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Alesis MULTIMIX 16 manual

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Table of contents for the manual

  • Page 1

    Ref er ence Manual[...]

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    This p age inten tionally left blank 10% 20% 30% 40 % 50% 60% 70 % 80% 90% 10 0%[...]

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    Table Of Contents 1 Introduction .......................................................... 5 W elcome! ...................................................................................................... 5 About the MultiMix USB2 .0 .............................................. 6 All-In-One Mix er and Multic hannel Computer Au dio Interface ...[...]

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    Table Of Contents 2 P ower Input ................................................................................................. 20 P ower Supply Unit ...................................................................................... 20 P ower On .................................................................................................[...]

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    Table Of Contents 3 Accessing the control panel....................................................................... 39 Using the MultiMix USB2.0 with Son ar and other WDM appl ications ................................................... 40 Choosing the MultiMix as y o ur audio device ......................................... 40 Assigning inputs [...]

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    Table Of Contents 4[...]

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    Introduction 5 W elcome! Thank you for making the Alesis MultiMix USB2.0 a par t of your studio . Since 1984, we'v e been designing and buildi ng creativ e tools for the audio comm unity . W e believ e in ou r products , because we've heard the results that creati ve people like you hav e achiev ed with them. One of Alesis' go als is[...]

  • Page 8

    Introduction 6 About the MultiMix USB2.0 The MultiMix U SB2.0 mixers are the latest in the large family of Alesis audio mixers and the fo urth series that includes co mputer interfacing (following on the launch of the MultiMix USB mixers in 2004, the MultiMix FireWire mixers in 2005, and the iMultiMix8 USB-with-iP o d mixer in 2007). W e’v e come[...]

  • Page 9

    Introduction 7 from the comp uter , all in 24-bit, 44.1/48/88.2/96 kHz digital audio . y ASIO and WDM computer dri v er s – lets you use the MultiMix USB2.0 with the vast majority of digital audio w orkstation pr ograms. y Clean and pow erful preamps – up to 50dB of pr eamp ga in for capturing quiet sources. Globally switched phantom po we r . [...]

  • Page 10

    Introduction 8 How to Use This Manual This manual is divided into the following sections describing the v arious fu nctions and ap plications of the MultiMi x consoles . While it's a go od idea to read through the entire m anual once carefully , those ha ving general knowle dge about mixing shoul d use the table of contents to look up specif i[...]

  • Page 11

    Introduction 9 A Few Words for Beginners W e realize that some of you who hav e purchased the MultiMix USB2.0 are fairly new to the ar t of mixin g and computer recording . W e’ve written this manu al with that in mind. W e designed the MultiMix to be bo th powerful and easy enough to use that even a beginner can quickly pick up the basics . Many[...]

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    Introduction 10 This p age intent ionally left blank.[...]

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    1 Getting Started 11 Important: download the drivers fr om http://www .alesis.com on to a folder on y our desktop or insert th e soft ware CD into your computer’ s CD drive BEFORE you plug your MultiMix into your computer for the first time. See page 25 for details. Hooking up the MultiMix USB2.0 This diag ram will help y ou get the MultiMix USB2[...]

  • Page 14

    1 Getting Started 12 Using Proper Cables When co nnecting inst r uments and o ther equipmen t to the MultiMix, i t’ s important that y ou use the appropriate types of cables . Here are some simple but impor tant guidelines : y F or th e mic inputs, use XLR cables . y F or the line input s and all ot her 1/4 ” connecti ons , use 1/4” mono TRS [...]

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    2 A Tour of the MultiMix USB2.0 13 In this chapter , you’ll learn all ab out the MultiMix’ s compon ents (ex cept fo r the digital effects pro cessor, which is explained in the next chapter). Please re fer to the diag rams as you read eac h section to see whic h components we ’ re talking about. Patchbay At the rear por tion of the top of the[...]

  • Page 16

    2 A Tour of the MultiMix USB2.0 14 Line Inputs (Channels 9 – 16) Unlike c hannels 1 – 8, th e line inpu ts on channels 9 – 16 are stereo inputs that ha v e l eft and right inputs . If you’ re using one of these channe ls as a mo no input, plug y o ur instrument into the left i nput. Channels 9 – 16 don ’t hav e the extra gain found on c[...]

  • Page 17

    A Tour of the MultiMix USB2.0 2 15 CTRL RM OUT Y ou can use these 1/4" jacks to send the cont rol room signal to the input of the amplifi er dri ving you r monitors or headphones . This output can c arr y several different signals , depending on whic h source you hav e selected in the mast er section of the mixer . Channel Strips The eigh t ch[...]

