BEHRINGER XR MIXERS - HOW TO USE YOUR EFFECTS

[@QuickEZ]

PLEASE NOTE: That my schematic has an error in reference to the INSERT METHOD. I'm actually showing the insert happening BEFORE the gate, when in actuality it occurs AFTER the gate. Thanks to @xaviermauri1540 for pointing out my diagraming error.

[@rawdelicious]

The explanation between send and insert won my sub. FINALLY an explanation! The explanation that the FX1 fader should ONLY be pushed up when in Main LR mode instead of Bus1/FX1 mode CANNOT be underexplained! With that in mind, for future videos please DO make it a point to hightight in your talking script WHEN you are switching modes ie views on the mixer. For entire newbies it will be difficult to understand which fader you are pulling when the visual feedback on the buttons in the software is really subtle. So please say like "now switching to the FX view, you see that..."

[@QuickEZ]

Fair point about indicating the switch. In my efforts for balance between a speedy yet informative video, I do tend to forget sometimes that not everyone knows what I’m talking about!! Also doesn’t help that I don’t use a script :D… Glad you found this helpful. Insert vs send is a huge difference and an error that I see people make time and time again, through no fault of their own. Thanks for watching and happy mixing!

[@bobbybrenton5535]

Excellent! Thank you for taking the time to explain the use of effects. The diagrams are VERY helpful!!

[@QuickEZ]

Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for watching and happy mixing!

[@BonesJonesMusicMD]

Great explanation, thanks! I’m new to the X18 mixer and the effects have been giving me problems. I think I may have it figured out now!

[@QuickEZ]

Glad you liked the video! Thanks for watching and happy mixing!

[@eoghan_ak]

My band just recently bought this unit for in ear monitors and this video was a massive help thanks! I am very impressed with the xr18 so far

[@QuickEZ]

I’m glad I could be of help. The xr18 is a great mixer. Thanks for watching and happy mixing!

[@rickyrocket12]

Excellent - explained in plain English for us dummies :)

[@QuickEZ]

Nothing makes me happier than simplifying things

[@midi1529]

As I get ready to complete my studio set up with my xair18 these videos are gold. Thanks

[@QuickEZ]

Thanks Midi Man, that means a lot. Thanks for watching and best of luck with your studio!!

[@ricoherrera4404]

Thank You! I love how instructive your videos are!

[@QuickEZ]

Thank you Rico! And thanks for watching. Happy mixing!

[@Secondwind2010]

Thank you

[@QuickEZ]

You're welcome

[@jayveeamolato9429]

nice and direct to the point

[@QuickEZ]

Thank you Jayvee. Thanks for watching and happy mixing!

[@andreasbertelsbeck2750]

Perfekt! Now i understand my xr 18 😂😊

[@QuickEZ]

Glad you found it helpful. Thanks for watching, and happy mixing!

[@goodnewseffiong1]

Great point sir!

[@Bassisi]

I watched a bunch of videos on this and can say that this is the best one! Very easy to follow without being slow. One thing I would like to know is the benefits of pre vs post fader on the effect sends? Like I understamd the signalchain and all that, but I can’t really tell why I would choose one over the other.

[@QuickEZ]

Thanks Bassisi! I tried really hard to make it easy to follow. When it comes to pre vs post in anything, it comes down to control. If you send your input signal to the fx send PRE then you know that amount of signal hitting the fx unit will NEVER change. If you send it post, then the amount of signal hitting the fx unit will vary according to your input fader. Some fx units can perform better with more signal so pre makes sense to get the feel you want out the unit and know that it won’t ever change. If you only want to use your Fx returns to control the amount of fx in your main mix, then sending signal PRE to the fx unit is a smart way to play it. If you leave it POST then you can potentially leave your return fader alone (for the most part) and your fx in the mix will be modified by your main fader moves. This gives you less control in my opinion, but depending on what you’re doing it could suit your purpose. I hope that makes some sense. Feel free to ask more questions if I’ve managed to confuse the issue more. 🙂

[@KENNETHCOOPER55]

Great tutorial 😊

[@QuickEZ]

Thanks Ken! ps. your personalized tutorial video is coming soon !

[@phillippapageorgiou6084]

Hi ,been watching your great videos. Just having trouble panning my Aux sends seperate from mains . I'm using a click and backing tracks and need to pan my click left and track right. I'm using iPad and xair 12. Your help would be greatly appreciated

[@QuickEZ]

Hi Phillip, just answered this question for you, posted on the other video about this topic. But I'll post the same answer here just to make it easy and help anyone else with the same question. If you want to pan inside your bus on iOS, select your desired channel, and then select the SENDS tab at the top. you'll see a panner right above any Busses that are linked as stereo. grab that panner and move it right or left and now you are panning your signal on the stereo bus without affecting the panning in your main L/R. Happy Mixing!

[@JohnSmith-jr8fq]

Thank you! I have a question. Can I disable all effects on a channel at once (or just all) with one button?

[@QuickEZ]

If you hit mute on the fx return channel, or pull down the return channel fader…that is basically doing what you’re asking. Obviously that won’t affect anything you have inserted. Otherwise, no. There is no button to disable just the fx.

[@JohnSmith-jr8fq]

Thank you!

[@zn102030]

Hi ... on xr12 how to setup the headphone output be came aux 3 and aux 4 ..thnk

[@QuickEZ]

Hi zn, That doesn’t appear to be possible. Sorry, I know that’s not the answer you were hoping for.

