X32 / M32 Overview | The Basics of This Sound Console
Summary
TLDRIn this video, Dave from Alum House Sound provides an in-depth introduction to the X32 console. He explains the layout and basic functionality, including inputs, outputs, DCA groups, buses, and effects. Dave also covers how to save scenes and set up custom mixes for monitors or live streams. This tutorial is designed for new users looking to understand the essentials of the X32 console and enhance their audio mixing skills.
Takeaways
- ποΈ The X32 console has 32 channels and 16 outputs, divided into left (inputs) and right (outputs) sides.
- π Channels 1-16 and 17-32 can be accessed using layer buttons, and there are additional auxiliary and USB inputs.
- π§ Controls at the top of the console include preamp gain, 48V phantom power, phase, low cut, gate, compressor, and EQ.
- π§ Each control is like a component of an email, where settings apply to selected channels individually.
- ποΈ DCAs (Digitally Controlled Amplifiers) allow for grouped control of multiple channels with one fader.
- π Buses are used to send groups of instruments or signals to specific destinations like monitors or live streams.
- π The bus analogy: like a school bus, it carries multiple people (signals) to one destination.
- πΎ Scenes can be saved and recalled, allowing for different settings for various performances or services.
- π To prevent a click track from being heard in the main mix, deselect the stereo bus and send it only to monitors.
- π Effects like reverb can be sent from channels to buses and then returned to the console for inclusion in mixes.
Q & A
What is the main focus of this video tutorial?
-The main focus of this video tutorial is to provide an introduction to the X32 console, explaining its layout and basic functionality.
How is the X32 console divided in terms of inputs and outputs?
-The X32 console is divided into a left side for inputs and a right side for outputs. The left side includes channels 1-32, auxiliary inputs, USB input, and effects returns, while the right side includes DCAs and mix buses.
What is the purpose of the DCA (Digitally Controlled Amplifier) section on the X32 console?
-The DCA section allows the user to control multiple channels simultaneously with a single fader. This is useful for managing the volume of grouped channels, like all drum mics or a computer input, with one control.
What does the 'sends on fader' button do?
-The 'sends on fader' button allows the user to build a mix for a selected bus or monitor using the consoleβs faders. It temporarily reassigns the faders to control the levels being sent to that specific bus or monitor.
How can you save a scene on the X32 console?
-To save a scene, you press the 'view' button in the scenes area, select a slot, hit 'save', name the scene, and then confirm by pressing the right arrow key to save the changes.
How do you set up a click track to be sent only to a monitor and not to the main mix?
-To set up a click track to be sent only to a monitor, you select the input channel for the click track, bring the fader to unity, deselect the stereo bus button, and then use 'sends on fader' to send the click track to the desired monitor mix.
What is the function of the 'view' buttons located next to various controls on the X32 console?
-The 'view' buttons allow the user to quickly bring up detailed settings for the selected control (like EQ, compressor, or gate) on the main screen for easier adjustments.
How can you apply reverb to certain inputs using the X32 console?
-To apply reverb, you select the desired input channel, hit 'sends on fader', and raise the faders to send the input to the reverb effect bus (typically bus 13). The reverb returns are then managed on the effects return channels.
What is the benefit of linking two mix buses together?
-Linking two mix buses together allows for creating a stereo send, which is useful for applications like live streaming, where a stereo mix provides a wider sound field.
How can you customize channel names and colors on the X32 console?
-To customize channel names and colors, press the 'setup' button, navigate to the 'name' tab, and use the encoders to select a color and enter a name for the channel.
Outlines
ποΈ X32 Console Overview and Layout
Dave from Alum House Sound provides an introductory overview of the X32 console, aimed at new users. He explains the console's layout, distinguishing between the input channels on the left and output channels on the right. The console features 32 input channels, 16 outputs, and additional auxiliary inputs. Dave also introduces the concept of DCAs (Digitally Controlled Amplifiers) for grouped channel control and discusses the console's layer system, which includes inputs, mix buses, and effects returns. He emphasizes the console's functionality for live sound mixing, including preamp gain, phase inversion, low cut, gating, compression, and equalization.
