That's an idea alright...are they the same size though (244 vs M30 for instance), and do ALL the badges of that style have the ribbing in the orange section?
Got things hooked up.
I tell ya, the DOWNSIDE to having a relatively feature-laden mixer that you haven't used much, is that your eyes get muddled in all the controls...with the double rows of controls on each strip it is actually difficult to discern between channels when I am focusing in the middle of the control panel. I know time will sort this out, but for a 12 x 8 console this thing is a sea of beige colored knob caps.
My first assignment is to simply get some wet headphone mixes setup for my girls so they can practice their singing. I'm using my Tascam RS-20B for reverb and a Behringer HA4700 for headphone amplification. I've got their mics coming into channels 7 and 8, sending those to the stereo buss and using aux 1/2 (which is configured as a stereo aux buss) to feed the RS-20B. Then the reverb is coming back via channels 9 and 10. Couldn't get anything back. No activity showing on the RS-20B...i figured I didn't have something set right on the mixer...i used the switcheable metering to confirm that there was indeed audio getting to the aux out jacks, and double confirmed using the solo function on those outputs. So I moved on to cabling. Turns out that I had one channel bad on the snake TO the patchbay, and one channel bad on the snake coming back FROM the patchbay which ultimately killed both channels. I couldn't see any activity on the RS-20B on the one channel getting TO it just because the level was really low. I realized I was feeding -10dBv signal to a 0dBu input on the RS-20B. Switched the aux outs from -10dBv to +4dBu, rolled back the trims, re-patched the cabling and all is good.
The mixes through the girl's headphones sound kind of harsh and thin. I never expect much from the Behringer headphone amp. It gets the job done and was cheap. It'll work and the girls likely won't notice, but I was pleasantly surprised when I switched to monitoring off the console. Now, mind you, I've never been impressed with the headphone amps on any of the Tascam gear I've owned. Not bad, but not great and typically noisy. It sounds like a different mix...the reverb us lush, the soundstage is relatively huge compared to the mix off the Behringer box...quiet...it made me say "wow!". Enjoyable to listen to.
So i'm really disappointed in those HOSA snakes with the bad channels. Its not the brand per se because I got these used years ago and am just getting around to needing them now. I know I tested them when I got them and all channels were good, but there must have been impending failure lurking under the insulation. Not looking forward to it, but i'm going to build up some snakes. This mixer needs something more than the prefab stuff. I have all the 1/4" connectors for the patchbay/outboard gear, and i'm pretty sure I have all the Gepco snake cable I'll need...just need a bunch of good RCA connectors...i don't like soldering up RCA's. Unless you spend a mint the strain relief is always lacking, and they're more cramped come soldering time. Well I found some great connectors at Parts Express that'll cost under $1.50 each, have chuck-type strain relief and are all metal and have gold-plated contacts. Perfect.
