SoundCraft MFX User Manual

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1 USER GUIDE TM TM TM ...

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2 © Harman International Industries Ltd. 2007 All rights reserved Parts of the design of this product may be protected by worldwide patents. Part No. ZM0358-02 Soundcraft is a trading division of Harman International Industries Ltd. Infor- mation in...

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3 Contents IMPORTANT SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS 4 SAFETY SYMBOL GUIDE 6 INTRODUCTION 7 THE 60-SECOND GUIDE 8 WIRING UP 10 BLOCK DIAGRAM 14 MONO INPUT CHANNELS 15 STEREO INPUT CHANNELS 18 MASTER SECTION 20 Lexicon® FX PROCESSOR OVERVIEW 24 FX OPERATION 24 F...

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4 IMPORTANT SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS Read these instructions. Keep these instructions. Heed all warnings. Follow all instructions. Do not use this apparatus near water. Clean only with a dry cloth. Do not block any ventilation openings. Install in accorda...

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5 with liquids, such as vases, on the apparatus. No naked flame sources, such as lighted candles, should be placed on the apparatus. Ventilation should not be impeded by covering the ventilation openings with items such as newspapers, table cloths, c...

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6 For your own safety and to avoid invalidation of the warranty please read this section carefully. SAFETY SYMBOL GUIDE For your own safety and to avoid invalidation of the warranty all text marked with these symbols should be read carefully. WARNING...

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7 INTRODUCTION Thank you for purchasing a Soundcraft MFX mixer. The MFX range is our most cost- effective mixing solution, bringing you all the features and performance that you expect from a Soundcraft product, at an extraordinarily low price. The p...

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8 THE 60-SECOND GUIDE 1 MIC INPUT (XLR) Connect Microphones here. If you are using a condenser mic, ensure phantom power is supplied by pressing the switch at the top of the master section. WARNING: Do Not apply Phantom Power before connecting a mi...

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9 12 PFL When pressed the signal will appear on the monitor and headphone outputs - use this to monitor the post-EQ signal from the channel. 13 MIX/SUB SWITCH When this switch is up, the channel’s post-pan-pot signal is routed to the Mix (left and ...

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10 WIRING UP Mic Input The MIC input accepts XLR-type connectors and is designed to suit a wide range of BALANCED or UNBALANCED low-level signals, whether from deli- cate vocals requiring the best low-noise performance, or drum kits needing maximum ...

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11 A ‘Y’ lead may be required to connect to equipment with separate send and return jacks as shown below: Stereo Inputs STEREO 1/2 These accept 3-pole 6.35mm (1/4") jacks, or 2-pole mono jacks which will automatically ground the ‘cold’...

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12 Polarity (Phase) You will probably be familiar with the concept of polarity in electrical signals and this is of particular importance to balanced audio signals. Just as a balanced signal is highly effective at cancelling out unwanted interference...

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13 PROBLEM SOLVING Basic problem solving is within the scope of any user if a few basic rules are followed. • Get to know the Block Diagram of your console (see page 14). • Get to know what all controls and/or connections in the system are suppos...

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14 BLOCK DIAGRAM ...

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15 MONO INPUT CHANNELS 1 Mic Input The MIC input accepts XLR-type connectors and is designed to suit a wide range of BALANCED or UNBALANCED signals. Professional dynamic, condenser or ribbon mics are best because these will be LOW IMPEDANCE. You ca...

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16 The Send may also be tapped off as an alternative pre-fade, pre-EQ direct output if required, using a lead with tip and ring shorted together so that the signal path is not interrupted (see below). 5 Gain This knob sets how much of the source sign...

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17 POST-FADE), but for Foldback or Monitor feeds it is important for the send to be independent of the fader (this is called PRE-FADE). AUX SENDS 1 and 2 are both globally switchable between pre and post-fade (see master section on page 20). 8 FX SEN...

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18 STEREO INPUT CHANNELS 1 INPUTS STEREO 1/2 These inputs accept 3-pole 6.35mm (1/4") jacks. Use these inputs for sources such as keyboards, drum machines, synths, tape machines or processing units. The inputs are BALANCED for low noise and to...

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19 7 MUTE All outputs from the channel are enabled when the MUTE switch is released and muted when the switch is down. The MUTE switch’s inbuilt LED glows when the chan- nel is muted. 8 FADER The 60mm FADER gives you smooth control of the overall s...

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20 MASTER SECTION ...

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21 1 POWER INDICATOR This LED lights to show when power is connected to the console. 2 PHANTOM POWER Many professional condenser mics need PHANTOM POWER, which is a method of sending a powering voltage down the same wires as the mic signal. Press t...

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22 12 HEADPHONES SOCKET The PHONES output is a 3-pole 6.35mm (1/4") jack, wired as a stereo output, ideally for headphones of 150Ω or greater. 8Ω headphones are not recommended. 13 METERS & AFL/PFL ACTIVE LED The three-colour peak readi...

