Behringer 802a FX send/return question

RideTheCrash

RideTheCrash

Member
I had a Behringer 802a sitting around unused for a while, but I now use it for mic preamps into a power amp for jamming in a basement. It has FX send and returns, but I haven't fiddled with mixers in a long now so my memory is rusty --

I have a Holy Grail reverb pedal I would like to run into it for reverb on the vocals, but when I tried a while back I couldn't get it running. I have a larger 16 channel board from Yorkville I can do it no problem, but I'm just not sure if the Behringer is capable of send and returning from a guitar FX pedal, rather than an actual unit (i.e. reverb rack unit).

Any help would be appreciated, thanks.
 
It will work with that pedal effect but I'd advise against it. Adding reverb to vocals in a basement is a recipe for horrible feedback. I never use reverb in a live situation because of the feedback and because it waters down the signal too much. A little chorus and/or delay works much better to liven up dry vocals. Also running the effect back into a channel instead of the return gives you more control and better results.
 
How would I go about running it back in to the channel directly? TRS cables aren't necessary for this either, are they?
 
You just run the FX send into the pedal input and pedal output into the channel input instead of the FX return. Make sure that the FX send knob on the channel that you are returning to is off or you will get a feedback loop.
 
There's nothing inherently wrong with using reverb in a practice space. Feedback results from microphones being turned up too high and picking up their own sound. If reverb triggers feedback you are already too loud.

The main issue with using a guitar reverb pedal on a mixer effects loop is that you might not be able to set it to 100% effect with no dry signal coming through. They are meant to be used in series, not parallel. Whatever dry signal comes through will throw off your mix or, in the case of digital effects, may cause terrible phase interference.
 
I'll give it a go when I'm there next. It's not very crucial or complex, I'm just running 1-2 57's for vocals, nothing else. So for example, would channel 1 have the XLR mic plugged in, and the return cable run into the LINE IN input directly below the XLR?

I'm used to my other board where all that stuff (pre out, line in) is on the back of the mixer, whereas this board is far more basic and I haven't used it in years.
 
bouldersoundguy said:
There's nothing inherently wrong with using reverb in a practice space. Feedback results from microphones being turned up too high and picking up their own sound.
Click to expand...

That's exactly right. The problem stems from playing in a room like a basement which usually has some nasty reflections. When reverb is used it tends to water down the signal further and makes the vocals less distinct,especially when competing with drums. That's when most people turn up the volume to compensate which compounds the problem and leads to feedback. In a live situation you are already fighting with the acoustics of the room and adding reverb is like pouring gasoline on a fire.
 
RideTheCrash said:
So for example, would channel 1 have the XLR mic plugged in, and the return cable run into the LINE IN input directly below the XLR?
Click to expand...

No. Mic into channel 1 XLR, reverb output into a different channel. If the reverb output is mono, run it to the channel 2 TS input and turn the channel 2 FX send knob (red knob) all the way down. If it has stereo output, run it to channel 3/4 or 5/6, again with the FX send knob on those channels all the way down.

Use the FX send knob on channel 1 to control how much mic signal is sent to the reverb. Use the other channel's level knob to control how much of the reverbed signal is mixed with the original signal in the mix.
 
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