RCF M 20 Series User manual

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M 20X Digital Mixer Reference Guide
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M 20X Digital Mixer –REFERENCE GUIDE
Date: 07 Jan 2020
Rev.: 2.1
This document refers to Firmware version 158
M 20 series products offer all-in-one mixing, processing and routing capabilities, including a comprehensive set of
recording and playback functions. The User Interface has been designed so that every parameter is reachable within
few operations. All models are equipped with 20 analog inputs (16 of which are with remote controlled preamps) and
14 output channels, between the balanced analog outputs and the AES/EBU digital output.
M 20 series digital mixing consoles are based on floating-point DSP (digital signal processors), running at a sample rate
of 48 kHz, ensuring maximum audio quality and low noise floor, an essential requirement for modern audio applications.

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Sommario
1. OVERVIEW .................................................................................................................................................................. 4
Hardware Description.....................................................................................................................................................4
System Overview ............................................................................................................................................................8
2. FIRMWARE UPDATE....................................................................................................................................................9
FIRMWARE UPDATE PROCEDURE...................................................................................................................................9
3. BACKUP & RESTORE..................................................................................................................................................11
BACKUP FUNCTION PROCEDURE..................................................................................................................................11
RESTORE FUNCTION PROCEDURE.................................................................................................................................12
4. PROCESSING ............................................................................................................................................................. 14
INPUT PROCESSING.......................................................................................................................................................14
CHANNEL SECTION.................................................................................................................................................... 15
GATE SECTION...........................................................................................................................................................17
PARAMETRIC EQ ....................................................................................................................................................... 18
DYNAMICS –Compressor/DeEsser...........................................................................................................................20
SENDS........................................................................................................................................................................ 22
OUTPUT PROCESSING...................................................................................................................................................24
CHANNEL VIEW.........................................................................................................................................................25
8-Band PARAMETRIC EQ...........................................................................................................................................26
DYNAMICS –Master Compressor/Limiter ................................................................................................................ 28
30-Band GRAPHIC EQ................................................................................................................................................29
EFFECTS.........................................................................................................................................................................30
REVERB ..................................................................................................................................................................... 31
DELAY........................................................................................................................................................................ 32
MODULATION...........................................................................................................................................................33
FX RETURN................................................................................................................................................................34
MONITORING................................................................................................................................................................35
METERS.....................................................................................................................................................................35
RTA............................................................................................................................................................................35
PHONES.....................................................................................................................................................................36
PLAY/REC ......................................................................................................................................................................37
SETUP........................................................................................................................................................................ 37
PLAYER......................................................................................................................................................................38
RECORDER.................................................................................................................................................................39
5. SYSTEM .....................................................................................................................................................................41
SHOW............................................................................................................................................................................ 41
NETWORK AND WIFI.....................................................................................................................................................42
USER KEYS.....................................................................................................................................................................42
I/O ROUTING.................................................................................................................................................................44
INPUTS ......................................................................................................................................................................44
OUTPUTS................................................................................................................................................................... 45

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REC OUTPUTS............................................................................................................................................................45
STREAM OUTPUTS ....................................................................................................................................................46
ROUTUNG PRESETS...................................................................................................................................................46
MUTE AND DCA GROUPS..............................................................................................................................................47
UTILITIES ....................................................................................................................................................................... 48
AUDIO OUTPUTS.......................................................................................................................................................48
SURFACE UTILITIES....................................................................................................................................................48
CUSTOM FADERS ......................................................................................................................................................48
CONFIG MIXER ..........................................................................................................................................................49
TALKBACK.................................................................................................................................................................. 49
USB & SD CARD FORMAT.......................................................................................................................................... 50
SIGNAL GENERATOR ................................................................................................................................................. 50
CHANNEL UTILITIES................................................................................................................................................... 50
INFO ..............................................................................................................................................................................52
USB STORAGE ...............................................................................................................................................................52
IMPORT.....................................................................................................................................................................53
EXPORT .....................................................................................................................................................................54
MIDI SETTINGS..............................................................................................................................................................55
MIDI MAPPING.......................................................................................................................................................... 55
6. VIEW BUTTONS.........................................................................................................................................................57
FADER SELECT VIEW...................................................................................................................................................... 57
USER KEYS VIEW ...........................................................................................................................................................57
7. TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS.....................................................................................................................................58
8. BLOCK DIAGRAM ...................................................................................................................................................... 60