π Understanding DCAs and Bus Sends
The second paragraph delves into the practical use of DCAs for controlling multiple channels simultaneously, which is particularly useful for managing groups like drum mics. Dave illustrates how to select and adjust DCAs for consistent volume levels. He also touches on bus sends, which are less frequently used but available for individual channel control. The main bus options, including mono and stereo bus buttons, are explained, highlighting their role in affecting selected instruments. The paragraph concludes with a discussion on the right side of the console, focusing on DCAs and their application in live sound reinforcement.
π Signal Routing with Mix Buses and Outputs
In this section, Dave explains the concept of mix buses, comparing them to school buses transporting multiple signals to a single destination. He discusses how mix buses can be used for monitors, live streams, or other specific listening areas. The default setup of the console's buses is described, with an explanation of how to use them for various output purposes. The paragraph also addresses the use of matrix sends and the center channel for additional output routing options, providing a comprehensive guide to signal distribution on the X32 console.
ποΈ Channel Controls and Scene Management
Dave introduces the individual channel controls for gain, EQ, compression, and other parameters, emphasizing the ability to customize settings for each channel. He also explains the 'View' button function, which allows users to quickly access and adjust settings for different console sections. The paragraph further covers scene management, demonstrating how to save and recall different console configurations for various services or performances, offering flexibility and efficiency in live sound operation.
π Setting Up Click Tracks and Monitor Sends
This paragraph focuses on the setup of click tracks, showing how to route them to specific monitors without affecting the main room mix. Dave details the process of adjusting input levels, using the stereo bus button to exclude the click track from the main mix, and then using the 'Sends on Fader' feature to route the click track to desired monitors. He also explains how to label channels for clarity during mixing and the importance of the stereo bus button in controlling signal flow to different outputs.
ποΈ Effects Setup and Management
Dave concludes the video script with a brief overview of the console's effects capabilities. He outlines the eight available effects racks and explains how to send signals from various inputs to specific effects, such as reverb. The process of routing effects returns to the console and incorporating them into monitor mixes is also discussed. This section provides a quick guide to integrating effects into a live sound mix, enhancing the overall sound experience.
Mindmap
Keywords
π‘X32 Console
π‘Layers
π‘DCAs (Digitally Controlled Amplifiers)
π‘Gain
π‘Phase Button
π‘Low Cut
π‘Gate
π‘Compressor
π‘Bus Sends
π‘Stereo Bus
π‘Effects
π‘Scenes
π‘Click Track
Highlights
Introduction to the Behringer X32 console layout, focusing on inputs and outputs, and how they are split between the left and right sides.
Explanation of the DCA (Digitally Controlled Amplifiers) functionality for controlling multiple channels simultaneously.
Overview of how to navigate through channels using layers for channels 1-16, 17-32, auxiliary inputs, USB input, and effects returns.
Detailed description of the input section, including preamp, 48V button, phase button, low cut, gate, compressor, and EQ settings.
Explanation of bus sends and how they are used for routing audio to different destinations, such as monitors, live stream, or other outputs.
Instructions on how to use the DCA groups for efficient volume control of multiple channels, using a single fader.
Practical example of using DCA groups to control computer audio input and how it simplifies the workflow.
Description of the main output fader and the importance of buses for routing audio to various outputs.
How to build monitor mixes using the sends on fader feature, allowing custom mixes for different outputs.
Step-by-step guide on how to save and recall scenes for different services or events, ensuring consistent settings.
Demonstration of setting up a click track to be sent only to in-ear monitors without being heard in the main room.
Instructions on how to label channels for better organization and easy identification during mixing.
Explanation of the stereo bus button and its use for sending audio to the main mix or center channel.
Overview of the effects section, including how to send audio to internal reverb and other effects, and how to return them to the mix.
Practical example of sending vocal mics to reverb and returning the reverb to the mix, demonstrating the flexibility of the effects routing.
