# Patching Midas M32



## NeroCaesar (Jan 5, 2018)

Hello all,

I recently purchased a digital board for the first time and I am feeling like an idiot. I've spent hours looking through all the options but I can't seem to patch the thing.

Currently I can only get "In 1" a mic to feed into "Out 1" and "In 2" to feed into "Out 2" and so forth
Also I have no volume control, only the gain is giving me levels, not even the mute button on the channel is working.

I watched the videos and played with it and I know how to route in large chunks (1 - 8 local or through the DL32) and I know how to assign Channels into DCA faders but I can't individually patch "In 1" to work on a fader where I can control the volume using the fader, or send it to specific outs like "Out 5" and "Out 6" only. 

Can this board only do 1 to 1? what am I missing?

I independently learned sound so some terminology is not clear to me.

Thanks in advance,
-Greg


----------



## FMEng (Jan 5, 2018)

It sounds like you have channel directs assigned to the outputs. You want main left and right, and other mix busses assigned to the outputs. The X32 is operationally identical to the M32. You will find more tutorials for the X32. The Behringer X32 community forum is also very helpful.


----------



## Calc (Jan 5, 2018)

There's an extra step that you may be missing? It's hard to tell.
Each channel can send to multiple busses. Each bus then gets patched to an output port.
Note that Busses include not just the outputs labeled as Bus #X, but also your L/R, Mono, Matrixes, etc.

Your LR/M bus send controls are located immediately left of the screen, and the other bus sends are to the left of those.

So a postfade bus signal chain looks like:
Input > Channel Gain > Channel Fader & Mute > Bus Send > Bus Fader & Mute > Output

Lots of places where you could be losing the signal.


----------



## TJCornish (Jan 5, 2018)

NeroCaesar said:


> Hello all,
> 
> I recently purchased a digital board for the first time and I am feeling like an idiot. I've spent hours looking through all the options but I can't seem to patch the thing.
> 
> ...


I would do a factory reset and start over. The default setup will be much closer to what you want than where you are now.


----------



## TimMc (Jan 5, 2018)

Take TJ's advice first. I'm not in front of a physical mixer (using the M32 Edit) but push the Setup button and then tab over to the Config screen (I think). Toward the bottom of the screen you'll find initialize and reset options; choose "factory reset".

The default, out-of-the-box experience is this: Every physical input, every channel, is routed to the Left/Right buses. The physical outputs for Left & Right are 15 & 16. All you should need to do is plug a mic into *any* XLR input, set the gain on the corresponding channel so the channel meter peaks at -18* (or so, will explain in a footnote). Raise the channel fader.

Physical outputs 1-14 are assigned to Mix Buses 1-14 (buses 13 & 14 are also routed to internal EFX by default). In a typical music (band) situation, mixes 1-6 might be the performer's fold-back monitoring, buses 7-12 might not be used, and buses 13-16 are the sends to internal EFX. Connect outputs 15 & 16 to a powered speaker or the PA system (whatever you're using to test with) and slowly raise the main L/R fader while speaking into the mic. You should hear yourself. Repeat with other physical inputs to reassure yourself that they do, in fact, work.

To better help you in the future it will be useful for you to tell us what you're trying to accomplish. "Learning the desk" or "learning audio" is kind of big and vague, so if you can explain what you were expecting to happen, what happened instead, and what you did (config changes, physical patching, etc) we can narrow the possibilities more quickly.

You picked a highly configurable mixer to begin learning audio. It's *very* easy to re-configure yourself into a corner and have no idea how your got there (and no idea how to undo what you've done, as a result).

Good luck with your learning quest.


*FOOTNOTE - The M32 and many other digital mixers use a metering scale called "DBFS" for dB, Full Scale. The traditional Vu meters had a -0- and the had a "+" scale; DBFS ain't that way. DBFS is a measure of how far below Full Tilt Boogie (i.e., you're at full output level, often the equivalent of +20dBVu or more). Setting your channel input gains to peak at -18 (or -20, it's one of those "ish" things) means you're setting a level that's roughly -0- dBVu, right like we did back in Ye Olde Analogue Dayz. It is not necessary or desirable (in 98% of situations) to set input gains higher in level.


----------



## NeroCaesar (Jan 7, 2018)

Hmm hours later of pushing every combination of settings I am still no where closer...
I have factory reset a few times and ensure a newer firmware.

Edit: I believe I figured some of it out. One of the out settings did not make sense to me and I had it backwards.


----------



## Footer (Jan 7, 2018)

NeroCaesar said:


> Hmm hours later of pushing every combination of settings I am still no where closer...
> I have factory reset a few times and ensure a newer firmware.
> 
> Edit: I believe I figured some of it out. One of the out settings did not make sense to me and I had it backwards.



I think you might be over or under thinking it a bit. There is a level of abstraction between the inputs and outputs on the console. The desk itself has about 40 ways to manipulate an input and about 35 ways of outputting that signal... all on 32 inputs and 16 outputs. I think you might need to sit back and watch a few hours of youtube to get yourself familiarized with audio at this level. This console operates like much larger and more expensive desks. It is far more complicated then just about any cheap analog desk.


----------



## TJCornish (Jan 8, 2018)

As Footer says, I think you are missing some basic concepts of how mixers work. Input channels are sent to mix busses - left/right, aux sends, effects sends, etc. Mixing happens on the mix busses - level adjustments, combining signals from multiple inputs, and then the result of your mixing is sent to an output to be played on a speaker. 

Here is a manual for a completely different product (analog Mackie mixer) that is fairly well-written and covers the thought process behind mixers. Your X32 looks different, however under the hood it works the same way.

http://mackie.com/sites/default/fil...s_Manuals/ProFX8v2_12v2_16v2_22v2_30v2_OM.pdf


----------



## TimMc (Jan 8, 2018)

NeroCaesar said:


> Hmm hours later of pushing every combination of settings I am still no where closer...
> I have factory reset a few times and ensure a newer firmware.
> 
> Edit: I believe I figured some of it out. One of the out settings did not make sense to me and I had it backwards.



Did you not read my post?


----------



## yert33 (Jan 10, 2018)

Sounds like you are confusing "Out1" with the "Direct Out 1". That would explain your other observations about only the Gain control changing the level. You need to Bus the Input channel to either LR, Mono or a Bus.


----------



## taneglaus (Jan 10, 2018)

NeroCaesar said:


> Hello all,
> 
> I recently purchased a digital board for the first time and I am feeling like an idiot. I've spent hours looking through all the options but I can't seem to patch the thing.
> 
> ...


BTW: you are familiar with how the digital console handles the channel strip? In analogue each channel has all those knobs below the input hack and above the fader. On digital there is 1 set of knobs, upper left on the console, with all of the channel strip functions/settings. You push the in or out channels SELect button to modify that channels parameters. Forgetting to push the SEL button for the channel you want to work with is very easy to do and causes much confusion. I just want to be sure you're selecting the in or out channel you want to work with.

So, backing up...follow these steps first and report back
1. Do a factory reset on all parameters
2. Plug a mic into input 5
3. Press the ch 5 SELect button
4. While talking into the mic, turn the gain knob up until you see a strong signal on the ch5 meter
5. Push the ch 5 fader to unity (the U on the fader scale)
5. Keep talking in to the mic and push up the master fader (far right fader) until you see signal on the main outputs

DONT TOUCH ANY OTHER BUTTONS OR KNOBS

Try these steps to be sure you're getting signal through the console. Then report back.

Also: you asked about patching...this is advanced stuff so leave it until later. First be sure the console is functioning properly and you understand the basics. Patching is not 1-to-1, rather its in groups of 8.


----------