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1. OVERVIEW
Hardware Description
1. MENU KEYS
4 menu keys allow an intuitive and immediate navigation through menu pages.
2. TFT CAPACITIVE TOUCH SCREEN
A highly responsive 5-inch TFT touchscreen offers intuitive navigation of all the available features, and can be
optionally paired with an external tablet to augment interaction with the M 20X.
3. LEVEL METER
This 12 LED elements level meter normally allows you to control the Main Mix output level. When a channel
CUE button is pressed, the level meter shows the PFL level present in the selected channel. Keep the input level
below the “-20” indication to avoid overloaded signals that can cause distortion.
4. WI-FI DONGLE ENABLED LED INDICATOR
This led light up when the WI-FI AP function for the USB port “B” is enabled, allowing the use of a WiFi USB
dongle.
5. MINI JACK STEREO INPUT 19-20
Connect here your stereo line level sources like smartphones, laptops or others external audio devices.
6. USB PORTS
Two USB host ports on the top panel are available for WiFi dongles, USB-MIDI devices, and USB mass storage
devices that can be used for stereo audio record/ playback, system backups and firmware updates.
7. PHONES
Connect your headphones here either for CUE or the Main Mix listening.

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8. SD CARD SLOT
An integrated SD card multitrack engine offers a maximum of 20 simultaneous tracks at 24-bit, 48 kHz, with
extensive routing options.
9. CUE ACTIVE LED
This led light up when one or more CUE button are pressed.
10. PARAMETERS EDIT ENCODERS
5 dedicated encoders allow an intuitive and immediate control of each function and parameter on the screen.
11. USER KEYS
A set of 8 User Keys with extensive programming option are always available, and offers immediate control of
scene selection, play/record transport, tap tempo, user interface shortcuts. The USER KEYS functions can also
be driven remotely via MIDI (through a MIDI-USB interface).
12. FADER SELECTION KEYS
4 layers of faders assignments allow immediate access to input channels 1-10 and 11-20, to FX returns and
outputs.
13. GEQ ON FADER SELECTION LED
This LED lights up when the function Graphic EQ on Fader is enabled.
14. MAIN SELECTION KEY
The control surface can be assigned to the stereo MAIN mix buss; the MASTER fader is always associated to
the output level of the selected bus.

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15. FX SELECTION KEYS
The control surface can be assigned to 4 FX busses; the MASTER fader is always associated to the output level
of the selected bus.
16. MIX SELECTION KEYS
The control surface can be assigned to 8 MIX busses; the MASTER fader is always associated to the output level
of the selected bus.
17. MOTORIZED FADERS
11 x 100-mm motorized faders allow precise mix control with immediate visual feedback. Special care has been
taken to minimize movement noise.
18. FADER SELECTION LED
These 4 leds light to show the current assigned layer of faders.
19. CHANNEL MUTE KEYS
MUTE buttons when pressed inhibit the signal to flow to output bus or main mix paths.
20. CHANNEL CUE KEYS
The CUE keys allow to listen the signal present on the channel, through the cue bus routed to PHONES OUTPUT.
All audio paths can be monitored at any time via the CUE bus, which features a real‑time analyzer (RTA).
21. CHANNEL SELECTION KEYS
The SELECTION KEYS allow an intuitive and immediate navigation through channel functions and parameters.
1. MIC Inputs 1-8 Female XLR
Connect your Microphones to these remotely-controlled 60dB gain-range inputs. Use balanced XLR cables to obtain
best performance from your microphones.
2. MIC/LINE Inputs 9-16 Combo
Input 9 to 16 provide Mic inputs on the XLR connection and Line input on the TRS jack connection.
3. MIX Outputs 1-8 Male XLR
Connect to these +24dBu balanced XLR outputs your stage monitors or external effects.