[@MarvinRieli]

This video from Scott Uhl explains how to do it - you can get an aux 3, & aux 4 from the headphone output. kzbin.info/www/bejne/aHq4ZJVuicyWmLc

[@AKSKMY]

Why would it be allowed for users to still send back FX to itself and cause a loop? Is there a use case where its needed?

[@QuickEZ]

The only use case that comes immediately to mind is for creating something distinct for creative reasons. Like escalating feedback for some kind of sound field. But this is something most people aren’t ever going to need. So honestly, no. There’s no practical use case in a non-professional mixer. That said, this is a side-effect of how most consoles operate. You have to bring your effect back to the console surface for mixing so in most situations the ability to create a feedback loop exists purely as a result of how the system functions. I do think however, that the nature of this mixer, being a non-professional piece of equipment, Behringer could have done something to make it more difficult to accidentally land on this side-effect. I’ve seen so many people make this mistake with these mixers as soon as they get signal going. But, that’s why I mention it in this and other XR videos on this channel. Thanks for watching!

[@AKSKMY]

@@QuickEZ Oh haha this considered non-professional? But yeah can easily get confused why the FX out is down and once you push the wrong ones up in sends on fader mode that's it. One thing I noticed is on Yamaha's they allow turning off individual sends on fader sends whereas here the mute is universal for inputs and sends.

[@xaviermauri1540]

In the Insert method, the effect should be inserted after the gate..not after input gain

[@QuickEZ]

Hi Xavier, apologies off the top if I`m not understanding your comment correctly. But, the first thing I`ll say is that there is no right or wrong time to insert an effect, it absolutely depends on what you're trying to accomplish with your finished product. And if your effect alters the noise floor of your original signal, and the noise floor is what you are attempting to control, then absolutely you would want the effect to be PRE-gate! But even more important than that statement (which is substantially my own opinion), With this mixer you do NOT have the option on where to insert your channel FX. It goes in one place, and you can't change it, so even if you disagree with the signal tap point for insertion...there is no option to insert it otherwise. If you meant something else, please feel free to elaborate, but anyone reading this should be aware that you cannot choose the insert location on a channel. Thanks for watching and happy mixing!

[@xaviermauri1540]

@@QuickEZ yes I know, that with the xair you can't choose the insertion point of the insert, I was referring to your graph where you represented the insert in pre gate, when in reality the insert in the XAIR is post gate..that's all

[@MustangMke]

Look will some company just do an old school mixer and effect interface or is that just a stupid Idea??

[@QuickEZ]

Are you talking about an analog mixer? Because those exist, at varying price points. Allen & Heath make great ones and there are machine and soundcraft out there as well. But lots of people want these digital stage box mixers both for functionality and price. So this video is for those folks. If it’s not for you, no problem. But it needs to exist for others.

[@davidbenson1818]

I can’t follow that at all. We have 3 places to change effect, LR, Sends, and Fader. Literally, no other effects unit has this. Tell us what to do so that it operates like a reverb guitar pedal.

[@QuickEZ]

Hi David, I'll tell you exactly what to do further down. But read the beginning to help you understand why things are different than you are expecting. The reason FX units or FX pedals don't have this many ways to do things, is because they are not mixers. They are simple machines. plug in a guitar, turn up the reverb, and away you go. On a mixer, you are "mixing" together input signals to make an overall balanced blend of your instruments for an audience to listen to. This includes the effects. And on a mixer with built-in FX, you need to send a signal to the FX unit (like when you plug your guitar into a pedal)...and THEN bring that newly altered signal from the FX unit BACK to the mixers surface so you can blend it in with the rest of your mix. It's more complicated because there is more going on than just plugging in 1 instrument. It's like when you have knob on your reverb pedal that is called Mix, or Wet, or something similar. When you turn that knob up, you get more of the effect and less of the original guitar sound. When you turn it down, you get more of the original and less of the effect. Having an effect return channel on a mixer is doing the same thing that the knob on the pedal is doing. To get what you're looking for, do the following. - Plug your guitar into input 1. - on the sidebar at the right, select the FX unit you are using for your reverb, 1, 2, 3, or 4 you'll see the master fader for that FX pop up in place of your main LR fader. - Bring that FX master up to a reasonable level. Then, raise the fader for channel 1 to a reasonable level. You have now sent signal from the input to the FX unit. The next step is to introduce your effect to your overall mix. - Select your "MAIN LR" button at the right side bar. - then raise the channel 1 fader to a reasonable level. Now you should be hearing your original guitar sound with no effect. NOW, the last set of faders on your mixer are labelled FX 1, FX 2, FX 3, FX4. - slowly raise the fader that corresponds to the FX unit you are using, 1, 2, 3, or 4. Now you should hear your effect starting to show up in your mix. put that at the level that feels comfortable for you. Thats it. You're done. the other ways of doing this, you can ignore for now. Get your head around this method. Hope this helps.

[@MustangMke]

Hmmm A travelling performer must Take a tech nerd with them, so they spend a couple of hrs to set up for venue .... To me this would be time useless, When i can set sound for any venue in Minutes on a old school mixer and amps in fact set up and done in the time it took him to get 10 mins in to this video

[@QuickEZ]

Once someone knows how their digital console works they can setup just as quickly, often more quickly, than with an analog mixer. In my professional career I would set up FOH for entire festivals…with soundchecks… in under two hours. Or mixes for throw and go bands with no sound check in under five minutes each For whatever that’s worth…