I have the Xenyx 1202fx which I am using with my midi karaoke player and powered speakers. I only use this for home use, but want to know how to get the best sound from the mics.
I feel that I can barely here any effects while singing and was wondering do I turn up the FX to main mix knob to full blast and control how much FX I want to hear in the mic using the individual FX knob on the channel?
When I first got the mixer, I turned my powered speakers on, but forgot to turn up the mid EQ knob on the speaker. Anyway, I kept messing with the mixer and got it to sound ok, but was wondering if my not adding any mid from the powered speaker caused the FX not to be as noticeable and degraded the overall sound. This is confusing me, I kept the mids on the mixer at unity so I'm wondering which mids do I use, the ones on the mixer or the one thats on the speaker.
I set my gain structure the way that I read to do it which is everything at unity and then add gain until you hit clip..then back off a little. A new issue I have found with this is that my wireless mics are now super sensitive. I mean you can hear me grabbing the mic and even subtly adjusting my hand on it. Do I back off the gain on the mic channel to lessen sensitivity? These are audio 2000's 6012U mics and are decent quality and were never like this prior to having a mixer. Do the pre amps cause this by boosting the signal?
Lastly, I'm looking for a good reverb or delay that I can use on my mixer. Is there a standard one that any KJ's out there could recommend. I know everyone says that you need to always adjust it for each song type and singer, but just want to know for a "typical song, do I want long or short delay or reverb or plate etc. This mixer has 100 pre sets and has reverb, dely, echo, chorus, flanger and a mixture of different ones also has 1.5 second 3 second 2.5 delay etc. I'm a dummy with this stuff and need some help.
My equipment : JBK 4000n karaoke player Podium Pro Audio PP802 powered speakers Xenyx 1202FX mixer Audio 2000's AWM 6012 Wireless mics
Thanks for any advice!
Mixer questions
I'm not familiar with your exact equipment so I'll just talk in generalities.
The gain makes things louder. Pre amp changes the way things sound & it also boosts the microphone response (sensitivity)...
I have never been able to run everything on unity gain. I quit trying. Especially the microphones.
I use the volume control to up the volume. Depending upon how powerful the singers voice is...clipping could be a problem. Then you use the gain to back off until it stops red lining (clipping) As you take the gain down you may need to move the volume up to compensate.
99.9% of the time I use reverb on the vocals. I never sing without it. It helps to round out the sound and blend the vocals with the music a little more. Plus every professional singer uses some type of vocal effect. That is usually reverb. Reverb can be over done. I set mine to what it was on the original recording. so I constantly adjust mine for each song. Too much reverb can make the microphones hotter and more susceptable to feedback. If my microphones start to feedback I look at the gain and then the reverb. It's usually one or the other or both up too high.
Too much reverb makes it sound like singing in a cave, Led Zepplin used a ton of reverb..It became their signature sound on the vocals. Todays trend is less....Country music doesn't seem to use much reverb....It may be there but you can hardly notice it. So when I play country music I back off on the verbbb...rock songs I add some more...some I go nuts...
Setting the reveb with my mixer...I actually run my reverb through a channel by itself. And I also have the individual channel settings. I set the Master reverb volume up to unity and then make channel adjusments and I use the settings on the reverb unit too. It takes some playing around to get things set right. You just have to sing and adjust while you sing and see what sounds the best. My channel reverb settings are about at 1:30- 2 oclock.. Again this is what works for me so I can instantly make changes for each singer... Your milage may vary....
The gain makes things louder. Pre amp changes the way things sound & it also boosts the microphone response (sensitivity)...
I have never been able to run everything on unity gain. I quit trying. Especially the microphones.
I use the volume control to up the volume. Depending upon how powerful the singers voice is...clipping could be a problem. Then you use the gain to back off until it stops red lining (clipping) As you take the gain down you may need to move the volume up to compensate.
99.9% of the time I use reverb on the vocals. I never sing without it. It helps to round out the sound and blend the vocals with the music a little more. Plus every professional singer uses some type of vocal effect. That is usually reverb. Reverb can be over done. I set mine to what it was on the original recording. so I constantly adjust mine for each song. Too much reverb can make the microphones hotter and more susceptable to feedback. If my microphones start to feedback I look at the gain and then the reverb. It's usually one or the other or both up too high.
