31X32 DIGITAL MIXER Preliminary User Manual

•To load a preset from the UTILITIES screen, adjust the first encoder to select which aspects of the selected channel you wish to recall, then press the 2nd encoder. A confirmation screen will pop-up, asking you to confirm you wish to load a preset to the currently selected channel. Use the page left/right buttons to confirm or cancel.

•Press the LIBRARY button to go straight to the “libraries” screen, where you can scroll through a list of stored preset libraries.

•Use the 5th and 6th encoders to import/export presets to/from an attached USB drive.

5.13How do I set up a Matrix for a delay column/tower or a remote zone mix?

The X32 console offers 6 separate “Matrix” outputs that allow an extra level of functionality when routing any of the 16 mix buses out of the console.

These Matrix outputs are particularly useful when working with separate “zones” of speakers, such as a delayed group of speakers in an alternate location.

1.Press the SELECT button for a mix bus you wish to assign to a matrix output.

2.Page right to the SENDS page, where you can adjust the 6 encoders to send the selected mix bus to the 6 matrix outputs, at the desired levels. Alternatively use the controls in the BUS SENDS section.

3.When sending a group of mix outputs into a matrix send, you may wish to adjust where in the signal path the insert point for a mix output occurs, and also re-configure the order that the mix output’s EQ and compressor occurs. To adjust these setting, press the SELECT button for the desired mix output, and on the HOME screen that appears, use the 3rd and 4th encoder to adjust these settings.

4.Press the MATRIX button on the console, then press the SELECT button on the first output fader. The main screen will display settings for the matrix 1 output allowing you to do all your EQ and dynamics settings for this bus.

In general, time alignment is very important in larger venues, because when groups of speakers are placed at varying distances to the audience, the sound from them arrives at the listener’s ears at different times. By applying a digital delay to the speakers that are CLOSER to the listeners, it has the result of delaying the sound to align it, in time, with the sound from further speakers whose signal take longer to reach the listener. By performing this “time-alignment”, the live sound mix from the different speakers are presented as a more clear and cohesive audio signal, without the comb-filtering or flanging sound you might otherwise experience.

5.To attach an output to the matrix you have set up, press the ROUTING button, then page right to the ANALOG OUT page, then use the 1st and 4th encoders to assign the matrix output to your rear-panel analog output of choice. Adjust the amount of delay if necessary with the 6th encoder for each output individually.

6.In some situations, you may wish to create a matrix mix that is actually a mix of some output buses and the main LR output. To do so, simply press the SELECT button above the master fader, then press the HOME button, then page right to the SENDS page. On the SENDS page you can tap the signal from the main LR bus and send it to the 6 matrix outputs, the same way you have with any of the 16 mix outputs.

5.14Using the X32 in recording and production studio environments

While the X32 is primarily targeted at a live sound environment, it also can work as an extremely full-featured and powerful studio console as well.

•The console contains extremely clean and detailed microphone preamps, allowing you to capture up to 32 separate microphones for recording even a very large ensemble.

•High-end analog to digital converters for each channel preserve the audio quality as it is recorded to assorted DAW software.

•With the X32’s built-in XUF card, individual channels of audio can be sent, in the digital domain, to a studio DAW computer, using USB 2.0 and/or Firewire. With this card, the X32 becomes the “world’s biggest computer audio interface” allowing up to 32 channels of microphones to be sent into the DAW software, while at the same time allowing up to 32 individual channels of DAW tracks to return back to the console for mixing “out of the box”.

•With the X32’s full recall of all preamp and monitor settings, the console makes a great solution for the modern home and project studio, where multiple projects are worked on in “stages” and previous settings need to be quickly and easily recalled. For example, if a band returns the following week to pick up where they left off, a single “load project” command can return the console to exactly where it left off, in terms of mic gain settings for the different instruments, as well as various different monitor mixes for the different performers.

•With its onboard MIDI ports, the X32 console can work as a large-format control surface for many popular DAW platforms. The X32’s motorized faders can control the onscreen DAW faders, while each channel’s mute and solo buttons can control their onscreen counterparts. This makes it possible

to quickly work with the finer nuances of a DAW mix, much better than adjusting channel levels one at a time with the mouse.

•Since the X32 console works with the affordable S16 digital stagebox, the combined system makes a great solution for routing audio signals between a separate studio and control room. The S16 and various Ultranet personal monitor mixers can be set up in the studio, while the console itself is set up in the control room. A single Cat-5 Ethernet cable is all that is needed to connect the 16-32 channels of audio from 1-2 S16 boxes and all of the Ultranet mixers, a much better alternative than a thick, noisy, and expensive analog snake. In more modern homes and apartments that have Cat-5 cabling running through the walls as part of a pre-built “structured wiring” package, the S16/Ultranet mixers and X32 console can even be set up in different rooms, with no need to run a long cable or leave any doors partially open!