What you're looking at above is my Picasso'esque version of the back of a generic mixer. (I really wish I'd inherited my Dad's artistic talent!)

This mixer has two channels (Ch1 Ch2) and three outputs (MASTER BOOTH REC).

The three important things you have to remember are these.

1) Connect the colours together.

2) Make sure to plug into the right bit.

3) Secure the Ground Wires

CONNECTING TURNTABLES

Look at the leads that are coming out of the bottom of the turntable. You'll see two Phono plugs (You Americans call them RCA plugs) and a third, thin wire with a hook at the end.

The two Phono/RCA plugs will be of different colours. One of them will (or should) be RED, the other one can be White, Yellow, Black, whatever the manufacturer gave it. The important thing here is the RED one, as it's nearly always a constant convention to have it RED. (Handy tip, the RED one is the RIGHT input, R ed - R ight - remember the letter connection if stuck. You never know, it might help you one day).

You'll notice that in each channel, there's an input for PHONO and an input for LINE; Turntables go into the PHONO input, everything else in the world goes into LINE. Just remember that Turntables only go into the PHONO input.

Anyway, so you have your three wires. Forget about the ground one for the moment, I'll mention that in a minute. Conventionally, the left hand-side deck connects into CH1 and the right hand side into CH2. Connect the RED phono/RCA plug of the left hand deck into the RED socket (MARKED PHONO) of CH1. Connect the other one to the other socket in CH1's phono input (Not mentioning a colour for that one because of the differences through manufacturers).

Do the same with the Right hand-side deck, RED to RED, other plug to other socket (making sure it goes into the PHONO socket).

Now, see the little screw on the back of the mixer marked GROUND (or GND or EARTH)? See the third little wire with the hook, or bare wire at the end? Well, unscrew the GROUND connector on the back of the mixer, place BOTH of the metal ends of the ground wires from both of the decks in the gap you've created by unscrewing, then screw tight again, wedging the wires in place. You've now earthed/grounded the decks - yippee!!

Connecting CD/Tape/MD/MP3 etc

Basically, this is the same as the turntables, but the BIG difference is that this lot all go into the LINE input on the back of the mixer (and there isn't a ground wire to deal with).

So, now that you've got your players pumped into the back of the mixer, look at the front panel on your mixer (where all the knobs are). You'll see a swith/button with PHONO/LINE marked on it. For each channel, set the switch to whatever is going into it. If CH1 has a turntable in it, then flick the switch to PHONO, if it's a CD, then flick it to LINE.

With any luck, you've sorted out all the inputs to your mixer. Just start everything up, make sure the gain control isn't at 0, the same with the MASTER control, then move the channel faders up, and the cross-fader from side to side. Look at the LED's on the mixer which show that you have a signal going into it, if they're lighting up, you're sorted, if they're dead, either you've not turned on the mixer (DOH!) or there's something wrong with your connections.

OUTPUTS

Ok, so on my picture at the top of the page, there's a MASTER output which goes to the amplifier, a REC (record) output, which goes to a tape recorder/MiniDisc, and there's the BOOTH output, which goes to a separate monitor which you use in the Dj booth to monitor the mix.

MASTER

As I said, this one goes into the Amplifier. When I say amplifier, I mean anything which amplifies the signal before sending it to your speakers. It can be a separate amplifier, a Hi-fi or a set of powered speakers, it doesn't matter, the important thing is that the signal has to be amplified to a strength where it will drive a set of speakers (which won't happen if you just link the output directly into a set of speakers).

So, look at the back of the system you're using to amplify your signal. If it's a separate amplifier, then You'll see another series of inputs on the back of it, some might still be labeled PHONO, some will be labeled LINE IN or Aux/TV and some might be labeled MIC. Make sure that you plug into the LINE IN ports. Even if you're just using turntables through your mixer, the signal that the mixer sends out it is at LINE level, not a PHONO signal.