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23 AUX 22 AUX MASTERS These controls set the output levels of the two Aux Outputs. 23 AFL These After Fade Listen switches route their respective aux output signal to the monitor/headphones out- puts. 24 PRE/POST SWITCHES These two switches globally ...

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24 Lexicon® FX PROCESSOR OVERVIEW The effects within the console have been designed with both live sound reinforcement and home recording in mind. Featuring the deep, rich reverb algorithms that Lexicon® are renowned for the effects processor offer...

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25 FX PROCESSOR CONTROLS 1. Tempo Button - Tapping this button twice sets the Delay Time of the selected program. The LED flashes to indicate current tempo. Can be tapped in time with music source to synchronise the delay. 2. Store Button - Stores pr...

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26 REVERBS Reverberation (or “reverb” for short) is the complex effect created by the way we perceive sound in an enclosed space. When sound waves encounter an object or boundary, they don’t just stop. Some of the sound is absorbed by the objec...

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27 Reverse Reverb Reverse reverb works in the opposite fashion from normal reverb. Whereas a normal reverb has the loudest series of reflections heard first that then become quieter over time, the Reverse reverb has the softest reflections (essential...

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28 Shape This control helps give a sense of both room shape and room size. Low values for Shape keep the majority of sound energy in the early part of the reverb tail. High values move the energy to later in the reverb, and are helpful in creating th...

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29 increase the time between repeats. Range 0-72. See the Effects Data Chart for exact note values. Feedback Controls the number of delay repeats by feeding the delay output signal back into the delay input. This creates a series of delay repeats, ea...

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30 Knob 3: Voices Controls the number of additional Chorus voices. Up to 8 voices can be added, continuously variable in 100 individual steps. Flanger This effect was originally created by simultaneously recording and playing back two identical progr...

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31 speaker. Knob 3: Stereo Spread Increases or decreases the stereo imaging of the Rotary effect. Vibrato Vibrato is obtained by smoothly varying the pitch of the signal just sharp and flat of the original at a determined rate. Vibrato Stereo (Wet on...

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32 EFFECTS DATA CHART No NAME ADJUST1 VALUE RANGE ADJUST2 VALUE RANGE ADJUST3 V ALUE RANGE FIXED1 V ALUE FIXED2 V ALUE FIXED3 VALUE ROUTING 1 SMALL HALL PREDELA Y 10ms 0-100ms DECA Y 1.0s 0-99 LIVELINESS 75 0-99 2 LARGE HALL PREDELA Y 20m...

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33 USING YOUR MFX CONSOLE The final output from your sound system can only ever be as good as the weakest link in the chain, and especially important is the quality of the source signal because this is the starting point of the chain. Just as you ne...

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34 • Repeat this procedure on other channels as required. As more channels are added to the mix, the meters may move into the red section. Adjust the overall level using the Master Faders if necessary. • Listen carefully for the characteristic ...

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35 MARK-UP SHEETS You may freely copy this page, and use it to record the settings used for particular applications/gigs. ...

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36 FITTING OPTIONAL RACK-MOUNT BRACKETS The rack-mount kit part numbers are: for MFX12/2 = RW5753, for MFX8/2 = RW5765 (note that this kit includes an extender plate to pad the console out to fit a 19” rack). (MFX12/2 & MFX8/2) ...

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37 DIMENSIONS ...

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38 APPLICATIONS APPLICATION 1 - LIVE SOUND REINFORCEMENT ...

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39 APPLICATION 2 - MULTISPEAKER APPLICATIONS This configuration demonstrates how multiple speaker configurations can be driven by the EPM. ...

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40 APPLICATION 3 - PLACES OF WORSHIP This configuration uses the Aux 2 output to drive an induction loop for the hard of hearing. Aux 1 output is used to generate foldback monitoring for the speaker/singer. The main outputs are used to drive the mai...

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41 APPLICATION 4 - RECORDING The insert points on channels 1-8 may be used to feed a multitrack recorder as shown (link the send and return signals). The Mix outputs are used for a preliminary stereo mix on a DAT recorder. ...

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42 TYPICAL CONNECTING LEADS ...

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43 ...

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44 MFX TYPICAL SPECIFICATIONS Frequency Response Mic / Line Input to any Output ...........................................+/-1.5dB, 20Hz – 20kHz T.H.D. Mic Sensitivity -30dBu, +14dBu @ Mix output .............................< 0.02% @ 1kHz Nois...

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45 WARRANTY 1 Soundcraft is a trading division of Harman International Industries Ltd . End User means the person who first puts the equipment into regular operation. Dealer means the person other than Soundcraft (if any) from whom the End User purch...

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46 GLOSSARY AFL After-fade listen: a function that allows the operator to monitor the post-fade signal in a channel independently of the main mix. Auxiliary send An output from the console comprising a mix of signals from channels derived inde- pende...

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47 Pre-fade The point in the signal path before a fader, and therefore unaffected by the fader position. Rolloff A fall in gain at the extremes of the frequency response. Shelving An equaliser response affecting all frequencies above or below the bre...

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48 ...