confidence Posted October 30, 2020 Share Posted October 30, 2020 So I've got a new mixer - Mackie ProFX10. A couple of keyboards and modules, along with return from the PC, feed into it. Main outputs feed studio monitors. I want the secondary output (control room outs) to feed the single monitor speaker that I use in mono as a keyboard amp live. So that I can switch between hearing things in a clear stereo mix (mainly complex mixes from PC) and hearing how single keyboards will sound when I'm practising them the way they will be live. What's the easiest way to connect the stereo control room outs to the mono amp? People say to pan everything left and just connect the left output, but I don't want to do that because I want to retain the stereo spread for listening through the monitors. There must be some simple little box or something that I can feed the control room stereo outs into and take a mixed down mono output from? The only thing I've found is the Radial Mix 2:1, but it's £125 which is more than I paid for the entire 10-channel mixer! How does that work?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baldwin Funster Posted October 30, 2020 Share Posted October 30, 2020 Just plug the left channel into the monitor. Itll be ok. Quote FunMachine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
torhu Posted October 30, 2020 Share Posted October 30, 2020 If it's not too much trouble you could just unplug the right output from the keyboard and the right input from the mixer to get mono. And make sure you're not using a stereo effect on the mixer, of course. Then it doesn't matter which control room output you use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CEB Posted October 30, 2020 Share Posted October 30, 2020 It depends. You can run to two channels on the board then sum. Production guys will use a XLR - Y off my rack. Depends how your effects and patches are setup. If it works then it"s easy. If it gets wonky then you can"t do it. Just running of the left out often works well. Quote "It doesn't have to be difficult to be cool" - Mitch Towne "A great musician can bring tears to your eyes!!! So can a auto Mechanic." - Stokes Hunt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnotherScott Posted October 30, 2020 Share Posted October 30, 2020 If you're not using effects, you can use the effects send as a mono send. If the board is returnable, you could consider one with an additional monitor send that can be set for post-fade, like the Soundcraft Signature 10. Quote Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elif Posted October 30, 2020 Share Posted October 30, 2020 Depending on how the stereo was created, summing stereo to mono can cause some cancellation and a resulting odd-sounding mono mix. It's something you'd have to try. Otherwise use either left or right alone for the mono feed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delaware Dave Posted October 30, 2020 Share Posted October 30, 2020 Depending on how the stereo was created, summing stereo to mono can cause some cancellation and a resulting odd-sounding mono mix. It's something you'd have to try. Otherwise use either left or right alone for the mono feed. This.... Sending only one side of the keyboard as others suggested would only give you the left side of a stereo send; anything coming out of the right side would be lost in your send to the keyboard amp. If that doesn't matter then the whole concept of setting up in stereo to begin with wouldn't matter. Obviously to you it does so that means something gets lost (the right side of the keyboard) to the keyboard amp; it might sound wonky. My mixer has an Aux Send that sums to mono so I get a summing. How good is summing, i.e. would I get cancellation? It depends on the quality of the mixer. If you also have stereo monitor sends and your keyboard amp has two inputs send the stereo control room outs to different inputs into your keyboard amp and see if your keyboard amp plays this back without creating cancellation. If not, you might want to consider stereo keyboard amplification or live with the potential cancellation in the keyboard amp do to the summing. You'll have to experiment and see what sounds right to you. Quote 57 Hammond B3; 69 Hammond L100P; 68 Leslie 122; Kurzweil Forte7 & PC3; M-Audio Code 61; Voce V5+; Neo Vent; EV ELX112P; GSI Gemini & Burn Delaware Dave Exit93band Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
confidence Posted October 30, 2020 Author Share Posted October 30, 2020 If you're not using effects, you can use the effects send as a mono send. That's a good idea, why didn't I think of that? The mixer has a mono effects send on all channels, including the stereo ones. I can't imagine I'll ever use this as I don't known any outboard effects, any effects I use live are within the keys and modules so added to the sound before it gets to the mixer in the first place, and any I use in the studio are within the PC. So when I want to switch to the mono amp I can just being this up and the master faders down. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSS Posted October 30, 2020 Share Posted October 30, 2020 As previously suggested your mixer's effects send or aux send should work for a summed mono signal. As you mentioned, the Radial 2:1 summing box also works but it's expensive. FWIW I purchased a small passive direct box from Monoprice for just $3O that sums stereo signals to mono like the Radial box but without separate two channel mixing capabilities. I use the Monoprice box going into a single powered speaker for quick gigs / rehearsals when I don't want to hassle with plugging a mixer in. https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=600122&gclid=CjwKCAjw8-78BRA0EiwAFUw8LP7Q7CBfcXsd6XDLnv9XQF-5pgiEFwUX4ZTrdB5MfHRNHr7_oqxnBhoC7awQAvD_BwE Quote Gigs: Nord 5D 73, Kurz PC4-7 & SP4-7, Hammond SK1, Yamaha MX88 & P121, Numa Compact 2x, Casio CGP700, QSC K12, Yamaha DBR10, JBL515xt(2). Alto TS310(2) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reezekeys Posted October 30, 2020 Share Posted October 30, 2020 The efx send of this mixer is by far the easiest and most convenient way to sum, as long as the internal effects are muted. I'm in the camp of "it doesn't matter where you sum"... is there evidence to the contrary? Is having a mixer where you can vary the balance of L & R to the mono output really useful? Just more stuff to buy and carry around in the gig bag, imo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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