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4. MIX Outputs 9-10 TRS
Connect to these +24dBu balanced TRS outputs your stage monitors or external effects.
5. POWER
Use this switch to turn On and Off your M 20X device. Connect to the VDE inlet the provided power cord.
6. MAIN OUTUT
Connect your active speaker or your amplifier, in case of passive speakers, to these +24dBu balanced Output.
7. LAN PORT
The mixer can be remotely controlled via LAN, and an external Wi-Fi Access Point can be connected to the LAN port
to communicate with remote control apps running on iOS and Android.
8. USB AUDIO PORT
A 24-track. 24-bit, 48-kHz audio interface is available and allows access to all inputs and several internal signal nodes.
Extensive routing options allow both offline sound check and host-based effects processing.
9. AES DIGITAL OUTPUT
Connect here any AES/EBU device. Each of the audio output paths is routable to the AES/EBU port.
10. LINE INPUTS 17-18 TRS
Connect here your line level sources like keyboard, external audio device or other small analog consoles used for
submix.

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System Overview
The M 20X Digital Mixer is a feature-packed unit that includes several of the useful blocks required to arrange a good-
sounding live act.
Signal processing capabilities of the M 20X Digital Mixer
A total of 16 summing bus are present in the M 20 Digital Mixer:
MAIN LR bus
FX SEND 1-4 bus
MIX SEND 1-8 bus
Stereo PHONES bus
Each of the 20 inputs features a 12 dB/oct HPF, a noise Gate, a Compressor/De-Esser (inputs 1-16 only), a flexible 4-
band Parametric EQ, and a Delay line. The source can be selected between the analog inputs, the USB audio interface,
the SD card player, into different insertion points for maximum flexibility.
M 20X boast 4 stereo FX engines available on dedicated busses, offering two high quality digital reverbs,
a programmable delay and a 4th effect which can be configured as a modulation or a second delay. All FX Engines offer
multiple algorithms to match the specific needs of a show.
A complete processing section is available on all outputs: a flexible 8-band Parametric EQ with several selectable modes
that also allow different slopes, a Delay with up to 85 meters compensation, a Compressor/Limiter. A stereo 30-band
Graphic Equalizer is available on the MAIN outputs for precise correction of the overall frequency response.
Extensive routing capabilities are available in the M 20 Digital Mixers to provide a wide flexibility for your live and studio
sessions.
A fast reacting 5-inch capacitive touchscreen, 5 dedicated encoders and 4 menu keys allow an intuitive and immediate
control of every function and parameter. You have full control of your live mix, all within one of the most compact
systems on the market.

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2. FIRMWARE UPDATE
FIRMWARE UPDATE PROCEDURE
1. Download the latest firmware package available on the web page
https://www.rcf.it/en_US/products/mixing-consoles/m-series/m-20-firmware-update
2. Unzip the .zip file and copy the RCF-M20X-xxxx.mpk file on the root directory of a FAT32 formatted USB
stick. Be sure to have one .mpk file only in the USB stick, to avoid file mismatch.
3. Turn on the M 20X digital mixer.
4. Once the boot is completed, pressing SYSTEM button on the left side of the 5” touchscreen display, go to the
page SYSTEM > UTILITIES > FIRMWARE UPDATE.
5. Insert your USB stick into the USB A port. The upper side shows the firmware version that is currently
installed on the mixer. The bottom side shows the firmware version on the USB stick ready to be installed.
6. If the new package is not automatically detected, please press CHECK NOW
7. Once the new package is detected, press UPDATE and then confirm the system reboot required to apply the
new firmware.

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8. After a few seconds you will see a confirmation notice before mixer restart.
9. After rebooting the new features will be ready to be enjoyed.