  • Page 18

    2 A Tour of the MultiMix USB2.0 16 the relati v e balanc e of the left and right c hannel sig nals being se nt to the left and right main mix buses . Au x Here y ou’ll fi nd knobs that control the lev els of aux sends A and B . A UX A is eithe r pre-fader or p ost-fader , de pending on the position of the PRE / POST switch. When the switch is in [...]

  • Page 19

    A Tour of the MultiMix USB2.0 2 17 MAIN MIX OUT and the 2-TRA CK OUT . In its low est position the signal is cut off completely , and in the upper most position you get an additional 10dB of g ain. In the 0 position the fader is at unity g ain. Alt 3/4 F ader This fader controls the output of the Alt 3/4 bus . 2TK T o Mix When you press this switch[...]

  • Page 20

    2 A Tour of the MultiMix USB2.0 18 HDPH / CTRL RM The HDPH / CTRL RM k nob contr ols the le v el of the signal being sent to the CTRL RM OUT and the PHONES ou tput. The level of this signal is rep resented by the LED meters . The switches to the right of the HD PH / CTRL RM knob deter min e the source of the control ro om mix as e xplaine d below .[...]

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    A Tour of the MultiMix USB2.0 2 19 LED Met ers Thes e are the tw o rows of yellow , g reen and red lights you see in the master section of the mixer . They are ver y versatile, allo wing you to view the signal lev el of th e main mix, individual c hannels (both pre- a nd post-fader) a nd aux retu rns de pending on whic h signal you hav e routed to [...]

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    2 A Tour of the MultiMix USB2.0 20 Rear of the Mixer Here’ s what you’ll find at the rear of the mix er . P ow e r Input Here’ s where you plug in your mixer’ s exter nal power supply . Y ou should always connect your power supply to the mixer before yo u plug the p ow er su pply into an electrical outlet. P ow e r Supply Unit This un it pr[...]

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    3 Digital Effects Processor 21 Onboard y our Mul tiMix USB2.0 i s a pow erful e ffects unit that has 100 preset prog rams . W e offer a few tips on where to use these, but don ’t l imit y ourse lf to our sug gestions . W e recommend that you experiment with these effects to get a g ood fee l for how they can impro v e y our mix es Effects Section[...]

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    3 Digital Effects Processor 22 CHORUS These create the effect o f multiple voices (o r instruments) sounding at once from a single inp ut. FLANGE These create a sweeping, swoosh ing so und effect that you will probably re cognize. DELA Y These effects are b ased on a discreet repetition or echo of the input. PITCH These effects tran spose the p itc[...]

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    4 Traditional Mixing 23 Simple Live Setup Connect y our ins tr uments and mi crophones t o the mo no and stereo channels , making sure to properly set th e lev el of each channe l. Y ou can s elect one on-board effect an d control its level with the A UX B kn ob for each c hannel. Y ou can als o use an exter nal effects proces sor by sending a sign[...]

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    5 Traditional Mixing 24 Simple Two-Channel Recording Setup (without using a computer) Again, connect y our instruments and mic rophones to the mo no and stereo channels and set the levels appropriately . T o record directly f rom the mix er to a tape de ck or other devic e, c onnect the MultiMix’ s 2-TRA CK OUT jacks to the IN jacks of the record[...]

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    5 USB2.0 Recording 25 First-time connection and driv er installation instructions Wi n d o w s Before attaching your mix er to your computer , install the driv ers either from th e website or the software D VD . During the installation process , attach and re- attac h your mi xe r as pro mpted by the install program. F o r each of the several insta[...]

  • Page 28

    5 USB2.0 Recording 26 Installing the optional applications The s oftware D VD that comes with the MultiMix USB2.0 con tains not only the drivers (the small c omputer programs that w ork behind the scenes so that your MultiMix w orks properly with your computer) but also some powerful music applications . If you don ’ t already hav e a Digital A u[...]

  • Page 29

    USB2.0 Recording 5 27 USB2.0 inputs and outputs Channels sent fr om the MultiMix t o the comput er The USB2.0 port sends every individual mixer c hannel as well as the MultiMix’ s MAIN OUT/2-TRACK OUT left and right signals to the computer . This means th at, for the MultiMix 16 USB2.0, 16 individual channels are sent to the computer alo ng with [...]

  • Page 30

    5 USB2.0 Recording 28 Sound setup under Windows T o use your MultiMix USB2.0 as your default Windows sound device, follow these steps: 1. From t he Windo ws Start menu, c hoose “Control P anel. ” Depend ing on your Windows preferences, it will appear similar to one of the tw o pictu res belo w: 2. Choose “Sounds and A udio Dev ices”. 3. Cli[...]

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    USB2.0 Recording 5 29 4. Click the “V oice” tab . Chan ge the voice playback and v oice recording settings to “ Alesis USB Audio .” 5. Click “ A pply” to apply thes e changes .[...]

