Karaoke Forums

I've been having clipping problem for over a year now with my home system and i've tried compressor, processor and after all my frustrations. my sweet wife said "Honey ask
somebody,,,go to Home Depot!!! So here I am guys but first The set up. I'm using Mackie CFX12 MKII, JVC MV303 for player,Yamaha SPX90II processor,Shure Beta58A
and for compressor, I'm using RNC 1773. Final amplification goes to Mackie SRM 450. The sound is great, but when I belt out "power songs" The sound cuts out for about 2 seconds. I even added another compressor between the CFX 12 and the SRM 450 and it
still cuts out on me. Can somebody please tell me the correct gain level, slider control, Etc...on the Mackie CFX12. Also please tell me your preferred settings on the compressor for Threshold, Ratio, Attack, Release and Gain for a screamer like me. Thank you for your time.

Take the compressors and effects out of the loop for the moment. Set the chanel gain to about half and the chanel volume to about 70%. Belt out a song. Do you still have the problem? If not, add the effects back in and do more belting. Still no problem add the compressors. Still no problem? You're good to go. If not, try backing down the attenuators on the power amp.

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Okay, who took my pants?

@ Home Depot. That was really funny... and somehow, I even believe this is a true story. lmao

Anyway, what are your settings on the compressor right now? And where is the compressor in the chain? Is it using the inserts on the mixer or is it between Mixer and Amp?

When you say the sound cuts out do you mean mics, music & everything? It sounds like you are overloading the speakers & they are going into a protection mode. Is ANYTHING showing the peak/clip lights? Mixer, processors, speakers? If so something is definitely turned up too high.
Can you take a pic of the board settings & post?

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Thank you exweedfarmer! and a Happy New Year to all.
Did as told, took main mix slider to about 5 and no clipping. Found out I don't really need processor or compressor but I just need to hook it up since its paid in full. Now I need advise on the compressor settings. I would like to have it in my vocal mikes.

How is the compressor hooked into the mixer? Through the inserts or inline with the mic?

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Thank you Lonman and sevarin....I will post a photo as soon as I can get camera battery charged up.

Lonman, the compressor is hooked thru the inserts.

Good. Well i'm not real familiar with that brand, not many stores sell it, but you can try these as base settings.
Threshold - -5
Ratio - 3:1-4:1
Attack - 0.6-2.0
Release - 0.5-1.0
Gain start at 0. If the sound when bypassed is higher then the processed sound, then bump the gain up a bit.
The manula says to start by using the "Super nice' mode, so start with that button pushed in as well.

Which mic are you using?

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I use the SM 58 on Standard songs and the Shure Beta 58A on pop and rock. My preference is the Shure Beta 58A. I use it most of the time.My wife prefers to listen to me on the SM 58 though.

The 58 is more open, not as direct than the Beta which may be why she likes the sound better. Both good mics though.

I know on my CFX I had my channel gain set at U (12 oclock) with the 58. Shouldn't be much higher than that if at all. The fader set at about the same U mark pan to hard left. Run through sub 1/2 switch. Sub 1 will be the control for the mic. Push left & right button to send to both outputs. The sub 1 fader to about U. Then the main mix start turning up until you start hearing sound. If the clip light (zero level) on the mic channel is lighting constantly, turn the gain (trim) knob down until it is just blinking on occasion.

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I know on my CFX I had my channel gain set at U (12 oclock) with the 58. Shouldn't be much higher than that if at all. The fader set at about the same U mark pan to hard left
I dont understand the "pan to hard left" part. Does that mean to rotate the switch (near the top of the slider) to the 7 oclock or the 9 oclock position? Wouldn't that make my microphone sound only heard in the left speaker?

The pan knob is right above the fader. Turn it all the way to the left.
The switches underneath marked 1-2 should be pushed down.
Over in the 4 faders marked sub, Sub 1 will control the mics.
In the sub 1 group is 2 switches marked left & right. Push both of those. Now you mic will be heard in both out puts. If only the left button was pushed then yes it would onlt be heard in the left speaker.

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Lonman, I love you man!(beer commercial?) I did the compressor settings and mixer board settings you said and I sound like,,,,awesome. Completed "Don't Stop Believing"
without triggering SRM 450's protect mode. Now for my second and third microphones, how are they gonna be panned? My CDg player outputs are in channel 4 & 5. Can I pan them hard left and hard right to get a stereo effect? Thank you so much!

I'd do the other mics the same as the first. That way they will all be controlled by the sub 1 as a whole - you can still do minor volume adjustments per channel then boost or cut all as needed with the sub fader.
Music plug the players output into 9-10 or 11-12 & pan straight up - this way you control both the left & right channel of the player with one fader as opposed to two, plus those channels have a better eq for music playback. Push the 3-4 button by that fader & this will now be sent to sub 3 & 4. On sub 3, push left, on sub 4 push right. NO you have your stereo output for the music. If you want to run the music mono, push left & right buttons on both sub 3 & 4.

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I've always wondered what those Subs 1-4 was intended for! LONMAN, here's my last
set of questions. Every now and then, I notice a change in pitch in my sound track and I suspect it is power related. So I've been thinking of buying three of those "power conditioners" like Furman. I intend to use one each for the Mackie SRM 450 and the third one for my mixer, player,processor and compressor. Do I benefit from using power conditioner? If I needed those, I need your guidance. Again thank you so much for your help.

Hi, I also use 2 Mackie-SRM-450's , but I use them for vocal monitors on the floor plugged into the Aux send 2 of my Mackie-CFX-12 Mixer and I have never had either one of them cut-out like you have, (even though it is well documented that some users have thermal issues with them). On the back of them I engage the Low Cut button and the Contour button, leave the Timed Turnoff button out, and turn the attenuater knob (volume) to 12 o'clock (center/normal) position and I've never seen the clip light come on at these settings. I'm curious to know how you have yours set and if it could be a contributing factor to your problem?

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Man Must Know His Limitations -Clint Eastwood

@ TOMMIE TUNES, These are the settings in my SRM 450's : Timed Turnoff is up, Contour is pushed down, and Low Cut is up. The signal level knob is at 12 oclock.