- What does the PFL button do?
Where would you find the PFL button on your audio mixer?
When would I recommend it?
What use does it have while you're mixing
on your audio mixer,
and how does it compare to AFL or Solo
that we find on some other audio mixers.
In this video, we're gonna answer all those questions.
If you are looking for pricing or specs for anything
that you see in this video,
we do have a bunch of links down in the description below,
so check that out if you are looking
for current up-to-date pricing on anything
that you see in this video.
So, first of all,
where would you find a PFL button on your audio mixer?
Some audio mixers don't have PFL, AFL, or Solo.
As you get in the midsize and larger audio mixers,
you start to see it.
Here, I'm using the Yamaha MG10XUF.
This is the smallest audio mixer that I know
that actually has PFL on it.
That's why I'm using it in this video.
But typically you'll find it near the fader
on your audio mixer.
You can see here,
it's located right at the bottom of the fader.
Sometimes it's up by your on or mute buttons,
depending on your audio mixer,
and more rarely, it is up at the top of the channel strip,
but most commonly, it's located somewhere near the fader.
So, what does PFL stand for?
PFL stands for Pre Fader Level.
It's telling you the level on the meter here.
If you click the button,
shows you the level where it's at
before it gets to the fader.
So, it'll take the gain.
It'll take the compressor.
It'll take the EQ.
All that will be factored into it
when it shows you the level on the meter.
Now, it will also take over your headphone jack.
Normally, the headphone jack on an audio mixer
is sending the same mix of your stereo output,
but you do get independent volume control.
Once you click a PFL button,
then it will take over the headphone jack
with the channel that you have selected.
If you are wanting to work on multiple channels at a time,
or check the blend between multiple channels,
you can click on multiple PFL buttons,
and they will all come out through the same headphone jack.
So, if you are just wanting to solo a section,
maybe just a drum kit, maybe just a group of vocalists,
you can do that by selecting multiple channels.
Now, how do I use the PFL button most of the time?
I have two inputs here on this audio mixer
to show you how I would set up a channel
using the PFL button.
I usually will click it on.
Now, you can see right away that the PFL meter
or this LED meter here, the channel strip, has lit up.
So, now we can see that we're actually in plus 6,
sometimes touching plus 10 on this meter,
the gain is all the way down and it ignores the fader.
So, we can tell that this channel is coming in
quite hot already.
We wouldn't want to turn up the fader like this,
and sometimes you might see a peak light
or something like that,
but if you have a level like this,
it's a really good indication that you need to turn on
the pad before you even deal with anything else.
Once you turn on the pad,
you can see that the meter dropped down a little bit.
We're gonna re-introduce a little bit of gain.
Say, I want this rate between minus 10 and 6,
or I want it between minus 6 and 0.
I can tweak the gain there, set it correctly.
Now, I might also be monitoring on my headphones,
do some quick EQ changes.
If this was like a new wireless handheld
that I'm quickly setting up an event or something like that,
I'll get a little bit of a pre-mix done.
And then I'll bring the fader up to unity,
and click the channel on,
or click the channel on and then probably roll it up
a little bit slower,
and that's how I would set up a channel.
Now, I mentioned before that you can use this
to monitor an EQ multiple channels at a time.
That is true.
You just click on multiple PFL buttons,
but do keep in mind that what's gonna come
to your headphones is pre fader,
so no amount of changing faders will adjust the mix.
So, if you're live and you have something like this,
you may not hear an accurate representation
of what is coming out of the speakers
because the speakers are getting the stereo mix,
which is affected by the faders
and your headphones are not affected by the faders;
they're just affected by the gain, the compression,
and the EQ, so do keep that in mind as well.
Now, how does the PFL compared to things like AFL?
I'm just gonna turn these off now.
AFL is After Fader.
PFL is Pre Fader.
So, you can tell already, PFL is more optimized
for setting up your channel
because you can just click it on.
You see the level.
You can make some changes.
But AFL would be a little bit more handy
if you're constantly working on blending vocalists
or something where you want the impact of the faders
to be in your headphones when you're working on that blend.
So, PFL is arguably better
for setting up the channel initially.
AFL is a little bit better for massaging a mix
and working with it once all your channels are set up.
How does PFL compare to Solo?
Some audio mixers will have Solo instead of PFL.
Solo is basically the same as AFL,
but sometimes Solo can change the stereo outputs as well,
depending on the audio mixer that you're working on.
So, PFL and AFL are always just dealing
with the headphone output of your audio mixer,
and sometimes Solo will actually change the main stereo mix.
If you solo a track,
it'll take over the front of the house speakers as well.
If you have any questions about anything we covered
in this video, please leave a comment down
in the comment section below.
Again, if you are looking for pricing or specs
for anything that you've seen in this video,
we do have some links down in the description below,
and if you wanna see more videos like this in the future,
please like, and subscribe.
Thank you for watching.
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