Roland Edirol M-16DX Instruction manual

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Workshop
M-16DX 16-Channel Digital Mixer
© 2008 Roland Corporation U.S.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without the
written permission of Roland Corporation U.S.
M16DXWS17
Creating Submixes Using the Mute/Alt Bus

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About the Workshop Booklets
The EDIROL M-16DX 16-Channel Digital Mixer delivers the power of digital
mixing to musicians at an incredibly affordable price. This crystal-clear 24-bit
digital mixer supports sample rates up to 96 kHz, and it’s extremely flexible,
with a wide range of analog and digital inputs and outputs, and effects. The
M-16DX’s USB connectivity makes it an ideal partner for a computer-based
digital audio workstation, and features such its pro EQ and the innovative
Room Acoustic Control make it an excellent live mixer as well.
Each M-16DX Workshop Series booklet focuses on one M-16DX topic, and is
intended as a companion to the M-16DX Owner’s Manual.
The M-16DX Workshop booklets require M-16DX O.S. Version 2.00 or higher.
You can download the latest O.S. for free from www.RolandUS.com/EDIROL.
About This Booklet
The M-16DX’s Alt bus allows you to group related signals into a stereo
submix so you can more easily control them as a single entity within the
overall mix. A submix can make working with any group of related signals
easier, from mics on drums or backup singers, to a rack of keyboards, to
background elements in an audio/video production. This booklet explains
how to use the Alt bus to create a submix.
Understanding the Symbols in This Booklet
Throughout this booklet, you’ll come across information that deserves
special attention—that’s the reason it’s labeled with one of the following
symbols.
A note is something that adds information about the topic at hand.
A tip offers suggestions for using the feature being discussed.
Warnings contain important information that can help you avoid
possible damage to your equipment, your data, or yourself.
The Idea of a Submix
Within a mix, there will often be groups of signals that go together, groups
of signals that have to sit well against each other. Once you’ve got them
balanced correctly and sounding the way you want, you can place the group
of them in the overall mix.
As you work out the group’s level in the mix, you have to individually adjust
the level of each signal in the group. This can take lots of time, and requires
precise adjustments to keep the signals balanced against each other the
way you want. An easier way to handle things is to create a submix of the
signals—with a submix, you can raise or lower the level of the entire group
at once using a single LEVEL control. You can also add an effect to the entire
group at once.
SubmixMain mix
Some people call a submix a “subgroup.”
How a Submix Works
You create a submix in the M-16DX by
sending all of the
•
related signals to a
separate mix bus—in
the M-16DX, this is
the Alt bus, and you
send each signal
there by pressing its
MUTE/ALT button.
bringing the Alt bus
•
into the main mix—so
you can hear it and
use it in the mix.
Main mix
Submix signals
Other
signals
Alt bus

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You continue by
getting the submix to sound the way you want—• using each signal’s
channel strip to set its level relative to the other signals in the submix,
pan it to the desired stereo location, and add EQ or insert effects if you
want.
adjusting the submix’s level in the mix—
• using the submix’s LEVEL knob.
You can also add effects to the whole submix at this point.
Setting Up Your Submix
You’ll need a pair of 1/4” cables to set up your submix.
You’ll need an unused pair of stereo input channels for control of the
submix.
Here’s how to set up an M-16DX submix:
1 Hold down CURSOR BWD and FWD at the same
time to display the UTILITY menu, locate the CTRL to
ALT parameter, and make sure it’s turned off.
In the M-16DX’s MAIN MIX and2
PHONE/CTRL ROOM areas, make
sure the ALT button isn’t pressed in
during your setup.
Not pressed in
On the back of the M-16DX I/O module, connect the ALT OUT L and R3
jacks to a pair of input jacks. If you’d like to:
adjust only the level of the submix—
• connect the ALT OUT L and R
jacks to LINE IN L and R 13/14 or LINE IN L and R 15/16.
control the level, add loop effects, and/or pan the entire submix—•
connect the ALT OUT L and R jacks to an unused odd/even pair
of inputs, from LINE IN L and R 5/6 to LINE IN L and R 11/12.
See “About Submix Effects” on Page 4 for some thoughts
on using effects in a submix.
Press in the MUTE/ALT button on each channel strip4
that carries a signal you want to include in the
submix.
When you silence, or “mute,” a channel on the M-16DX,
the signal is removed from the main mix, and switched
over to the Alt bus.
In the MAIN MIX area, press in the ALT button to send the submix into5
the main mix.
Pressed in

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About Submix Effects
To learn about the M-16DX’s insert and loop effects, see the Workshop
booklet called The M-16DX Effects.
Insert Effects
If your submix includes signals going through Input Channels 1 and/or 2,
you can use the channels’ insert effect as you normally would.
Loop Effects
You can add a loop effect to an entire submix from the submix’s channel strip.
You could, for example, add reverb to a set of submixed backup singers.
As we noted in “Setting Up Your Submix,” you can add an effect to
an entire submix only when the submix is controlled by Channel Strip
5/6, 7/8, 9/10, or 11/12 because only those stereo channels have the
requisite AUX 1 knob.
Loop effects aren’t available for individual channels in a submix—when
you press in a channel’s MUTE/ALT button, the channel’s Aux 2 send
becomes disabled.
Mixing with a Submix
Turn down all of the input channels that1 aren’t being sent to the
submix.
Don’t mute these channels because doing so will send them to the
submix!
Mix the submix’s signals together as desired, using EQ and insert2
effects where you want to.
Once the submix sounds the way you want it, bring up your other3
channels to create the rest of your main mix around the submix.
As you hear the rest of your mix, you can tweak any individual signal
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within the submix as necessary using its channel strip controls.
To adjust the level of the entire submix, adjust its channel strip’s
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LEVEL knob.
The End
We hope you’ve found this workshop helpful. You’ll find other
M-16DX Workshop booklets available for downloading at
www.RolandUS.com/EDIROL.