Got this question from an Element user this AM (but it applies to SmartSurface consoles as well):
Over the last few days we have had the following occur, when a studio puts a phone caller(reporter) to air the caller can hear our traffic and or weather anchor filing a report, the traffic/weather reporter console fader is off. My question , are the mix minus channels pre-fader? If so, can these channels be set to post fader? This errant audio occurs during our ISDN outside broadcasts(OB) too.
Our Support team answers:
If the Mix Minus backfeed option sent to the caller is set to AUTO, the caller will hear a PRE FADER/PRE ON/OFF feed of any source that is loaded to the Program 4 (Record) bus when the caller's fader is turned OFF.
To keep this from happening, set the FEED TO SOURCE mode to a fixed bus, such as Program 1, 2 etc., so that the channel MUST be ON and potted UP for the caller to hear that source in the Mix Minus.
You can do this by selecting Options-->Feed To Source on the fader whose backfeed you want to change. Or, to make it permanent, you can edit this option in the phone hybrid's Source Profile and/or Show Profile.
I found there are a lot of Engineers having challenges with understanding the Axia "MixMinus". It is a rather large jump from the previous consoles that many engineers are accustom to, so allow me to explain…
Each source that is configured in the studio (ELEMENT) has a “Feed to Source” option. This feed to source can be considered what many of us have known as the “Mix Minus”. Some facilities, with their analog consoles, have designated the AUD buss as the feed to the Phone Hybrid or perhaps you had a console that actually had a Telco output and dip switches for each channel module. Here at the source profile setup, the user can designate which mix in the Engine would be “Copied” and the source itself would not be included and this mix would be available to be sent to the source. For example, say I selected the “Program 1” option in this field for an ISDN device I was configuring to be used in the studio. This would tell the system to take a look at all channels that are active in the PGM-1 mix while ignoring the source itself (so as not to include it) and sum these together and this is now an audio stream that I can have routed to the OUTPUT of a node that “Feed (audio) to Source”. So now I have a mix minus that is based off all the audio that is on the PGM-1 buss and goes to the remote location. Also note that the PGM-1 buss is a mix of audio that is POST-fader and POST-button. You should be able notice that there are other options other the Program 1 and that all of these follow the same rule of POST-fader and -button, except one… the “PHONE” option. The Phone option is another mix that copies what channels are engaged to PGM-4 but the mix is PRE-fader and PRE-button. So, all channels that have the PGM-4 button engaged, have that particular source feeding into the PHONE mix (since there is no consideration of ON/OFF button state or fader state). This mix is useful for telephone hybrids when wishing to speak with callers OFF AIR. You may also notice the first option, AUTO (PGM1/PHONE)… this is a cool little option that uses both the PGM-1 buss and the PHONE mix, depending on the state of the source. Example, I have my hybrid configured for a “Feed to Source” = Auto and when I take a call OFF AIR, the music from my automation system is playing and I have the caller in Preview and I have a normal conversation with them (record it as well, a whole different entry to the forum). No need to worry about if my mic is on or that they are not in PGM-1 so the conversation goes over the air… just that my mic channel has PGM4 engaged and the caller’s channel is engaged in PGM4, no need to turn any channel on or control levels. Now, if I have the Mayor of my fine city on the phone and I want to do a live conversation, just turn both channels on, the Axia system now makes a mix based off of what is on PGM1… this is what the AUTO(PGM1/PHONE) option means, when the phone source is OFF, the mix comes from PHONE, if the phone source is ON, the mix comes from PGM1.
