Hello and welcome back to the channel.
For this episode i wanted to talk about
monitor setup for the behringer x32
and the midas m32. we'll discuss options
like pre-fader and post-fader,
pre and post eq, and other setup options.
so let's get started! The x32 and m32
platform gives us 16 buses
we can use those buses as monitor sends,
stream audio feeds,
sub groups, an aux fed subfeed, and fx sends.
any bus can be any of those options.
we have 16 xlr outputs on the rear of
the console.
these can be routed however we would
like. such as stage monitor outputs,
stream outputs, matrix outputs, and our
house feed.
Typically, we'd use the first outputs as
our monitor feeds.
that keeps things in an easy to follow
order. Output 1 would be monitor mix 1,
output 2 would be monitor mix 2, output 3
would be monitor mix 3,
and so on... up to whatever number of
monitor mixes we need.
we also have the option to make our
mono monitor mixes into stereo mixes,
like we might use for in-ear monitors.
more on that as we go along.
we can make these monitor changes
individually, on a channel by channel
basis...
on each channel.
or you can use the setup button, then the
config tab on the surface, to get a
limited version of global presets.
you can see a pre, a group, which means
subgroup,
and a post, each in a column for those options that
you can scroll through here.
typically you'll want the last four
buses as post, since that is where most
people will want their effects sends to
be.
and that is where the board's default
setting for effects sends is already
at. you'll usually want your monitor
sends as pre.
many times these global settings on the
surface will not perfectly align with
what you'll want or need for your own
setup. that's why for mine here you see
so many of these listed as custom.
fortunately, you're not left with only
these options. as i said earlier,
you can adjust these further,
individually, on the channels. If you're
using the x edit
software, pc or mac version, then
you'll have an even easier option to use
for custom settings.
at least in pairs.
on the x edit software you can go to any
channel... select it...
it doesn't matter which channel... then tab
over to the sends
tab. in the left you'll see a globe icon.
if you highlight the globe, making it blue,
that makes the changes global.
any bus tap point assignments that you
make now will have those same assignment
changes
made on every channel. as i mentioned
earlier,
typically monitors will be pre-fader.
these days,
with sends on faders options, even
dedicated monitor consoles can be
pre-fader.
pre-fader sends (or auxes) means that your
channel fader changes for the house
won't impact your monitors. if they were
set as post-fader,
then that means the monitor sends are
after the channel fader.
in that case, any change on the house
channel fader would also
change your monitors. which is something
you don't normally
want. but we have other options and
decisions to make here-
Besides pre-fader, we also need to
consider if we want them to be pre-eq
or post eq... do we want our channel gates
and compressors in the monitors,
or not. your answers here will usually be
different depending on whether you're
setting up the board as a dedicated
monitor board,
or doing monitors from front of house.
if you choose post eq, then any eq
changes you make on the channel strip
will be heard in the monitors on that
channel as well.
when doing monitors from front of house
there are two schools of thought here on
that-
one is that any changes needed in the
house will also be needed in the
monitors.
the other is your monitors and house
speakers are likely too different,
and your ability to hear the changes are
vastly different when doing monitors
from front of house,
so it's best not to have front of house
dictated channel eq changes
in the monitors. i tend to agree with
number two myself.
on the other hand, it's just the opposite
when using a dedicated monitor console.
of course you'd want your channel sends
to be post eq on a monitor console.
with a dedicated monitor console,
everything you do will be for monitors.
you're not trying to compromise a
monitor mix with a house mix.
and you would normally have a listening
wedge or your own in-ear monitors to
hear exactly what the talent is hearing.
so let's take a look at what our tap
point options are so we can properly set
them...
for any situation.
the 'input setting' essentially picks the
signal right after the preamp and the
high pass filter.
no eq, compression, gate, or fader changes
will make it to the monitor.
'pre-eq' will capture the (preamp and) high pass filter
and the gate.
post eq will capture all the things
already mentioned,
plus the eq, and depending on the
dynamics insert point on the channel tab,
the channel compression can also be
captured here.
pre-fader captures everything except the
channel fader.
the channel fader won't impact monitors
for any of these tap points
we just talked about. post fader will
include
the channel fader. in fact, post fader
captures
all of these things we just talked about.
for post fader, your bus sends, your
monitor sends,
will all change with the channel fader.
one thing that you need to be thinking
about when making your decision on these
options is (that) singers don't typically
like singing into compression.
especially, aggressive compression.
compression that actually sounds great
for the house mix can be too much for
the singer, who will try and fight that
compression in their monitors, because
it's wrecking their natural dynamics.
they might not even realize that
compression is the issue, but it can
cause them to sing harder and then blow
out their voice!
so that is one reason to consider not
sending front of house compression to
the vocal monitors. or treading lightly
if you do.
on the subject of pre and post fader
considerations for the monitors, when
doing monitors from front of house
there could be some limited situations
where you might want a channel send
to have a post fader monitor send. one of
those situations might be for tracks.
especially tracks where you fade them
out. it makes sense that you'd want the
tracks that you fade out in the house
to fade out in the monitors at the same
time. post fader monitor sends
for that channel would do that. otherwise,
post fader buses would be for sub groups
aux fed subs,
center fills, and for places that you
want
those things following the channel fader.
...and these days,
another popular post fader option you'll
deal with a lot is a stream mix.
when we talk about these kind of tap
point options for the sends,
I'd be remiss not to mention signal flow
as part of this equation
that you should be thinking about. the
first point the signal from the stage
hits in the console
is the gain. you want to set your gain
properly
before setting other levels. any changes
you make on the gain
will change what you're sending to all
of the buses and house.
that includes subgroups, effects buses,
front of house, and monitors. if you
change the gain after setting the
monitors, then you have just changed the
monitor levels
on that channel with that gain change.
we need to discuss our output eq, but
before we go there
i'll mention subgroups, since that is
also a bus send option.
any bus can be a subgroup, or a stereo
subgroup, if you use
two and use linking. normally subgroups
are used to submix a group of channels
like all vocals, or all of the drums.
unlike a dca which can serve a similar
purpose,
a subgroup can have compression or other
processing applied to it.
we'll talk more about this later. now we
need to talk about the monitor outputs
and eq. in the output 1 through 16
routing,
assuming you're starting with your
monitors on output 1 as i described
earlier
the default one-to-one routing will be
fine. and the default
pink ring for post-fader outputs will
also be fine.
remember this is for our outputs, not our
inputs.
we do want a master fader for each
monitor
output.
parametric eq is always available on the
outputs.
some people prefer graphic eqs though
if you want graph eqs on the outputs. go
to the effects rack.
we'll put them on the 5 through 8 side
of the effects rack
since 1 through 4 is generally needed
for more dsp heavy effects.
...and now you can choose the slots you
want to put your graphic eqs in.
behringer gives us the teq and the geq.
both are graphic eqs. the teq is
allegedly modeled on the kt dn 360.
pick whichever one you like best. i'm
using the teq.
if you're assigning an eq to mono
monitors, then choose the dual version,
not the stereo. if you're assigning an eq
to a stereo bus,
that is when you choose the stereo
version. they are both two channel eqs
but the stereo version has the left and
right
sides tied together. the dual doesn't.
you can see in this scene i have a
stereo graphic eq
assigned to the stereo left and right
front of house outputs.
once you've chosen your eqs, choose the
proper buses,
which in this case is bus one, two, three,
and four...
and click 'insert' on those buses. since
we're talking about eqs,
let's take a look at a shortcut. if you
press the 'effects' button,
and leave it pressed, as you're going
through the mixes, by selecting each one,
the window will automatically switch to
our inserted effect. which in this case
is our graphic eqs.
and they will follow us from bus to bus.
back on the subject of stereo, we should
talk about stereo busses and how to
assign them.
while many times your wedge mixes will
just be mono. many times
iem mixes, your in-ear monitor mixes, will
be stereo.
we can link pairs of buses for stereo. we
always need to link an odd output
to an even output. the odd output needs
to be first.
in other words, we can link output 1 to
output 2...
but we can't link output 2 to output 3.
output three can only link with output
four.
odd first to even. we can link the
outputs on the surface by pressing the
home button,
choosing the output on the surface, and
then tabbing over and choosing
link. in the x
edit software we can choose the output,
and then tab over to channel or config,
and both of those have the link option
available to us to select.
when working with monitor mixes and
stream mixes,
sends on faders can simplify things and
speed your workflow.
this video above discusses sends on
faders in depth. I'd recommend that if
you're not familiar with sends on faders,
to click on that. if you want to 'ring
out' your monitors. this video above
explains that process...
as well as information about the
behringer rta. give it a click if you
need to know more.
on the subject of dcas and subgroups, the
above link has much more info on that.
i'll upload a copy of the x32 scene file
i used in this video
to the patreon channel. If you like
information like this, then please like
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affiliate links and my patreon page link
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please check out the other videos... thanks
for watching... and i will see you
next time!