Using Main Outs as SUBS

[rush1974]

Can you use the main outs as sub outs from the mackie 1604 mixer . I have 4 subs in the mixer and need another 2 more subs . BTW this is a sub mixer going into my MX9000 .

My mackie 24x8 the 3 subs outs are giving problems so now i decided to use my 1604vlz and use the sub outs frm there into my main mixer .

just want to know if the main outs on the 1604 can be used as sub outs .

I'm not monitoring anything off the 1604 . just going into the mx9000 and will monitor from there if needed .
thanks .

 

[SouthSIDE Glen]

The 1604 is 16x4x2, not 16x6. Hence the names "submix" and "main mix". The submixes are parts of the main mix. or put another way, the main mix is the full mix of your submixes. There is no way to treat the main out as a seperate, or third completly discrete stereo buss from the other two.

You can use the Aux outs as seperate additional mixes. The level and type of control is not quite the same as going through the whole channel strip to the man busses, but you can at least get more discrete output mixes that way.

G.

 

[Robert D]

I'm not so sure you can't do this. As you say, you're not using the stereo buss as a stereo buss anyway, and the whole mixer is being used as a sub mixer into a main mixer. It seems to me that as long as you can assign channels exclusively to the 1-4 subs, keeping them out of the stereo buss, then you can use the stereo buss L&R as sub buss 5&6, using the channel pan pots to assign them respectively.

*Update* Made me look. Yes you certainly can. The sub 1/2, sub 3/4, and L/R busses are all independant buss pairs with discreet outputs. Their assignment switches on the channel strips are all wired in parallel from the channel pan pots.

 

[SouthSIDE Glen]

*Update* Made me look. Yes you certainly can. The sub 1/2, sub 3/4, and L/R busses are all independant buss pairs with discreet outputs.

Do'h, you are of course right, Rob. I can only attribute my initial response to some kind of brain tumor yet to be detected.

There is an additional set of buttons to consider here, though. One needs to make sure that the "Assign to Main Mix" buttons that reside over the submix main faders are all swicthed out. This is what makes sure that the submixes are not automatically sent to the main buss.

Apologies for the brain fart and thanks for the correction.

G.

 

[rush1974]

thanks ..

thanks guys for the suggestions . . nice to hear that i can do it that way . saves me a lot of patching work .

now, the channels that i want to send to the main mix , i just engage the main mix switch on the channels right and they will go to the main mix bus and will not go into the 1/2 or 3/4 subs right . . same goes with 1/2 and 3/4 subs . if i engage 1/2 switches on a channel , it will only go to the 1/2 sub right and not into 3/4 or main mix . . . . i will try this out on the weekend and see if i am getting what i'm aming for . .

thanks for the help anyway guys . .

 

[Robert D]

Yep, but as Glen pointed out, make sure you defeat the "assign to main mix" buttons on the subs or they'll fold into the L/R buss.
I highly recommend you study the block diagram in the manual. If you don't have the manual, you can get the PDF version online. The block diagram is the street map of how your mixer is laid out, and will give you a much better understanding of what you can do with it.

 

[SouthSIDE Glen]

i just engage the main mix switch on the channels right and they will go to the main mix bus and will not go into the 1/2 or 3/4 subs right . . same goes with 1/2 and 3/4 subs . if i engage 1/2 switches on a channel , it will only go to the 1/2 sub right and not into 3/4 or main mix.

Just to make sure we are all interpreting this the same way, selecting one buss does not de-select the rest of them. If you push the "1-2" button, that only selects the 1-2 submix buss, but does *nothing* to the 3-4 buss or the L-R main buss, either selecting or de-selecting.

Just think of each button as a gate between that channel and each resulting stereo buss. If one gate is down, it allows the signal to pass through to that buss. If two gates are down the signal will pass through to both busses, etc.

And then on the other end of the busses, the "Assign to Main Mix" buttons act as another set of gates downstream that let you decide whether to mix the submixes into the main mix or whether to let the main mix alone all by it's lonesome. In your case you would want to leave all those buttons in the up position (all gates closed) so that the main mix does indeed remain a discrete buss.

And as long as we're at it, don't forget you also have similar assignments as far as which combination of busses you want to send to the control room monitors and headphone mix. These buttons are those lined in a column under the "C/R Phones" volume control. I know you said the 1604 was only going to be a submixer, but you still may want to tap in and monitor as mubmix in phones before it gets to your main mixer, and that's where you'd do it.

G.

 

[rush1974]

got it to work

Just to make sure we are all interpreting this the same way, selecting one buss does not de-select the rest of them. If you push the "1-2" button, that only selects the 1-2 submix buss, but does *nothing* to the 3-4 buss or the L-R main buss, either selecting or de-selecting.

Just think of each button as a gate between that channel and each resulting stereo buss. If one gate is down, it allows the signal to pass through to that buss. If two gates are down the signal will pass through to both busses, etc.

And then on the other end of the busses, the "Assign to Main Mix" buttons act as another set of gates downstream that let you decide whether to mix the submixes into the main mix or whether to let the main mix alone all by it's lonesome. In your case you would want to leave all those buttons in the up position (all gates closed) so that the main mix does indeed remain a discrete buss.

And as long as we're at it, don't forget you also have similar assignments as far as which combination of busses you want to send to the control room monitors and headphone mix. These buttons are those lined in a column under the "C/R Phones" volume control. I know you said the 1604 was only going to be a submixer, but you still may want to tap in and monitor as mubmix in phones before it gets to your main mixer, and that's where you'd do it.

G.

hello and thanks for all the responses . . that worked out great and exactly what i was looking for . . so i have the main mix outs as buses 5/6 ..

well, i was hoping to use the 8 subs on the mackie 24 and the 8 on the mx 9000 but since my 3 subs on the mackie 24 are giving me problems, the 1604 did exactly what i wanted. . i hope thihs mackie also doesn't crap out on me . . .

thanks anyway guys . .