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.