Behringer 1204fx

[Mattaious 0]

Hi all,

 

Some of you may remember some time ago i picked up a Behringer 1204FX mixer rather cheap. I havent had the time to set everything up fully since now.

 

Ive connected the Twin cd players to the stereo channels 5/6 for the left and 7/8 for the right

Ive connected a single mic to channel 1 (jack input)

 

Now i still have the laptop to introduce to a channel - whats best? use one of the jack inputs or?

 

 

 

Other question - Theres loads of buttons and features on this mixer, and as ive not used this type before - im kinda lost

 

 

I want to add FX to the mic channels - i thought this was simply select fx > turn on the mic > set up fx level.

 

But for the life of me i cant seem to get the fx to route to the mic channels? OR perhaps i need to use an XLR input?

 

 

Im totally lost - and a dumb :moon: so if anyone can help id appreciate it.

 

 

Cheers all

 

 

[eazy 0]

 

is it the new XENYX 1204FX Mixer ive just orderd one of the XENYX 1622FX Mixer which look preety much the same i have used the ub berhinger mixers but wont have this one till next week sometime so havent had a chance to play with it yet as for connecting things probably always best to go in via stereo channels as for the effects i'll need ta play with it first and see if ya dont get sorted by next week give me a shout

[Danno13 0]

First question.. grab yourself a load of mono jack->phono convertors, so you can create yourself some more line channels. Or you can just buy a 2 x Mono 6.3mm jack -> 2 x Phono or Stereo 3.5mm jack (depending on whether the laptop has a jack output, or if you have an external card with phono outs) but the convertors are a better idea IMO as you can use the cables you already have.

 

Second one... each channel should have a FX gain, either above or below the EQ, this needs to be turned up on the channel you want to apply FX to. They'll also probably be a master gain, somewhere near the FX selection controls, which needs to be up too.

 

Hope that helps.

Edited December 12, 2007 by Danno13

[Mattaious 0]

Cheers for the advice there chaps.

 

All sorted now - Sounds queality is decent

 

Ive got the mics in channel 1 and then another in channel 2

 

channel 5/6 is cd player left

channel 7/8 is cd player right

 

So i still need to connect the laptop

 

I might get away with just one channel for that and do away with the left right etc for PCDJ..

 

Just wondering if i can use a XLR - 3.5mm jack for that?

The local DJ store has that particular lead for £6 so cheap enough.

 

Also - on the behringer side of mixers - what effect do you use for the karaoke side?

 

 

[Dream Catchers 0]

Cheers for the advice there chaps.

 

All sorted now - Sounds queality is decent

 

Ive got the mics in channel 1 and then another in channel 2

 

channel 5/6 is cd player left

channel 7/8 is cd player right

 

So i still need to connect the laptop

 

I might get away with just one channel for that and do away with the left right etc for PCDJ..

 

Just wondering if i can use a XLR - 3.5mm jack for that?

The local DJ store has that particular lead for £6 so cheap enough.

 

Also - on the behringer side of mixers - what effect do you use for the karaoke side?

I usually select effect 53.

 

Jim

 

[norty303 0]

If you are going to use just a single output from your laptop, make sure that your software or hardware is capable of producing a summed mono signal. There is nothing worse than hearing just a left or right channel of a stereo track that uses judicious panning.

[Dream Catchers 0]

If you are going to use just a single output from your laptop, make sure that your software or hardware is capable of producing a summed mono signal. There is nothing worse than hearing just a left or right channel of a stereo track that uses judicious panning.

All the inputs are stereo/twin.

 

Jim

[Mattaious 0]

Just to clarify the inputs

 

 

Channels 1-4 are XLR or Jack Input

5/6 7/8 are 2 jack inputs per channel so Left and Right

 

 

So back to the intial question -

 

The output on the soundcard for the laptop is 3.5 mm jack

input on the mixer (spare channels) are either 1 jack input or XLR

 

So which ones best ordvised to use

 

Jack - Jack

or

Jack to XLR

 

:shrug:

 

[Dream Catchers 0]

I've just looked at the manual for the 1204, inputs 1-4 are only mono.

The output from the laptop will be unbalanced stereo, I would use 1/4" jacks, I would also use a stereo to mono adaptor.

 

Jim

 

ps. If you haven't got a manual there is one here.

Edited December 15, 2007 by JimBoylan

[norty303 0]

Most mixers in this sort of price range (and many above) have inputs on XLR for mic and line is a mono jack. If you are going to go in on XLR then you'll need to go via a DI box, or you'll be trying to put a line level signal into a mic pre-amp. I suspect that your desk won't have a suitable pad to enable you to connect a line to a mic channel.

 

So i would say that you need to go from 3.5mm to 2 mono jacks plugged into either 2 mono channels or a single stereo channel, or set PCDJ up so that it puts a summed mono signal out to each of the L/R channels and only use one of them (as per my previous post) You can buy cheap 3.5mm stereo jacks to 2xRCA connectors just about everywhere, and then add some mono RCA to mono 1/4" adaptors to plug into the desk.

 

If you are goingto use a stereo to mono adaptor, make sure that it does in fact do that, and not just connect L or R to the sleeve. getting the output from the laptop into summed mono will be your best best.

[superstardeejay 0]

the UB1204FX has a twin phono input called TAPE IN, you can use this for your laptop, it will preserve both the line level and the LR stereo, eliminating the risk of shorting out one channel of your laptop by an unsuitable stereo to mono adapter lead. You then select that input with the TAPE TO MAIN control. You could also use a STEREO RETURN input and fade it up and down with one of the AUX RETURN pots in which case you'd need a twin mono jack to 3.5mm stereo lead.

 

The mic mono channels also have line-level mono inputs if you want to do it that way, if you dont mind either using two faders at once (one panned for left and one for right) or using (as previous posts) a PROPER stereo to mono MIXING lead. (simply joining L&R of your laptop to the same mono input will sound BAD!!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Mattaious 0]

the UB1204FX has a twin phono input called TAPE IN, you can use this for your laptop, it will preserve both the line level and the LR stereo, eliminating the risk of shorting out one channel of your laptop by an unsuitable stereo to mono adapter lead. You then select that input with the TAPE TO MAIN control. You could also use a STEREO RETURN input and fade it up and down with one of the AUX RETURN pots in which case you'd need a twin mono jack to 3.5mm stereo lead.

 

The mic mono channels also have line-level mono inputs if you want to do it that way, if you dont mind either using two faders at once (one panned for left and one for right) or using (as previous posts) a PROPER stereo to mono MIXING lead. (simply joining L&R of your laptop to the same mono input will sound BAD!!)

 

Just to bump this thread (again)

 

Ive used the cd/tape input for the laptop and then set it to tape to main - the only down side is that the laptop volume is controlled byt the main output sliders which seems to be a pain in the backside

 

You mention about using a stereo return input - ive decided on this route and seems to be working fine. Only thing that is weird is that there is still a small amount of output (hardly noticable) when turned down to minimum setting.

 

I do have the manual but to be honestits not written so a dumb :moon: like me can read it tongue out icon

[superstardeejay 0]

Although stereo return level pots ought to go right down to zero, Behringer are a bit of a budget product so I'm not surprised you're getting a bit of leakage through. It's subtleties like this that sort the sheep from the goats, so to speak! You could always turn the sound card level down a bit more than usual and try bringing the return pot up more than usual, might help!