How to Hook Up a Samson MDR8
- 1). Plug one end of a 1/4-inch cable into the "Left Output" on your synthesizer, drum machine or guitar effects processor, and then into the "Mic/Line 1" input jack at the top-left corner of the mixer's front interface. Plug one end of another 1/4 inch audio cable into the "Right Output" on your instrument, and then into the "Mic/Line 2" input jack on the MDR8. This establishes a line-level input on the mixer's mono channels. Repeat for any other instruments you wish to assign to the remaining two line-level input jacks.
- 2). Connect an XLR cable to the bottom of your microphone and plug the other end of the cable into any of the unused "Mic/Line" input jacks labeled "1" through "4." This establishes a mono connection between your microphone and the mixer console.
- 3). Connect stereo instruments such as synthesizers, drum machines and effects processors to either the "Mic/Line 5/6" or "Mic/Line 7/8" channels. This allows you to connect the instrument's stereo channels to a single stereo mixer channel instead of having to utilize two separate mono channels, as described earlier. Plug one end of a 1/4-inch instrument (TRS) cable into the "Left Output" of the instrument, and into the input jack on either of the two stereo channels. Plug another 1/4-inch instrument (TRS) cable into the "Right Output" jack on the back of your instrument, and the other end into the 1/4-inch"Line In" jacks on either of the two stereo mixer channels. Plug any stereo microphones into these two stereo channels as well.
- 4). Connect the Aux inputs and outputs accordingly. Plug two 1/4-inch instrument cables into the "Aux Out 1" left and right jacks on the MDR8, and then into your amplifier or monitoring system's left and right jacks. This allows for "Monitor Mix" control settings to be made from within the mixer itself. Plug two 1/4-inch instrument cables into the left and right "Aux Out 2" jacks and into an external effects unit's left and right jacks.
- 5). Connect the MDR8's "Control Room left/right" output jacks to your studio reference monitors. Plug one end of a 1/4-inch instrument cable into the "Control Room Right" output jack, and into your right monitor's "Input" jack. Plug one end of another 1/4-inch instrument cable into the "Control Room Left" output jack, and into your left monitor's "Input" jack. This allows you to control the level of external monitoring independently from the Master volume section.
- 6). Connect the Samson MDR8 to a computer soundcard, DAT machine, or cassette recorder by plugging a 1/4-inch instrument cable into the "Left Mix" jack on the front of the mixer console, then into the "Left Input" jack on your soundcard or other recording device. Plug another 1/4-inch instrument cable into the "Right Mix" jack on the front of the mixer, and into the "Right Input" jack on your computer or other recording device.
- 7). Connect the MDR8 to a fixed mono speaker by plugging in a 1/4-inch instrument cable into the "Mono Output" jack on the front of the mixer, and then into the speaker's mono "Input" jack.
- 8). Feed the signal being sent from the mixer into the effects processing unit, back into the Samson MDR8 by plugging two 1/4-inch instrument cables into the left and right "Output" jacks on the processor units, and into either the "AUX 1 Return" or "AUX 2 Return" left and right jacks. This allows you to mix the effects signal to each channel by way of the "Aux Send/Return" knobs.
- 9). Connect a pair of 1/4-inch stereo headphones to the MDR8's "Headphones" jack. This allows the signal being sent through the Control Room channel to be mixed in-ear.
- 10
Plug in the AC cable into the "AC Adapter" jack on the back of the Samson MDR8, and then into an available wall outlet. Push the "MDR8 Power" and "Phantom Power" switches into their "ON" positions, and begin using the mixer as desired for your recording and performance purposes.
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