Transcripts
[Music]
hey welcome back everybody this is dave
with alum house
sound and today we're going to be going
over
the intro to the x32
a lot of my videos have covered how
you're you're kind of
trying to get your stream set up you're
trying to refine your mix
but today i want to take a couple
minutes step back some slow down
and just look at how the console is laid
out uh this is
pretty much the five minute overview
that i give anybody that i teach
this console and so hopefully it'll be
helpful to you so let's dive
right in here we go all right let's take
a couple minutes and give you an
overview of this
x32 console this is the basics of how
i start explaining the functionality on
this console
to a new user so after we've gone
through
and and touch the console and maybe help
them to build a mix
the next step is to learn more about the
functionality so
let's take a look at that this console
is a 32-channel console
it does have 16 outputs and the way it's
split up is kind of a left side
and a right side and so the left side is
all of our inputs
and the right side is mostly our outputs
they throw us for a loop on the first
layer here which are called dcas but
we'll explain that in just a minute
let's look at the left side here so
channels 1
through 16 you can see visible here on
these faders
we also have little layer knobs here so
our buttons if we push the second layer
now we'll see
channels 17 to 32
we also have additional inputs here
which
are auxiliary inputs one through six
these correlate to inputs additional
inputs on the back of the console
some of them are quarter inch some are
quarter inch or rca
we also have the usb input which we can
use
the usb slot up here at the top of the
console
and we could push a wav file or
or recording back through
this so that becomes an input of that
source
and then we have some effects returns
here which we'll explain more in a
minute
and then the last uh the last layer down
here
is our mix buses and and that becomes
important
if you get into some later routing using
matrices
we're not going to talk about matrix or
matrices in this
video so we're just going to deal with
the top three layers so let's go back to
layer one
so inputs the inputs here could be
um let's say this is your kick drum okay
you could bring this
up and you could uh you could use some
of these controls for that
maybe these are you know just different
vocal mics or or guitars or you can set
these however you need to
according to what's plugged into the
console
if we go to layer two you'll see that
these faders move
so now we can have separate settings for
all of these additional channels that we
have down here
and whatever we need for our mix we go
back and now we have channels 1 through
17
and then 17 to 32.
so i'm going to push these down just
bring these all back down to zero here
so that we can keep our discussions
moving and
what i want to do next is talk about all
the controls that we have up at the top
here
the way i explain this to all of my new
people is
it's kind of like if you're going to
write an email
you can start to type your email and you
could maybe
make some words bold and then you pause
on that email
and you go to type a different email and
maybe this one you change the font or
you highlight something
so all of the controls are in the same
location
but you're you're addressing each email
individually well that's the same for
all of these controls
up here at the top we start out we have
a preamp
um or our gain knob we've also got a 48
volt
button which is used if you have certain
microphones plugged in
we have a phase button which might be
used on
on drums mostly maybe some guitars but
mostly on drums
we have a low cut which is going to kind
of work
in combination with our equalizer here
but the low cut knob
we have a gate here which is a great
tool to use on some things we've got a
compressor it says dynamics
but this is a compressor or expander and
then our whole
eq section here is how we can
use to address problems within our our
signal
we also have some bus sends i really
rarely use this whole batch of
of knobs here but they are here and
available we'll explain those in a
minute
and then finally we have our main bus
option we have a mono bus button and
panning left and right and more
importantly here
we have our stereo bus button now
when i want to use these features i
would select an instrument
okay and then these are
functional for this one selected
instrument
if i make changes i'm just going to push
these buttons here
and they'll light up orange if i go to
another instrument that was channel 10.