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    5 USB2.0 Recording 30 Disabling Windows System Sounds Windows System Sou nds—the so unds that Windo ws plays to signal starting up , shutting down, alerts and so for t h—can interfere with y our audio re cording . W e strongly suggest that you disable these sounds . 1. Click the “Sounds” tab of “Sounds and A udio Devices .” 2. Under “[...]

  • Page 33

    USB2.0 Recording 5 31 Connections and settings for USB2.0 recording and monitoring The best wa y to be gin using the Mu ltiMix for USB2.0 recording is to set up y our system this wa y: 1. Hook up y our moni toring syste m to the MultiMix’ s CTRL RM OUT jacks . 2. Apply the MAST ER secti on ’ s buttons as foll ows: a. 2 TK TO MIX : Leav e UP . P[...]

  • Page 34

    5 USB2.0 Recording 32 Choosing the MultiMix as y our audio device 1. Choose the me nu option “De vices” | “Devi ce Setup…. ” 2. Click the “VST Multitrack” option. This discussion uses Steinberg’s Cubase softwar e, but the princip les provid ed here apply to all ASIO recordin g so f tware.[...]

  • Page 35

    USB2.0 Recording 5 33 3. From within the ASIO D riv er drop-down box, c hoose the Alesis USB Audio device . 4. Press “OK” to acc ept this setting . D ifferent versions of Cubase function similarly, but not exactly, to the examples shown here.[...]

  • Page 36

    5 USB2.0 Recording 34 5. Now that the MultiMix is selected as the audio device, indiv idual c hannels m ust be acti v ated for use . Ag ain, return to the “Devices” menu, and select “VST inputs. ” 6. Click the acti v ation butto ns for c hannel pairs tha t y ou wa nt to use . Some versions of C ubase do not allow all inputs to be used simul[...]

  • Page 37

    USB2.0 Recording 5 35 Cr eating a new audio file Now , you’ re ready to create an audio project. 1. Choose “File” | “New Projec t…” 2. Y ou can begin with a template or an emp ty file . F or now , begin with an e mpty fil e .[...]

  • Page 38

    5 USB2.0 Recording 36 3. Cubase needs to know where to place audio . Choose a director y here. 4. Now , you ha v e a blank pr oject. A dd an audio trac k for recording by choosing “Project” | “ Add T rack” | “ Audio .” A n excelle nt sc heme f or stor i ng yo ur p roj ects is t o creat e a direct ory cal led “audio projects.” Then, [...]

  • Page 39

    USB2.0 Recording 5 37 5. Be sure that the “inspector”—a s trip on t he left-han d side of Cubase that sho ws all sorts of infor mation about the selecte d track—is acti v e . If your view is similar to that show n belo w , the I nspec tor is activ e . If you do not see all of th e infor mation on the left- hand side , the In spector is not [...]

  • Page 40

    5 USB2.0 Recording 38 7. Y ou will do most of your monitoring through th e mix er . How ev er , if you want to monitor with Cubase ’ s effects , or if you just w ant to he ar what the c omputer i s hearing, press the direct monitori ng butt on next to the R ecord Enable button. Note that usin g direct monitorin g causes a small delay as the digit[...]

  • Page 41

    USB2.0 Recording 5 39 Working with the Alesis USB2.0 control panel A ccessing the contr ol panel In Windo ws , open the Ale sis USB2.0 control pane l from e ither the All Programs menu or wi thin y our audi o applicati on. On the Mac , access this panel f rom the “conf igure dev ice” button of Audio/MIDI Setup . Here, y ou can see your curren t[...]

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    5 USB2.0 Recording 40 Using the MultiMix USB2.0 with Sonar and other WDM applications Choosing the MultiMix as y our audio device 1. Choose the me nu “Options” | “ Aud io…. ” 2. On the “Gen eral” tab , select any available Alesis USB Audio channe ls as the P lay back and R ecord timing masters . This discussion uses Cakewalk’s Sonar[...]

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    USB2.0 Recording 5 41 3. Click the “ A dvanced” tab . For WDM operation, be sure that the “Driv er Mode” is set to “W DM /K S. ” ( I f yo u ch a ng e t hi s setting, you will need to exit and then restar t Sonar . ) F or applications like Sonar that support both WDM and ASIO mo des, you ma y w ant to experimen t with each to see if eith[...]

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    5 USB2.0 Recording 42 4. Mov e to the “Dri vers” tab . Click on eac h input pai r and also on the ou tput pair to make them a vailabl e to Sonar .[...]

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    USB2.0 Recording 5 43 Assigning inputs t o audio tr ac ks Now , you’ re ready to assign the MultiMix’ s in puts to various channe ls . F or each audio tr ack that you wa nt to record, c lic k on the i nput section of the track and select the MultiMix c hannel that you want. R ecord-enable the tracks to be recorded (first ar ro w). Y ou will do [...]

