RCF M18

[Heat]

3 hours ago, EBS_freak said:

Generally you won't want reverb in your monitor mixes, especially when singers are involved as it can throw off the ability to pitch. Anyway, what you'll need to do is put the fx return into your aux mix.

Thanks for your reply, really appreciate it. I guess it’s a personal thing, but our female lead singer likes reverb in her vocal mix. I’m new to the M18, so I’m not sure how to put the fx return into the Aux mix……..could you tell/ show me how this is done in the App please.

 

Thank you

 

UPDATE

 

I think I’ve solved to conundrum. Aux 5 and Aux 6 have an extra feature under each slider that can be changed from Pre to Post. (See pics) so I assume this will resolve the problem with FX in two of the monitors. 

Edited October 24, 2021 by Heat

[P-T-P]

I think, on each aux mix you are using for monitoring, swipe to the far end and turn up the fx1/2/3 faders as needed.

 

 

[EBS_freak]

On 24/10/2021 at 15:59, Heat said:

Thanks for your reply, really appreciate it. I guess it’s a personal thing, but our female lead singer likes reverb in her vocal mix. I’m new to the M18, so I’m not sure how to put the fx return into the Aux mix……..could you tell/ show me how this is done in the App please.

 

Thank you

 

UPDATE

 

I think I’ve solved to conundrum. Aux 5 and Aux 6 have an extra feature under each slider that can be changed from Pre to Post. (See pics) so I assume this will resolve the problem with FX in two of the monitors. 

 

For monitoring, you want everything to be pre fader - this means that if you change the sliders on the front of house mix, it doesn't impact your monitor mixes. If you have mixes as post fader, then changes out front will impact your monitor mixes... which is obviously not ideal. 

[EBS_freak]

11 hours ago, P-T-P said:

I think, on each aux mix you are using for monitoring, swipe to the far end and turn up the fx1/2/3 faders as needed.

 

 

That's the one!

[Al Krow]

On 26/08/2021 at 14:43, Phil Starr said:

I thought I'd just do an update with a bit of a review. I've had a couple of months with the M18 and I'm really happy with it so far. The first thing to say is that the sound is superb, the mic pre's work really well. We are using decent mics Sennheiser 935's and Shure Beta 58's plus a £200ish EV and the quality shouts out at this level. The learning curve is really short, we had a mix up inside an hour and a day later I had set up a mix for my second band based on what I'd learned from the first and at rehearsal it worked first time, I barely had to touch levels and didn't need to touch anything else. The phone app for mixing your own monitor mix is faultless and it's all just so easy. Some nice bass sounds using the supplied emulators too but I'll stick to using my Zoom for the time being. No dropouts at all with the built in router and I can still mix two rooms away way, better connectivity than anything else in this 400 year old house. I've yet to report any niggles so far. I haven't had a chance to use it at a gig, we've either had hired PA or been cancelled at the last minute but I'll report back when I have.

 

Phil - been catching up on this thread and playing catch up more generally as you will have spotted from the FRFR thread! As you rightly advised on there, Step 1 is about getting a decent digital mixer and I suspect we're about to follow you down the RCF M18 path. My takeaway from this thread is that compared to the "staple" brand of the Behringer XR18, the M18 has:

• a less steep learning curve / more "plug and play";
• app a little less glitchy on the RCF than the Behringer;
• (much) better router (can fix this by plugging an external router for the Behringer);
• can control via your phone (as you can the Behringer I assume?)

The key benefits of the Behringer XR18:

• (much) better multi-track recording unit;
• steeper learning but more options once you've got to grips with it;
• better if you're going to fully mic-up the drum kit.

I only really had one further question about the RCF M18, but I think you've answered it when you said: "The phone app for mixing your own monitor mix is faultless and it's all just so easy". I take that to mean each band member (up to 6) can have their own tailored mix so the singers can boost the vocals and bass players can give more weight to the backline and drums etc.?

Edited October 26, 2021 by Al Krow

[EBS_freak]

Phil is right, the learning curve of the RCF is a lot quicker than the Behringer.

 

Just to add... Another massive key benefit of the XR18 over pretty much every similar format mixer, is the inclusion of ultranet - if you want to go down that route.

Edited October 27, 2021 by EBS_freak

[Phil Starr]

35 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

 

Phil - been catching up on this thread and playing catch up more generally as you will have spotted from the FRFR thread! As you rightly advised on there, Step 1 is about getting a decent digital mixer and I suspect we're about to follow you down the RCF M18 path. My takeaway from this thread is that compared to the "staple" brand of the Behringer XR18, the M18 has:

• a less steep learning curve / more "plug and play";
• app a little less glitchy on the RCF than the Behringer;
• (much) better router (can fix this by plugging an external router for the Behringer);
• can control via your phone (as you can the Behringer I assume?)

The key benefits of the Behringer XR18:

• (much) better multi-track recording unit;
• steeper learning but more options once you've got to grips with it;
• better if you're going to fully mic-up the drum kit.

I only really had one further question about the RCF M18, but I think you've answered it when you said: "The phone app for mixing your own monitor mix is faultless and it's all just so easy". I take that to mean each band member (up to 6) can have their own tailored mix so the singers can boost the vocals and bass players can give more weight to the backline and drums etc.?

Yes that's pretty much it Al. Limited but fool proof which is what I was looking for. And yes you can have six phones all doing their own mixes or you can do it for the technophobes if they need it. The reality is that once they have their mix you just save it. The best bit for me is the software, the simple menu structure and the sheer reliability/ease of use of the sliders. One tap on the screen gives you 1db adjustment and as most of your adjustments are of that order it's hard to completely mess up the mix or your playing. It's actually easier than physical sliders in practice, which was my only worry about going digital. 

 

You can trial the software for both by just downloading for free and it was trying that which convinced me the M18 is just more sorted for live work. If I was a sound engineer mixing someone else FOH I'd probably have gone for the Behringer but I'm a bassist standing at the back. having said that any of these mixers offer you so much more processing power than you'll have ever had on stage before.

 

To be accurate the Behringer does offer multi track recording but the M18 doesn't, just the stereo mix. If I do decide to record our live performances multitrack I'll probably go and buy the X18. In the meantime the M18 does all I need and if I sell it I'll make most of the cost back I can see a place for both or maybe an M18 for pub gigs and an X32 for posh. The M18 though is the perfect engineering solution for my needs with 4 or 5 piece bands playing mainly pub gigs

[DaytonaRik]

I found this video a while ago and sums up why these mixers are just so damned good!!!