if i jump over here to channel 9
12 you'll see that these are not orange
and that's because that setting was for
channel 9
not channel 12. so we have the ability
to treat each
channel or input source individually
now again each input could be a
microphone it could be a guitar
amplifier
it could be a drum microphone
it could be a keyboard anything that
you're going to get to come
signal that you're going to come into
the board you've got these features here
to use
if they're on channels 1 through 32. so
the next thing we want to do
is look at the right side of the board
and on the right side of the board we
start out on our first layer with what
we call
dcas these are digitally controlled
amplifiers
and what it lets you do is let's say you
have
all of these um faders here
let's say that these are for your drums
and you have a bunch of mics on your
drums
and they look like this well if if
you're trying to mix and you need to
turn these all down
you have to try and get all of them to
come down evenly and that's
it's just not practical so what a dca
lets you do
is control any selected channels
at the same time so we can push and hold
this
and then we can select the channels that
we want to have
impacted when we let go
now this becomes one volume knob
for all of these faders
so i'm going gonna have to use move one
and it'll control
all of that volume the ratio will stay
the same
this mix would stay the same it's
literally just turning it down
or up so that's a quick easy way
we've got eight faders that we can use
and how do we use this practically well
in my service a lot of times
i have a computer hooked up
to come in way over here on this
input five and six and i have to be able
to quickly turn that
uh that volume up or down on the
computer
and i have to be able to address it
before or
after my band plays so what i can do
is select this one channel
i can turn these on
and then that way when i'm mixing up
here with
my band just before i need to
i have one fader that's going to work
now my
my computer volume and i don't have to
do this stuff and then flip over here
and then try and find it and then have
to try and flip back and do that stuff
i just have one fader to make the the
workflow a lot easier so again
earlier in the example this was for our
drum
you know all of these faders but we've
changed it now to be
over on these so i'm going to deselect
this will keep moving
because the rest of the right side of
the console
deals with outputs so right now our mix
goes over here to our main output
fader if we had audio going through
and we pushed this up we would start to
see some lights light up and we would
see things come up up here on the screen
and that's where our main mix is going
out to this main
fader which goes to our main in-house
speakers
the next layer down we have 16 buses
so we have here bus one through eight
and then here is bus nine through
sixteen
and this is kind of a default setup here
uh the way the console is laid out right
now
uh the best way i explain what a bus
does is a bus
it's just like a school bus it's going
to carry a large group of people
or instruments in this case to one
single destination
so we can do some things that i'll show
you in a second
and we can put people or instruments on
that bus
and then wherever we tell that bus to go
that's
that's where it'll be heard
um this is useful for monitors so i've
got a recent video
that talks about setting up monitors and
so we use some buses for that
sometimes we'll use buses for a live
stream
environment where we'll create a a mix
that doesn't go
out our mains to our house but it's a
different mix that will go out to
a live stream or maybe a cry room or a
nursery
maybe you send some music to your foyer
so people can hear
when they're coming in they can hear
what's going on in the room
and they have their own little mix but
these are outputs and they are
linked to by default to
the outputs on the back of the board so
we have 16 outputs on the back of the
board
this would be linked to one through
eight
and then nine through sixteen however
gets a little tricky when you get to
these purple ones
because these are set for effects
and what we would do is use this to
build a little mix of things that we
want to go into a specific effect
we'll come back to that in a minute but
these are here as outputs and then the
last thing we have down here which we
said we weren't going to talk about but
i'll push the button anyway
this is the opportunity of six matrix
sends and we also have a
a mid or center channel that we have the
ability to
to work with as well
so as we come back to our our little
example here
we are not using any dca's right now
i've turned those off
and we have a little miniature mix that
we're building
that's going out to our main
house speakers so this little mix is
going out to our main house speakers
well let's say we have a monitor and we
want to set up a monitor
we can select the monitor that we want
to work with
and then there's this fabulous button in
the middle right here it says sends on
fader when i push it
we now have all of these faders
to build a mix to go to this one monitor
so maybe they need some of these drum
mics and then maybe they need
some of these other mics over here and
maybe they even need
stuff from these other layers i'm not
going to do it right now for the example
but
maybe they do you have the ability to
even go over here
and add in the pc channel that you know
your your computer channel
you could add in some of these effects
returns
if you wanted to and they could go into