Too much reverb makes it sound like singing in a cave, Led Zepplin used a ton of reverb..It became their signature sound on the vocals. Todays trend is less....Country music doesn't seem to use much reverb....It may be there but you can hardly notice it. So when I play country music I back off on the verbbb...rock songs I add some more...some I go nuts...
Setting the reveb with my mixer...I actually run my reverb through a channel by itself. And I also have the individual channel settings. I set the Master reverb volume up to unity and then make channel adjusments and I use the settings on the reverb unit too. It takes some playing around to get things set right. You just have to sing and adjust while you sing and see what sounds the best. My channel reverb settings are about at 1:30- 2 oclock.. Again this is what works for me so I can instantly make changes for each singer... Your milage may vary....
Thanks for the prompt reply Bigdog! Very useful information. I am a complete moron when it comes to this stuff so your input is much appreciated.
You say you always use reverb, my question would be what kind and how short or long? My choices are: hall, room, plate and gated reverse. The decay time varies from 0.5 seconds to 7 seconds. Again, I realize that this should be constantly changed based on singer, song, genre etc. but this system is used for parties where most folks could care less. I also dont want to spend the entire evening making constant adjustments although I do it from time to time. I figure anything would sound better than the cheesy echo thats built into my karaoke player
So turning down my mic gain will decrease sensitivity, then I can just adjust for volume loss via the individual mic channel volume?
Thanks again for any assistance that you can provide!
You say you always use reverb, my question would be what kind and how short or long? My choices are: hall, room, plate and gated reverse. The decay time varies from 0.5 seconds to 7 seconds. Again, I realize that this should be constantly changed based on singer, song, genre etc. but this system is used for parties where most folks could care less. I also dont want to spend the entire evening making constant adjustments although I do it from time to time. I figure anything would sound better than the cheesy echo thats built into my karaoke player
So turning down my mic gain will decrease sensitivity, then I can just adjust for volume loss via the individual mic channel volume?
Thanks again for any assistance that you can provide!
That's OK I'm just a complete moron....period 
Room setting would be the one I use most of the time with some exceptions. I would set it about 6-8 on the adjustment knob. Decay is more for the delay setting. Small room to large room....Halls & Chambers is just about what Led Zep used..Youtube Led Zepplin and listen to "Hey mama gonna make you move, gonna make you sweat, gonna make you groove..." That's too much for the normal song. But it works for their stuff though...
Reverb units used to be 2-3 actual screen door springs stretched out. That was how they got that sound.
Turning down the gain and increasing the volume will make it less likey to feedback or red line which goes into distortion. Distortion will ruin your speakers. If your unit (mixer channel) has a "clip" red light on it, clipping is bad. You must avoid clipping the channel. So back down the gain when you hear the microphone distorting Or the clip light comes on. It's bad for the speakers.
Once you find a setting that sounds pleasent....not too much and just enough to tell you are using it would be a good rule of thumb. Reverb just sounds so much more professional when it's use correctly. I know many KJs that don't use it and their sound is flat. Reverb adds a nice texture to the vocals and smooths them out and blends them into the music. Try to sing a song with and without reverb. Once you understand how much better it sounds you won't sing without it.
Room setting would be the one I use most of the time with some exceptions. I would set it about 6-8 on the adjustment knob. Decay is more for the delay setting. Small room to large room....Halls & Chambers is just about what Led Zep used..Youtube Led Zepplin and listen to "Hey mama gonna make you move, gonna make you sweat, gonna make you groove..." That's too much for the normal song. But it works for their stuff though...
Reverb units used to be 2-3 actual screen door springs stretched out. That was how they got that sound.
Turning down the gain and increasing the volume will make it less likey to feedback or red line which goes into distortion. Distortion will ruin your speakers. If your unit (mixer channel) has a "clip" red light on it, clipping is bad. You must avoid clipping the channel. So back down the gain when you hear the microphone distorting Or the clip light comes on. It's bad for the speakers.
Once you find a setting that sounds pleasent....not too much and just enough to tell you are using it would be a good rule of thumb. Reverb just sounds so much more professional when it's use correctly. I know many KJs that don't use it and their sound is flat. Reverb adds a nice texture to the vocals and smooths them out and blends them into the music. Try to sing a song with and without reverb. Once you understand how much better it sounds you won't sing without it.
