Alesis 12 FireWire, 16 FireWire manual

Ref er ence Manual[...]

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Table Of Contents 1 Introduction .......................................................... 5 W elcome! ...................................................................................................... 5 About the MultiM ix FireWire........................................... 6 All-In-One Mix er and Multichanne l Computer Audio Interface ......[...]

Table Of Contents 2 +48V Indicator ........................................................................................... 19 Rear of th e Mixer ................................................................ 20 P ower Input ................................................................................................. 20 P ower Supply Unit [...]

Table Of Contents 3 Creating a new audio file ........................................................................... 36 Working with the ASIO control panel ............................ 40 Accessing the ASIO control panel ..... ...................................................... 40 Setting the mixer nic kname ................................[...]

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Introduction 5 W elcome! Thank you for making the Alesis MultiMix FireWire a pa rt of your studio . Since 1984, we've been designing and building creativ e tools for the au dio community . W e believ e in our products , because we've heard the results that creativ e people like you hav e achieved with them. One of Alesis' goals is to[...]

Introduction 6 About the MultiMix FireWire The MultiMix FireWire mixers are the latest in the large famil y of Alesis audio mixers and the seco nd series that includes comp uter interfacing (following on the launch of the MultiMix USB mix ers in 2004). W e’ve come a long wa y since introducing ou r first mixing c onsole in 1989. Since that time a[...]

Introduction 7 y Multichannel Firewire (IEEE 1394a) input and output – routes eac h individual channel ’ s output, plus the MAIN outputs, through the FIREWIRE port, and receives two channel s back f rom the comp uter, all in 24-bit, 44.1/48 kHz digital audio . y ASIO and WDM computer dri ver s – lets you use the MultiMix FireWire with the vas[...]

Introduction 8 How to Use This Manual This manual is divided into the following sections describing the vari ous functions and applicati ons of the Mul tiMix consoles . While it's a g ood idea to read through the entire m anual once carefully , those h aving general knowledge about mi xing should use the table of contents to look up sp ecific [...]

Introduction 9 A Few Words for Beginners W e realize that some of you who hav e purchased the MultiMix FireWire are fairly new to the ar t of mixing and comp uter recording . W e’ve written this man ual with that in mind. W e designed the MultiMix to be both powerful and easy enough to use that even a beginner can quickly pick up the basics . Man[...]

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1 Getting Started 11 Important: download the drivers fr om http://www .alesis.com onto a folder on your des ktop or insert th e softw a re CD into your computer’ s CD drive BEFORE you plug y our MultiMix into your computer for the first time. See page 25 for details. Hooking up the MultiMix FireWire This diag ram will help you get the MultiMix Fi[...]

1 Getting Started 12 Using Proper Cables When conn ecting instr uments and other equipme nt to the MultiMix, it’ s important that y ou use the appropriate ty pes of cables . Here are s ome simple but importan t guidelines: y F or the m ic inputs , use X LR cables . y F or the line inputs and all other 1/4” connec tions, use 1/4” mono TRS cabl[...]

2 A Tour of the MultiMix FireWire 13 In this chapter, y ou’ll lear n all about the MultiMix’ s components (except for the digital effects proces sor, whic h is explained in the next chapter). Please re fer to the diagrams as you read each section to see whic h components we’ re talking about. Patchbay At the rear por tion of the top o f the M[...]

2 A Tour of the MultiMix FireWire 14 Line Inputs (Channels 5 – 12) Unlike channels 1 – 4, the line inpu ts on channels 5 – 12 are stereo inputs that ha ve left and ri ght inputs . If you’ re using one of these channel s as a mono i nput, plug your instrument into the lef t input. Channels 5 – 12 don’ t hav e the extra gain found on c h [...]

A Tour of the MultiMix FireWire 2 15 even added to the main mix via the 2TK TO MIX switch in the master section of the mixer . The 2-TRACK INPUT is blended with any signal coming ba ck from a computer over the Firewire connection. MAIN MIX OUT These 1/4” jacks are where th e signal on the main mix bus leaves the mixer . From there you can send it[...]

2 A Tour of the MultiMix FireWire 16 this switch lets y ou hear the signal before it is affected by the fader. This switch is post-EQ . PA N o r B A L This cont rol—labeled P AN on the mono channels and B AL on the stereo channels—lets you assign the channel to a par ticular spot within the stereo spectr um. If you tur n this knob to the left, [...]

A Tour of the MultiMix FireWire 2 17 Master Section The Master Sectio n is the heart of the mixer , where the channel inputs and aux returns all are mixe d together and routed in v arious ways. Main Mix F ader The signals from all c hannels and aux sends—ex cluding those that are muted—are sent to th e main mix. The MAIN MIX fader is the one yo[...]

2 A Tour of the MultiMix FireWire 18 HDPH / CTRL RM The HDPH / CTRL RM knob controls the lev el of the signal being sent to the CTRL RM OUT and the PHONES output. The level of this signal is represen ted by the LED meters . T he switches to the right of the HDPH / CTRL RM kno b determ ine the source of the control room mix as explai ned below . Y o[...]

A Tour of the MultiMix FireWire 2 19 LED Met ers These are th e tw o rows of yellow , g reen and red lights you see in the master section o f the mixer . Th ey are v er y ve rsatile, allowing you to view the signal level of the main mix, individual channels (both pre- and post-fader) and aux returns depending on whic h signal you hav e routed to th[...]

2 A Tour of the MultiMix FireWire 20 Rear of the Mixer Here’ s what you’ll find at the rear of the mixer . P ow er Inpu t Here’ s wh ere you plug in your mix er’ s external power supply . Y ou should always connect your power supply to the mixer before yo u plug the po wer supply i nto an electrical outlet. P ow er Sup ply Unit This unit pr[...]

3 Digital Effects Processor 21 Onboard you r MultiMix FireWire is a p owe rful effects unit that has 100 preset prog rams . W e offer a few tips on where to use these, but don ’t limit yourself to our sug gestions. W e recommend that you experiment with these effects to g et a good feel fo r how they can improve y our mixes Effects Section Compon[...]

3 Digital Effects Processor 22 CHORUS These create the effect of multip le voices (or instruments) sounding at onc e from a singl e input. FLANGE These create a sweeping, swoosh ing sound effe ct that you will probably rec ognize. DELA Y These effects are bas ed on a discreet repetition or echo of the input. PITCH These effects transpo se the pitch[...]

4 Traditional Mixing 23 Simple Live Setup Connect y o ur ins tr uments and microphones to the mo no and stereo channels, making sure to properly set the lev el o f each channel . Y o u can select one on-board effect and cont rol its level with the A UX B knob for eac h channel. Y ou can also use an exter nal effects processo r by sending a signal t[...]

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5 Firewire Recording 25 First-time connection instructions and driver installation Important: F ollow these steps BEFORE you plug in y our MultiMix FireW ir e mixer for th e first time. If your computer ha s access to the Inter net, point your browser to the Support > Downloads section of http://www .alesi s .com. It’ s possible that updated d[...]

5 Firewire Recording 26 new hardware is installed and ready to use. ” Do not cancel any of the installations , as they are all require d for proper operation . Macintosh Mac driv er ins tallation is more straightforward, as only CoreAudio driv ers are installed. Simp ly double-click the installer prog ram to install the driv ers. Installing the o[...]

Firewire Recording 5 27 Firewire inputs and outputs Channels sent fr om th e MultiMix t o the comput er The Firewire port sends ev er y individual mixer channel as well as the MultiMix’ s MAIN OUT/2-TRA CK OUT left and right signals to the computer. T his means that, for th e MultiMix 12 FireWire, 12 individual channels are sent to the computer a[...]

5 Firewire Recording 28 Sound setup under Windows T o use your MultiMix FireWire as your default Windows sound device, follow these steps: 1. From the Wi ndows Start menu, c hoose “Control P anel. ” Depending on your Windows preferences , it will app ear similar to one of the tw o pictures be low: 2. Choose “Sounds and A udio Devices”. 3. C[...]

Firewire Recording 5 29 4. Click the “V o ice” tab . Chang e the voice pla yback and voice recording settings to th e MultiMix. F or voice recording, you may choose either the “MultiMix Main” or the “MultiMix Channels” option . 5. Click “ Apply” to apply th ese changes .[...]

5 Firewire Recording 30 Disabling Windows System Sounds Windows Sy stem Sounds—the sounds that Windows pl ays to signal starting up , shutting down, alerts and so for th—can interfere with your au dio recording . W e strongl y suggest that y o u disable these sounds. 1. Click the “Sou nds” tab of “Sounds and Au dio Devices .” 2. Under ?[...]

Firewire Recording 5 31 Connections and settings for Firewire recording and monitoring The best way to begin using the MultiMix for Firewire recording is to set up y our system this w ay: 1. Hook up y o ur monitori ng system to the Multi Mix’ s CTRL RM OUT jacks . 2. Apply the MAST ER section ’ s buttons as follo ws: a. 2 TK TO MIX : Leav e UP [...]

5 Firewire Recording 32 Choosing the MultiMix as your audio device 1. Choose the men u option “Devices” | “De vice Setup…. ” 2. Click the “VST Multitrack” option. This discussion uses Steinberg’s Cubase software, but the principles provided here apply to all ASIO recordin g so f tware.[...]

Firewire Recording 5 33 3. From within the ASIO Dr iv er drop-down box, choose the MultiMix. 4. Press “OK” to accept this setting . D ifferent versions of Cubase function similarly, but not exactly, to the exa mples shown here.[...]

5 Firewire Recording 34 5. Now that the MultiMix is selected as the audio device, indivi dual channe ls must be acti vated for use . Ag ain, return to the “Devices” menu, and select “VST inputs. ” 6. Click the ac tivation buttons for c hannel pairs that y ou want to use. Some versions of Cubase do not allow all inputs to be us ed simultaneo[...]

Firewire Recording 5 35 7. In Cubase, y ou can rename cha nnels by click ing in the “Label” area. This is useful if , for instance, your lead v ocals are always on c hannel 1, your bass drum is always on channel 2, etc .[...]

5 Firewire Recording 36 Cr eating a new audio file Now , you’ re ready to create an audio p roject. 1. Choose “File” | “New Project…” 2. Y ou can begin with a template or an empty file . F or now , begin with an em pty file.[...]

Firewire Recording 5 37 3. Cubase needs to know where to place audio. Choose a director y here. 4. Now , you ha ve a blank pr oject. Add an audio track for recording by choosing “Project” | “ Add Trac k” | “ Audio .” A n excellent sc heme fo r stor ing y our pr oject s i s to create a di rector y call ed “audio projects.” Then, with[...]

5 Firewire Recording 38 5. Be sure that the “ inspector”—a strip on the lef t-hand side of Cubase that sho ws all sor ts of infor mation about the sele cted track—is acti ve. If your view is similar to that shown bel ow , the Inspector is active . If you do not see all of the infor mation on the left- hand side , the Inspec tor is not act i[...]

Firewire Recording 5 39 7. Y ou will do most of your monitoring through the mixer . Howe ver , if you want to monitor wi th Cubase’ s effects , or if you ju st want to hear what t he computer i s hearing, press the direct monitoring button next to the R ecord Enable bu tton. Note that using direct m onitoring causes a small delay as the digital a[...]

5 Firewire Recording 40 Working with the ASIO control pane l A ccessing the ASIO contr ol panel From within Cubase, select “Devices” | “Device Setup….” | “VST MultiT rack.” Then, click the “Control P anel” b utton to access the MultiMix’ s ASIO control panel. Set ting the mixer nickname Y o u can change the name of the mix er as[...]

Firewire Recording 5 41 A djusting latency b y changing the buf f er size “Latency” refers to the amount of time it takes for audio to get into and out of the computer . In the best of all possible w orlds , there would be no such thing as latency—we would hear audio the moment it was created. Howev er, computers hav e limited processing powe[...]

5 Firewire Recording 42 Using the MultiMix FireWire with Sonar and other WDM applications Choosing the MultiMix as your audio device 1. Choose the men u “Options” | “ Audi o…. ” 2. On the “General” tab, select any av ailable MultiMix channels as the Playback and R eco rd timing masters . This discussion uses Cakewalk’s Sonar softwar[...]

Firewire Recording 5 43 3. Click the “ Advanced” tab . F o r WDM operation, be sure that the “Driv er Mode” is set to “W DM/ KS.” (I f yo u ch an ge th is setting, you will need to exit and then restart Sonar.) F or applications like Sonar that support both WDM and ASIO m ode s, y ou may wa nt to experiment with each to see if either mo[...]

5 Firewire Recording 44 4. Mov e to the “Driv ers” tab . Click on each i nput pair and also on the outpu t pair to make the m av ailable to Sonar .[...]

Firewire Recording 5 45 Assigning inputs t o audio trac ks Now , you’ re ready to assign the MultiMix’ s inputs to various channels . F or each audio trac k that you w ant to rec ord, clic k on the input section of th e trac k and select the MultiMix channel that you want. Record-enable the tracks to be recorded (first arrow). Y o u will do mos[...]

5 Firewire Recording 46 Using the MultiMix FireWire with CoreAudio on the Macintosh Mac users can impress th eir friends with the following instr uctions for using the MultiMix with CoreAudio: 1. Open the Mac’ s “ Audio MIDI Setup” utility . 2. Choose the MultiM ix FireWire as bot h input and output device. 3. Choose the MultiM ix as the defa[...]