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3. BACKUP & RESTORE
M 20 series digital mixers provide backup and restore utilities to save and recall the entire state of the mixer, including
all presets, shows and global settings.
BACKUP FUNCTION PROCEDURE
1. Go to page SYSTEM > USB STORAGE > BACKUP & RESTORE
2. If you do not connect a USB key drive, this screen will appear:
3. Insert your USB stick into the M 20 USB port A

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4. Type a name (a single word without space and special characters) of your backup in the BACKUP NAME area
and then press the BACKUP button.
5. A full backup has been successfully created on the root of the USB stick (* .mbu file). The backup packages will
be listed in the box on the right side of the page, ready to be restored.
RESTORE FUNCTION PROCEDURE
1. Go to page SYSTEM > USB STORAGE > BACKUP & RESTORE
2. If you do not connect a USB key drive, this screen will appear:

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3. Insert your USB stick into the M 20 USB port A
4. From the list box in the right side of the page select the backup package that you want load on your mixer and
then press RESTORE button. A message box will appear:
5. If you want to proceed, click on “OK”
6. The restore procedure has been completed

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4. PROCESSING
Press any SEL button to select a channel and the touchscreen will display the dedicated channel processing. The display
will automatically change every time the SEL button is pressed in order to cycling between the single processing pages.
It’s also possible to select the processing block touching the processing tabs on the upper side of the screen. Once a
block is selected, the display changes accordingly and the parameters available in that section are assigned to surface
encoders below the screen.
INPUT PROCESSING
The Input Processing screen is divided into the following tabs (from left to right):
CHANNEL
GATE
PARAMETRIC EQ
DYNAMICS
SENDS
You can touch each of these section to jump to the relevant page.
Channel strip area that always shows the principal information
of the selected channel: name, meter bar, fader level value,
pan value and on-off processing status bar
Processing Tabs:
Touch the block or
press SEL to change
view. The yellow
outline indicate the
current view. Each
block also shows the
preview of processing
settings.
This status bar shows the on-off
status of each function available on
the selected channel.
Encoder parameters
change accordingly to
the processing page
Processing section
hold touch buttons
and display boxes of
to the encoders
values
Channel Number
Encoder 1 is fixed to PAN control related to the selected Input or Output channel

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CHANNEL SECTION
The first block allow the channel settings accordingly to the input.
Input channels 1-16
PREAMP GAIN
Value display
Phase
inverter
12 dB/oct HPF
On/Off
Encoder Parameters
assignment
Channel Rename
Press Enter to confirm
Stereo Pairing Enable
Phantom
Enable
Delay Time
value display
HPF frequency
value display
GAIN Value
display
Set the Input Routing:
for each source type select
which input is routed to
the selected channel
processing

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The CHANNEL parameters assigned to the Encoders are:
Input channels 17-20
Hardware inputs from 17 to 20 have line connections, with no Phantom option and with the preamp gain parameter in
the range [0: 10] dB.
IN SOURCE: this parameter allows to select the source type between these items:
ANALOG: Mic Input
STREAM: 24-track USB audio interface
SD CARD: 20-track Player
GAIN: this parameter set the value of the input gain accordingly to the selected input source
ANALOG: range [0: 60] dB with step of 1 dB
STREAM: range [-10: 10] dB with step of 1 dB
SD CARD: range [-10: 10] dB with step of 1 dB
HPF FREQ: this parameter set the value of the HPF cutoff frequency in the range [20: 1k] Hz
DELAY: this parameter set the value of the input Delay time in the range [0: 100] ms
Input channels 19-20 have an additional
item in the Source Selector. Besides Analog,
Stream and SD Card source, it’s possible to
select USB Stereo Player as input.
IN SOURCE: this parameter allows to select the source type
between these items:
ANALOG: Mic Input
STREAM: 24-track USB audio interface
SD CARD: 20-track Player
DRIVE: USB Stereo Player (for CH19-20 only)
GAIN: this parameter set the value of the input gain
accordingly to the selected input source
ANALOG: range [0: 10] dB with step of 1 dB
STREAM: range [-10: 10] dB with step of 1 dB
SD CARD: range [-10: 10] dB with step of 1 dB
DRIVE: range [-10: 10] dB with step of 1 dB