  • Page 46

    5 USB2.0 Recording 44 Using the MultiMix USB2.0 with CoreAudio on the Macintosh T o configure th e MultiMix for use with CoreAudio: 1. Open the Mac’ s “ Audio MIDI Setup” utility . 2. Choose the “ Alesis USB A udio De vice” as both i nput and output device . 3. T o verify that the MultiMix USB 2.0 is connected to your Mac , select the “[...]

  • Page 47

    6 Troubleshooting: non-USB2.0 45 If you’ re having pro blems operating the MultiMix, th is troubleshooting index will help you cor rect them. S ympt oms Cause Solution No soun d fr om th e mix er . Mixer is not plu g ged in or turn ed on. Plug in mixer and tur n it on. F aders are too low . Raise appropriate faders . Contro l room lev el is too l[...]

  • Page 48

    6 Troubleshooting: non-USB2.0 46 Au dio signal car ries an unwanted hum. T oo muc h low-lev el noise in the mix. Eng ag e the channel’ s high-pa ss filter b y pre ssing the HPF switc h. Interference from appliances such as air con ditio ner s . Eng ag e the channel’ s high-pa ss filter b y pre ssing the HPF switc h. Not us ing TRS cables . Ma k[...]

  • Page 49

    Troubleshooting: non-USB2.0 6 47 External effects aren’ t wo r k i n g. Effects processor is not plug ged in or turned on. Make sure unit i s plug g ed in a nd turn ed on. Au x output s of mix er aren ’t connec ted t o i nputs of proce ssor or proc ess or’ s outputs aren’ t connected to mixe r’ s inputs (or aux return). Make sure the mix [...]

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    6 Troubleshooting: non-USB2.0 48 This p age intent ionally left blank.[...]

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    7 Troubleshooting: USB2.0 49 Computer or audio application does not see the MultiMix USB2.0 Basic tr oubleshooting First, check that the MultiMix is seen by the comp uter : Open the Alesis con trol panel and check that Windows sees the device as attached. No connection If “MultiMix A udio” does not ap pear , Windo ws does n ot see the mixer as [...]

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    7 Troubleshooting: USB2.0 50 This p age inten tionally left blank.[...]

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    8 Specifications 51 F or th e more technical-minded, here are some detailed specifications for the MultiMix’ s operating levels . Input Channels Mic In Sensiti vity Range: -60dBu to –10dBu nominal, +5dBu maximum Line In Sensi tivi ty Range: -40dBu to -+10dBu nominal , +25dBu maximum Mic/Line Gain Rang e: +10 to +60dB Equalization High-P ass Fil[...]

  • Page 54

    8 Specifications 52 Mechanicals (W x L x H) MultiMix 12 USB2.0: 13.0” x 13.4” x 3.2” / 331mm x 340mm x 80mm, 7.0lbs / 3.2kg MultiMix 16 USB2.0: 13.0” x 15.2” x 3.2” / 331mm x 386mm x 80mm, 9.7lbs / 4.4kg Computer Requirements: Minimum PC Requi rements: • Pentium 4 , 2.4GHz Proc essor (or e quivale nt, such as any I ntel Centri no note[...]

  • Page 55

    9 Block Diagrams 53[...]

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    9 Block Diagrams 54[...]

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    Glossary 55 Here are the definitio ns to some ter ms you’ll probab ly encounter while using your MultiMix USB2.0. Te r m Definition ASIO Audio S tream Input/Outpu t. An au dio pr otocol dev elo ped by Stein berg and used by multi ple audio software man ufacturers . aux (auxiliar y) An additional se t of outputs and inputs found on many mixers . T[...]

  • Page 58

    56 rectangular rack mount units . EQ (equal izer ) The part of your mix er (or other device ) that ma nipul ates a n audio sig nal by lo wering the lev el of some frequencies and increasing the levels of others . EQ is u sed to fi ne-tu ne a sign al’ s highs and lo ws . fader A device th at allows you to control the level of an audio signal by sl[...]

  • Page 59

    Glossary 57 effects . sample rate Digital audio is c hopped up i nto tiny ti me slices . The sa mple rate is the number of time slices captured in one second. 44.1kHz—44,100 samples per sec ond—is the st andard use d for Compac t Disk audio . 48kHz—48,000 samples per second, is commonl y used for film and video . send A line output whose func[...]

  • Page 60

    58 Alesis Contact Inf or mation Alesis Distribution, LLC Los Angeles , CA USA E-mail: support@alesis .com W eb site: http://www .alesis .com MultiMix USB2.0 Reference Manu al R evision 1 .0 by E dwin Erdmann, Brook s Br uner , and F red Morgenster n. Copyright 2005-2007, Alesis Distribution, LLC. All rights reser ved R eproduction in whole or i n p[...]