6 Troubleshooting: non-Firewire 47 If you’ re having pro blems operating the MultiMix, this troubleshooting index will help you cor rect them. Sympt oms Cause Solution No sound from the mix er . Mixer is n o t plugged in or turn ed on. Plug in mixer and turn it on. Faders are too low . Raise appropriate faders . Control room level is too low . T [...]

6 Troubleshooting: non-Firewire 48 Audi o signal car ries an unwanted hum. T oo much l ow-level noise in the mix. Eng age the channel’ s hi gh-pass filter b y pressing the HP F switch . Interference from appliances such as air conditio ners. Eng age the channel’ s hi gh-pass filter b y pressing the HP F switch . Not usin g TRS cables . Ma ke su[...]

Troubleshooting: non-Firewire 6 49 External effects aren’ t wo rk in g. Effect s processor is not plug ged in or tur ned on. Make sure unit is plug ged in and turn ed on. Aux outputs of mixe r aren ’t connec ted to inputs of proces sor or pr ocessor’ s outputs aren’ t connected to mixer ’ s inputs (or aux return). Make sure the mixer’ s[...]

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7 Troubleshooting: Firewire 51 Computer or audio application does not see the MultiMix FireWire Basic tr oub leshooting First, check that the MultiMix is seen by the computer: Un der “Sounds and A udio Devices” (Windows) or “ Audi o MIDI Setup” (Mac), look for the MultiMix FireWire to be listed as an available device. If the MultiMix FireWi[...]

7 Troubleshooting: Firewire 52 3. The active tab at the top of this window is now the “General” tab . Click the “Hardware” tab . T hen, click the “Device Manager” button. 4. Finally , expand the “Sound, video and game control lers” section. “MultiMi x Audio” should appear .[...]

Troubleshooting: Firewire 7 53 No connection If “MultiMix Audio” doe s not appear , Windows does n ot see the mixer as being connected to the computer. Chec k your Firewire cable and try pow ering the mixer of f and on again. Expand the “IEEE 1394 Bus host contro llers” section. Check that you r Firewire c ard is listed as properly w orking[...]

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8 Specifications 55 F or the mo re technical-minded, here are some detailed specifications fo r the MultiMix’ s operating levels . Input Channels Mic In Sensiti vity Range: -60dBu to –10dBu nomin al, +5dBu maximum Line In Sensiti vity Range: -40dBu to -+10dBu nominal, +25dBu maximum Mic/Line Gain Range: +10 to +60dB Equalization High-P ass Filt[...]

8 Specifications 56 Mechanicals (W x L x H) MultiMix 12 FireWire: 13.0” x 13.4” x 3.2” / 331mm x 340mm x 80mm, 7.0lbs / 3.2kg MultiMix 16 FireWire: 13.0” x 15.2” x 3.2” / 331mm x 386mm x 80mm, 9.7lbs / 4.4kg[...]

9 Block Diagrams 57[...]

9 Block Diagrams 58[...]

Glossary 59 Here are the definition s to some ter ms you’ll probably en counter while using your MultiMix FireWire. Te r m Definition ASIO A udio Strea m Input/Output. An au dio protocol dev eloped b y Stein berg and used by multiple audio softw are manufactu rers . aux (auxiliar y) An additional set of outputs and inputs found on many mixers . T[...]

Contact Information 60 rectangular rackmount units . EQ (equalizer) T he part of your mi xer (or ot her devic e) that manipul ates an audi o signal by low ering the level of some frequencies and increasing the levels of others . EQ i s used to f ine-tu ne a si gnal’ s highs and low s. fader A device that allows y o u to control the level of an au[...]

Glossary 61 return A line input whose functi on is to carry back t o the mixer an audio signal that has been sent from the mix er. U s ually used in the app lication of effects . sample rate Digital audio is c hop ped up into tiny time slices . The sample ra te is the number of time slices captured in on e second. 44.1kHz—44,100 samples pe r seco[...]

Contact Information 62 Alesis Contact Infor mation Alesis Distribution, LLC Los Angeles , CA USA E-mail: support@alesis .com W eb site: http://www .alesis .com MultiMix FireWire Reference Manual Re vision 1.0 by Edwin Erdman n, Brooks Bruner, and F red Morgenster n. Copyright 2005, Alesis Distribution, LLC. All rights reser ved Reproduc tion in who[...]