It is currently Mon Mar 16, 2020 8:41 am

All times are UTC - 7 hours



Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 4 posts ] 
Author Message
Post subject: Using Passport PD 250 with external mixer
Posted: Tue Oct 09, 2012 1:17 pm
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist

Joined: Tue Oct 09, 2012 12:48 pm
Posts: 2
This is my first post and brand new to the Passport PD250 so, hopefully, I can give enough information so that someone can give me some tips as to how to use it properly. We are having an event that require as many as eight (8) inputs, four (4) of which will be voice mics, three (3) instrument mics, and an external CD deck. In the past we have used a Beringer mixing board with its five (5) inputs directly into the Passport PD250, rather than use the inputs from the PD250. With the latest event I need to use the available inputs from the PD250 and/or the Beringer to have enough. I am not sure how to connect the Berenger to the PD250 and still be able to use the inputs from the PD250. Any help would really be appreciated.

Thank you


Top
Profile
Fender Play Winter Sale 2020
Post subject: Re: Using Passport PD 250 with external mixer
Posted: Wed Oct 10, 2012 2:14 pm
Offline
Aspiring Musician
Aspiring Musician

Joined: Wed Feb 16, 2011 7:24 am
Posts: 434
You didn't mention how you connected the Behringer mixing board into the Fender Passport PD250 in the past. There are several different kinds of adapters and cables that could be used. You also didn't mention if the CD deck had previously been connected to the Behringer or the Fender, and you didn't mention what model of Behringer mixer you used. I googled. UB502? XNYX 502? XNYX 302USB? XNYX 502USB? DDM4000?

I'm guessing it's one of the ones with one 1/4" TS or TRS (balanced) input mono channel, two more 1/4" TS or TRS (balanced) input channels that can take mono or stereo input, and two 1/4" TRS (balanced) outputs (a left and a right for the stereo mix from the board), plus one 1/4" TRS (stereo headphone) output, plus two RCA (stereo) in/out. I'm guessing you used an RCA patch cord to connect the Behringer RCA out to the RCA in for one of the two Fender RCA stereo input channels.

That gives you one input channel on the Behringer that can either be XLR or 1/4" TRS (balanced) or TS (unbalanced) and four 1/4" TS or TRS (balanced) inputs, used as two stereo channels. That's a bit awkward in terms of mixing. It's not really quite like five mono input channels, which is probably how you are using them.

So, there are compromises here, but hey, we work with what we've got.

I'd put the four microphones into the Fender Passport PD250 so that you can balance the sound with similar controls for similar devices. I'd connect the Behringer RCA out to the Fender Stereo RCA in for the first Stereo channel with an RCA patch cord. I'd plug the three instruments into channels 1, and the left/mono plug for channels 2/3, and the left/mono plug for channels 4/5, so all the instruments will come out of both speakers. If you use the "right" plugs, then those instruments will come out of only the right speaker, and whatever is plugged into the "left" plug will come out of only the left speaker.

You can then plug the CD player into the second stereo channel on the Fender PD 250 using another RCA patch cord.

That should do it, unless your Behringer is one of the models different from the ones I suspect it is. They make a lot of what they call five input mixers, though arguably, they are three channel mixers with two of the inputs being optionally mono or stereo.

Fender would call the PD 250 a six channel board, though I suspect Behringer would call it an eight channel board, since two of the six are stereo. Behringer cheats a little in their descriptions.


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Using Passport PD 250 with external mixer
Posted: Fri Oct 19, 2012 11:47 am
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist

Joined: Tue Oct 09, 2012 12:48 pm
Posts: 2
Thanks a lot for your response. Sorry for not giving you enough information but that comes with my inexperience. To answer your questions, hopefully this will help you to understand what we are trying to do:

1. How is the Behringer connected to the Fender PD250? There are two (2) outputs from the Behringer, labeled, Main Output (L) and (R), that we connected to the Fender inputs on the front of the control panel using 1/4" TS cables.
2. How is CD player connected? Output from CD deck is connected to Behringer front panel Line In connections using 1/4" TS cables.
3. Model of Behringer we are using? XENYX 1002B

I will look at your suggestions for the connections below as to how they relate to our Behringer board and see if I can figure things out. Any further help you could add would be a great help.

Thank you again.


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Using Passport PD 250 with external mixer
Posted: Fri Oct 19, 2012 1:46 pm
Offline
Aspiring Musician
Aspiring Musician

Joined: Wed Feb 16, 2011 7:24 am
Posts: 434
Great. Now, I can look at the owner's manual for both your Behringer mixer and your Fender amp. You gotta love the Internet...

Okay, first, it is good to understand 1/4" cables. Maybe you already do, but just in case... A TS cable has two wires in it. One carries the signal and the other is the ground. This will carry a mono signal with no shielding. So far as I can tell, except for the headphone jack, all the 1/4" ports on the Behringer are intended for this kind of cable. Any stereo signals get carried by a pair of cables; one for left, and one for right.

A TRS cable can be used two different ways. It has three wires. If it is used for a "balanced" signal (like the XLR cable), one wire is the signal, one is the ground, and the third is the shield. This kind of cable is designed to carry a mono signal over a longer distance than you can run an unbalanced (two wire) signal. XLR was designed for this purpose, but more recently, people have used this with 1/4" TRS cables. Functionally, this is exactly like a TS cable, except you can use longer cables IF THE PORT YOU PLUG IT INTO IS DESIGNED FOR BALANCED INPUT. Some are. Some aren't. It's not always obvious. Most people ignore that balanced 1/4" TRS exists as a standard. It's not used often, since TRS does the same thing and is more obvious.

A TRS cable can also be used for a stereo signal, like with the headphones. The three wires are used for a left signal, a right signal, and a ground. ST-1 and ST-2 on your Fender Passport PD250 are stereo 1/4" TRS plugs.

The best way to connect the Behringer into the Fender would be to get adapters that will either take the two 1/4" TS Main outputs (Left and Right) and combine them into one 1/4" TRS stereo plug to go into ST-1 or ST-2 on the Fender. As an alternative, you could use adapters to plug the two 1/4 TS Main Outs on the Behringer into the two RCA ports for ST-1 or ST-2 channels of the Fender PD250. So, you only need to use one stereo channel on the Fender for the connection.

That gives you five channels on the Behringer, plus four mono channels and one stereo channel on the Fender that are available for inputs. As you decide what you want to plug into the Behringer and what you want to plug into the Fender, mostly, I recommend that you put like instruments together. The four vocal mics should either go to the Fender, or the Behringer. The three instruments should go to the other.

It doesn't matter which one you put the CD player in. You have a stereo channel free on both mixers. I would have expected a CD player to use RCA connections, so I would have recommended connecting the CD player to the RCA inputs on either mixer, but you are using two 1/4" TS cables for that, so probably the Behringer is the better choice, since that's not the kind of cable connection the Fender uses. It would use either two RCA connections, or a single 1/4" TRS stereo connection.

You haven't mentioned monitors, so I'll assume you aren't using any.


Top
Profile
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 4 posts ] 

All times are UTC - 7 hours

Fender Play Winter Sale 2020

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 1 guest


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum

Search for:
Jump to: