Mixing consoles

What are mixing consoles?

Mixing consoles – also known as sound mixers, mixing desks, mixers or consoles – have been used in music production for almost 100 years. music production and are used to mix electrical sound signals from various sources (e.g. B. microphonesplayback devices or electronic sound generators) to two or more output sums or buses (subsums of several signals), usually according to frequency response and dynamic changes. When mixing in stereo, for example, all signals present at the mixing console are combined on the “left” and “right” stereo channels. Multi-channel surround mixes can also be created with appropriate mixing consoles.

For the various sound engineering applications such as recording and mixing in the recording studiolive sound reinforcement, DJ or broadcast, there are different mixing consoles that can vary greatly in size, range of functions, ergonomics, sound characteristics and price from 50 euros to over a million euros. Audio mixing consoles are available as analog mixing consoles, digital mixing consoles and power mixing consoles.

Functions and tasks

The actual tasks of a mixing console are sound processing and combining individual tracks into a “master” track. Although mixing consoles also exist in the video sector, we will concentrate exclusively on audio mixing consoles here. The most important function here is, of course, the processing of incoming audio signals. These are processed and fine-tuned depending on the frequency.

Adjusting the volume, sound characteristics (bass, mids and treble) and adding predefined filters (e.g. de-esser) is the main task of a mixing console or the user. To simplify this process, most models allow the individual channels to be combined into subgroups. These can then be treated as a logical unit, which saves an enormous amount of time and improves the workflow.

Of course, the outputs of a mixing console are also important. It all depends on what type of mixer you are dealing with: studio mixers usually have several line outputs for speakers and monitors, and sometimes also USB outputs that can be used to record to a computer. Live mixers usually have optical signal cables and line cables for sound reinforcement in a room.

Variants and manufacturers

There are now a large number of different versions of mixing consoles, which differ primarily in terms of their usability for different purposes. Studio mixing consoles, for example, sometimes have USB connections, phantom power and an overload indicator to enable recording in the home studio. There are also hybrid devices between these studio mixing consoles and live mixing consoles, which are equally suitable for both purposes.

The market for mixing consoles in the audio sector is served by various manufacturers. The German manufacturer Behringer clearly dominates the lower and medium price segments, while Japanese manufacturers such as Yamaha are also represented in the upper price segment. In the home recording sector, a mixing console from Behringer’s XENYX series is a very good choice, especially as some of these models also have USB connections or other features that enable the implementation of more sophisticated projects.

List of well-known mixing console manufacturers

• Allen & Heath
• AMS Neve
• Behringer
• DHD audio
• DiGiCo
• Digidesign
• Dynacord
• Lawo
• Mackie
• Midas
• Numark
• Pioneer
• PreSonus
• Solid State Logic
• Soundcraft
• Stage Tec
• Central Office for Radio and Television Technology
• QSC Audio
• Shure
• Studer (Harman International Industries)
• SQN Lab.
• Tascam
• Technics
• Trident
• Yamaha

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