Or, if you wish to send main mixes to different locations (such as balcony or nursery), choose a mixer with numerous output options. Mono or Stereo Loudspeakers? Your output configuration depends on your combination of amplifiers and speakers. Monitor Outs: Again, you need to decide how your monitoring environment will be run. Choices range from “none” all the way to a separate monitor mixer onstage that receives the same inputs your main mixer does. Powered or Unpowered? In most cases, powered mixers are designed for smaller venues. Bigger, more complex systems generally use either powered speakers or separate power amps.