this mix for a monitor
all right so if this is our mix and
that's going to monitor
one we could then come over to monitor
two
and you'll see now how it's zeroed out
and we could do a
similar thing we could repeat the
process and build a mix for
this other bus so what we're doing is we
have built
we have put all of these people or
instruments
on this bus and then this one would be
sent
in this example to a monitor
if i deselect sends on fader which likes
to blink
red um to to warn you that you're on
sends on fader
uh when you go back here keep in mind
this is what's being sent
to our room right now our main mix
but the monitor is hearing something
completely different
so you really have a lot of flexibility
that you can custom
build some specific mixes that go to
specific places
using these mix buses now
i've also talked about setting up uh
this is a mono mix because it just has
one fader that's working for this right
now
we do have the ability if i hit sends on
fader
up in this screen up here we could go
to the config tab and we could hit the
link button
and it's going to link one and two now
they move
together and what that gives us the
ability to do is have a stereo send
so this is a great example of what we
might do on a live stream
where now we have the ability to pan
hard left and
and hard right coming into the stream to
really give us
a lot of width in this mix that we're
doing
but i'm going to go back to unlinking
that this is now disconnected and we
just have this mix
here going to that one monitor
all right we'll turn sends on fader off
at this point
all you need to do if you're learning
how to
run a mix in the house is
select a channel we can come in and use
these controls
right here to set our gain
set maybe our our eq and our compression
and that should be a great start right
there
now here's one thing to note each of
these button each of these
controls has a little view button on it
this becomes a great thing because we
can quickly hit the view button
and the screen changes to view our eq
or if i hit on the compressor and i hit
view
now we have our compressor window up
if i if i go to gate it's going to look
very similar but it's now the gate
but you can also see that we have some
it's really just flipping between tabs
up here in the screen
so we're on the gate tab right now the
compressor
or dynamics is the next one we can use
these arrow buttons
to go over there eq is the next one so i
can page over or mouse to the right
to the next tab so we can see those
things there
also if i look at sends which is the
next tab over
you'll see that one and two
because we had built a little mini mix
one and two
have some send in there so if i select
one
and i hit sends on fader
we can see that uh this was channel six
channel six has
has been put into this mix from mixbus
one
if i deselect it all right now we're
back on
channel six and we can see up here that
it's in there
also these little bus send encoders
which i said i rarely ever use
also show us that we can turn it up or
down they're just volume knobs
that you have the ability to to turn up
for bus one and you'll see that it it
correlates here on the screen if i turn
it down
okay and you've got little layers over
here
as well because remember we have 16
16 outputs or sends on the right
and so we have 1 through 4 5 through 8
all the way up to 16 and they're
displayed here
and you can just do them in groups of
four
but that's that's the basics of the
console here
the next thing i want to show you is how
to save your scene
over on the right side of the screen
here we have
a scene area and a view button
and when we hit the view button we come
up here to this window now
yours probably defaults to the tab that
says cues
and you can change it in your setup
window to have it
select uh the scenes instead
but here i can come down and this is my
this was my blank scene and so i could
select one of these and hit i could just
twist to go to different ones here
the various ones in here so i could hit
the save encoder then i can name it
whatever i want to name it then i would
hit
save on the right now i'm not going to
do it because i don't want these changes
to be saved
but then i can hit the save button and
then it would ask me if i really want to
save and i would hit the right arrow key
to actually save that change
let's go to a different a different
scene just to show you an example here
i'm just going to hit the back button
and then back over to scenes
so what i'm going to do is go down one
of my most
more recent ones i had a training scene
in here so i'm going to
select it i'm going to push go it says
do you really want to go and i'll hit
yes
and so now everything is changed to
what i had stored in that scene
and then i could go back to my blank one
by coming up here i can hit go
and now i'm back to my blank scene so
scenes become great because if you
have different services that use all of
your same gear
you can have all of the settings saved
for each
individual performance
you could also save things for a
you know worship night versus a sunday
morning versus a wednesday night service
all kinds of flexibility there all right
let me show you
one last feature that i get a lot of
questions about
let's say you uh have a click track all
right a lot of people are using click
tracks right now they just want them to
go to in-ear monitors
how would i set that up to be in a
monitor
but not be heard in my main room
so let's say that the click track is
coming in on
input 16. so i'm going to select input
16.