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GATE SECTION
All inputs are equipped with a Noise Gate processor that allows to reduce the output signal by a specific amount (Range)
when the input signal level is lower than a specific amount (Threshold). A gain reduction level (visible also when the
processor is off) allows to set all parameters before hearing the effective sound.
Viewing
Area
Encoder
Assignment
Switch the
Gate On or
Off using the
on-screen
ON button
Preset View shows the last chosen category
of presets. For the GATE block are available
2 banks of presets:
USER BANK –100 locations where
save your custom settings.
ROM BANK –10 locations with
carefully crafted presets.
Press BACK to return to processing page.
Choose your preset directly scrolling on the
screen or using the Encoder 3 (LIST SEL),
then press LOAD to recall it.

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The GATE parameters assigned to the Encoders are:
PARAMETRIC EQ
All inputs are equipped with a 4-band Parametric EQ that allows an accurate equalization of signal input.
ATTACK: this parameter allows to set the value of the Attack Time in the range [1: 1000] ms
RELEASE: this parameter allows to set the value of the Release Time in the range [10: 1000] ms
THRESHOLD: set the value of the Threshold in the range [-100: 0] dB
RANGE: set the value of the Range in the range [0: 60] dB
Switch the PEQ
On or Off using
the on-screen
ON button
Touch these boxes
to select a band and
automatically
assign the 3
rightmost encoders
to the related
parameters
Encoder
Assignment
Reset the EQ parameters using
the INIT button
Select band
rotating
Encoder 2
Viewing
Area
ZOOM View allows a more
accurate setting of the
equalizer curve using touch
screen
View and adjust
HPF frequency in
the EQ page also.

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For the input Parametric Equalizers are available
10 banks of presets divided into categories:
USER BANK –100 locations where
save your custom settings.
ROM BANKS
oDRUM
20 locations with carefully crafted
drum presets
oPERCUSSION
10 locations with carefully crafted
percussion presets
oBASS
10 locations with carefully crafted
bass presets
oEL. GUITAR
10 locations with carefully crafted el.
guitar presets
oAC. GUITAR
10 locations with carefully crafted ac.
guitar presets
oKEYBOARD
10 locations with carefully crafted
keyboard presets
oVOICE
10 locations with carefully crafted
voice presets
oORCHESTRA
10 locations with carefully crafted
orchestra presets
oMISC
10 locations with carefully crafted
miscellaneous presets
Press BACK to return to processing page.
Choose your preset directly scrolling on the
screen or using the Encoder 3 (LIST SEL), then
press LOAD to recall it.

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PEQ parameters assigned to the Encoders are:
DYNAMICS –Compressor/DeEsser
All 16 MIC inputs are equipped with a Dynamics processor that can be setted as Compressor or as De-Esser.
BAND SELECT: this parameter allows to select the single filter band
FREQ: set the value of Frequency of the selected band in the range [20: 20k] Hz
GAIN: set the value of Gain of the selected band in the range [-12: 12] dB
TYPE/Q: this parameter change according to the selected filter band:
Band1
oLow SHELF Filter type
oHP Filter type
oPeaking Filter Q parameter in the range [1: 20]
Band2 & Band3
oPeaking Filter Q parameter in the range [1: 20]
Band4
oHigh SHELF Filter type
oLP Filter type
oPeaking Filter Q parameter in the range [1: 20]
Switch the
DYN On or
Off using the
on-screen
ON button
Viewing Area
and assign
Parameters
Encoder
Assignmen
t
Switch DE-ESSER
On to enable the
De-Esser mode.
Switch DE-ESSER
Off to enable the
Compressor mode.
Touch & Adjust
function is available for
ATTACK, RELEASE and
FREQ. Touch one of
these parameters and
adjust the value using
Encoder 5.
When in De-Esser mode select
the Filter Type (between High
Pass and Band Pass) of the Side
Chain and adjust the Frequency
The yellow label
indicates which
parameter has been
assigned to ENCODER 5