what is the matrix?

[bleyrad]

could someone explain to me what exactly a matrix is, and what it would normally be used for?

i've only used one board that has matrices, and my general impression is this:

it's basically a post-everything aux-send from a buss. each buss's contribution to the matrix can be levelled individually, as well as a master pot for the matrix. the matrix can then be routed externally (i.e. for use as a centre channel) or passed on to the master L-R fader.


is there anything more to it that I'm missing? I seem to recall seeing a Mackie board with a matrix setup that was quite different from the Soundcraft board I've worked with... there was a whole section on the board for each matrix with individual INPUT level pots... the Soundcraft has matrix OUTPUT level pots only (on each buss channel).
i'm also not sure if, by definition, matrices can only come from busses (as on the Soundcraft board I used)... is there some boards where you can go directly to them from an individual channel? anything else i should know?

thanks folks.

[Light]

A amtrix is a mixer for busses. They are (generally) used to send different signals to different sets of speakers in a rig. For instance, the left speaker cluster will get the left side of the main buss, the right cluster will get the right side of the main buss, and the subs and delays will get both. And the Mackie and soundcraft boards are getting the same signal, they are just labeling them differently.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi

[plexi]

You`re living in it......

[Stealthtech]

It depends....are you talkin midi ?

[Light]

Originally posted by Stealthtech
It depends....are you talkin midi ?

No. He is talking about a section found on large format live sound consoles, see my post above. Yet another one of the live sound console inovations from our friends at Yamaha.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi

[sjoko2]

This question came to late!

As from yesterday, the matrix has inverted