If you're using a Hi-Fi, then look at the available ports on the back of it. Chances are, if it's a reasonable one, that you'll have three of them. There might be a PHONO one (which is for turntables only remember?) a CD one, and an AUX/TV one (it might be just labeled LINE IN). It's probably better if you use the AUX/TV one, as you've probably got a CD player attached to the system already, but if you lack an AUX/TV port, or if you just want to use it, then you can still plug the output of your mixer into the CD port. As I said, the most important thing is NOT to plug into the PHONO inputs.

If you're using powered speakers, like the ones that come with the Numark Dj in a Box thing, or computer speakers, then just plug the cables that come out of these powered speakers into the MASTER output of the mixer. If it's a basic set of powered speakers, then there might be a chance that there's only an 1/8th inch jack on the end of the cable (an 1/8th inch jack is the size of the one for a personal stereo). If this is the case, then you'll probably have to go to Tandy/Radio shack to buy an adpator to turn this into two phono plugs.

As to the plugging in, just follow the same principle as when you plugged your decks into the mixer. Red to Red (right) and the other one to the other one!! (hmm, sounds a bit vague, if you don't know what I mean, then get in touch).

REC

This is the one you use to send the signal out to a separate Tape Recorder, MiniDisc player etc. (If your tape player is built in to the Hi-fi you're using to amplify the signal, then don't worry about this connection, still use the master output for the hi-fi).

Look at the back of your tape recorder, you'll (hopefully) see to sets of sockets, one marked LINE IN (or REC) and the other one LINE OUT (or play). You want to use the LINE IN (REC) sockets. Plug as you did your amp.

BOOTH

Just follow the same instructions as with the MASTER output. The good thing about a booth out is that it's completely independant of the Master and Record output - so if you turn down the booth control - the output to tape, or to the floor won't be affected.

Why would you want this? Well, when in the Dj booth, playing a long set, I like to only have the monitor on when I'm doing the mix, while the tune is playing out and I'm not setting up or doing the mix, I like to have it off (the Monitor you rude people!!) so I don't over expose my ears to the high noise levels. So, by using the booth control, I can turn down the monitor without it affecting the sound on the floor, or signal going out to the tape recorder.

So that should be you all set up. For advice on how to hook up multiple speakers etc, check out the Amps and Ohms page.

TROUBLESHOOTING

Q - I've connected everything, but I can't hear anything out of the mixer through the heaphones.


A - 1) Do you have your headphones plugged in, turned up, and switched to monitor the right channel?
A - 2) Is the switch between LINE and PHONO set to the right one?
A - 3) Is the mixer on?
A - 4) Have you plugged the input device (CD/Turntable) into the channel you expect to hear it from? Check all the other channels to see if you can hear it in one of them, if it's in the wrong one, then plug it into the right one!

Q - Everything is playing fine through the mixer, I can hear music through my headphones, and the LED's are flashing -
but I can't hear it through the amp.


A - 1) Is the amp turned on, volume up, and switched to the correct mode?
A - 2) Are the speakers connected to the AMP? (stick a pair of headphones into the amp, see if you can hear it then).
A - 3) Have you used the correct inputs of the AMP, and the correct outputs of the mixer?
A - 4) Is the MASTER control on the mixer turned up?

Q - Why is everything distorting badly when using my CD players?

A - 1) Check the inputs of your Cd players into the mixer. Make sure you've put it into the LINE input. It will distort badly if you accidentally put it into the PHONO inputs.

Q - Why is everything really quiet when using my turntables, even when everything is turned up to maximum?

A - 1) Check to make sure you've plugged your turntables into the PHONO input. If you've put them into the LINE input, they'll be very very quiet.

Q - Everything sounds nice through the mixer, but distorts through the amp.

A - 1) Have you turned up the input level on the AMP too high? Turn it down a bit, see if that helps.
A - 2) How strong a level are you pumping out of the mixer? (Try not to put it above +5dBon the LED meters from your mixer)
A - 3) Check to see if you've plugged into the PHONO inputs by accident (Change it to the LINE IN inputs)

There's probably a hundred other things that could go wrong, but I just wanted to put in the specifics for now. Send me a mail if you're having any issues.


Hehe, click it, if you're a fan of Kevin Smith stuff like me, you'll love all this



sex levis coke coca-cola