the click track i'm going to bring up to
zero
okay on my unity that is what we call it
in the middle here there's a zero mark
and so we bring it up to zero or unity
and then
the magic button is the stereo bus
right here we're going to deselect that
so now the the audio would come in the
click track would come in
it would be turned up but it will not go
to our stereo buss
so we won't hear that all the way over
here in our room mix
now we have the ability the option of
coming into any of these
buses or monitors in this case
we can hit sends on fader and then if
this
monitor needs click track we can just
bring that up
okay we can turn it up turn it down
now you would want to label if i go back
out here
if if you want to label channel 16
to be click track how would you do that
we would go over here to the setup
button
we can mouse over to the different tabs
and there's one that says name
and icon and this is where we can
change colors maybe we find a red
because we don't want them to touch it
because you wouldn't want to move this
fader
while you're mixing so we'll make it red
and then we can hit the edit button here
and then we have the ability to to use
this little
feature to type letters so c
and i'll just type in click here
all right so it says click and then at
the end
close is under the first encoder so i do
that
and now it says click
and it's bright red so that might help
you then when you're going through and
building a mix for this
mixbus number three you can see it
that's the red one we know we want to
bring that up
put click into their monitor and then we
move on
so that's important that stereo bus
button is important
if you wanted to put something in the in
the mid channel if you happen to be
running a
a left right and center channel and you
only want things specific
levels in the center channel that's what
this top area here
is for you would select monobus
on a channel that's selected so we can
use our click track as an example
we've deselected stereo but let's say we
want to put the click right in the
middle
of our center channel we would select
this button and then we've got a volume
knob that we can use to
turn up or down in that center channel
once you set a certain amount it does
follow your fader it would also
typically follow your
master or your main left and right fader
as well
it would turn that up and down within
the percentage that you have it turned
up with this encoder
all right so at this point we've talked
about the left side is inputs
the right side is is outputs
with effects let's talk about effects
real quick
in this board you've got if we go to
effects home
in this board you have eight different
effects racks that you can use
on the left side you've got your your
insert effects they could also be
effects returns but
the right side is insert only so
the effects returns if we look at this
first one it is set up
as a reverb by default
and that correlates you see it says bus
13 there
that correlates to our buses down here
remember we had one through eight and
now we get to bus 13 and it's purple
well they labeled these all because 13
14 15 16
correlate to these effects
so we have a reverb we can build
we have to now send an instrument or
microphone
into that reverb so what we're going to
do is just like a monitor we're going to
hit select
you'll see how it makes that window
bigger for us which is great we hit
sends on fader
and now we have all of these inputs to
be able to send
into this effect now this is nice
because
if we wanted some reverb on our click we
could push
the click up and it would go into that
reverb
we probably don't want that maybe we
want some vocal mics to go into that
reverb let's say we have
four vocal mics we can send those into
the reverb
and then it's going to go internally
out of the board and into this effect
and then it comes back
well where does it come back i'm going
to hit sends on fader
well those vocal mics that go through
the reverb
from bus 13 are going to return
over here on the far left on this third
layer and this is bus
13's return so it goes out mono
and the reverb is a stereo reverb
it returns with a stereo channel left
and right right here
so this says effects one then you've got
two
three and four
so if you if you've ever worked with old
analog gear
you had to plug a cable in and then you
would have two cables left and right
that would come return into the board
these are the returns right here
and so you're you're sending this mix
out to a reverb just like a monitor
but the reverb is sending it back into
the console here
and now you can add these in if we go
back up to this other
monitor mix that we were building mixbus
3
we hit sends on fader
if that monitor wants this reverb
in their monitor you have the ability to
add this
because it's considered an input into
that mix bus so we have
click track going in nothing on the
second layer
and then we have some reverb so they're
getting some form of reverb and a click
track
it doesn't sound like the greatest
sounding monitor but that's what we've
done in this
example all right so
what a powerful console we've got this
thing is amazing we covered a bunch of
ground
in this video but you can go back and
check it out re-watch it if you need to
to review anything hopefully you found
something helpful in this video and if
you did
give it a thumbs up give it a like and
if you're not already subscribed to the
channel
go and hit that subscribe button too
because i'm putting out new
videos every week so thanks for watching
this one we'll catch you
in the next one peace
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