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6
Making the Most Of Your Mixer
Making the Most Of Your Mixer
■ An Introduction
You’ve got yourself a mixer and now you’re ready to use it.
Just plug everything in, twiddle the controls, and away you go … right?
Well, if you’ve done this before you won’t have any problems, but if this is
the first time you’ve ever used a mixer you might want to read through this lit-
tle tutorial and pick up a few basics that will help you get better performance
and make better mixes.
1-1. A Plethora Of Connectors—What Goes Where?
Questions you’re likely to encounter when setting up a system for the first time might include “Why all these different types of
connectors on the back of my mixer?” and “What’s the difference?”.
Let’s start by taking a look at the most common connector types.
■ The Venerable RCA Pin Jack
This is the “consumer connector,” and the one that has been most commonly used on
home audio gear for many years. Also known as “phono” jacks (short for “phonogram”),
but the term isn’t used much these days—besides, it’s too easily confusable with
“phone” jacks, below. RCA pin jacks are always unbalanced, and generally carry a
line-level signal at –10 dB, nominal. You’re most likely to use this type of connector
when connecting a CD player or other home audio type source to your mixer, or when
connecting the output of your mixer to a cassette recorder or similar gear.
■ The Versatile Phone Jack
The name “phone jack” arose simply because this configuration was first used in
telephone switchboards. Phone jacks can be tricky because you can’t always tell what
type of signal they’re designed to handle just by looking at them. It could be unbalanced
mono, unbalanced stereo, balanced mono, or an insert patch point. The connector’s label
will usually tell you what type of signal it handles, as will the owner’s manual (you do
keep your manuals in a safe place, don’t you?). A phone jack that is set up to handle
balanced signals is also often referred to as a “TRS” phone jack. “TRS” stands for
Tip-Ring-Sleeve, which describes the configuration of the phone plug used.
1. A Place For Everything and Everything In Its Place
White
Red
Stereo/TRS phone plug
Mono phone plug