Jakob Høydal, Arvid Falch, Kristian Wentzel, Joseph Clemente

The Midas M32 is one of the most popular entry-level digital audio mixers. It can do a broad spectrum of functions. Some are useful and others are less functional for the MCT-student’s daily use. In this guide, the most basic functions for understanding a digital mixer-workflow are covered, so you will be prepared to understand how to work with the mixer. Some in-depth functions will also be covered, to make your workflow easier, or to learn more about what you can do with the mixer.

A digital mixer is quite different from an analog mixer, but still it’s also similar to how an analog mixer is constructed. This part of the guide covers how to operate a digital mixer, and how the basic functions of a digital mixer works.

You can access different layers on this mixer for both the inputs and the buses. These layer buttons are located to the left of the input channels for input layers and to the left of the bus channels for the bus layers. Once a layer is selected, the mixer will display the levels of that specific layer as previously saved. You can view the input layers below.

As you can see, the four different layers are inputs 1-16, inputs 17-32, AUX in USB, and the bus master. You can view the bus layers below.

For our purposes, the most important layers here are bus 1-8, bus 9-16, and group dca 1-8.

While working on each different channel of the mixer, be sure that the “SEL” button on the top is lit up. This is the select button, and it allows you to make adjustments to the channel that is selected, as well as the channel that it is linked to.

Once the select button is activated, every control on the upper portion of the mixer to the left of the screen will affect the selected channel. This includes config/preamp, gate, dynamics, equalizer, bus sends, recorder, and the main bus.

Linking channels will link a currently selected even-numbered channel with the channel one higher than it. When this happens, both channels will share the exact same functionality and settings, including volume and everything on the upper left side of the mixer. To link channels, start on the “Home” screen and find the “Link” command on the bottom left.

Once you press the button, you will receive a warning (shown below), and after you confirm, both channels will be linked. You can follow the same process to unlink the channels as well.

Maybe the most useful function in a digital mixer is the ability to recall and store shows. This means that all your settings, faders and so on will be saved so it can be recalled. On the M32, this is quite easy since it has its own dedicated buttons for it. Under the Talkback function on the right side of the mixer, we have Show Control. If you hit View, a screen will show. Here you can load and save scenes from the mixers local memory, or from a USB drive. The USB comes in handy when you want to take a show to a different mixer. Remember: Do not overwrite shows that are custom for the mixer. There are plenty of available slots to save your file.

Once you decide what a channel will be used for, you may name the channel, give it a corresponding icon, and color code it for convenience and ease of use. To start you must go to the “Setup” menu.

On the left side, you can easily change the color and symbol, as well as changing the channel you’re editing as you go. On the right, you can change the name of the channel. Once you press the rightmost knob, a keyboard will appear that will allow you to type the new name.

To access channel processing, be sure to push SEL on the channel you wish to process. The channel processing is accessed on the top left on the mixer. Also remember that to activate the channel processing you will have to press the corresponding button, for example EQ for equalizer or GATE for the gate. You can dial in any changes on the channel processing panels, but unless the main button of each panel is selected the changes will not affect the signal. When the button is lit you will be able to audition the processing. This is great for A/B listening. You can also view your processing on the screen, press VIEW on the panel you’re working on to see what you are doing visually.

On this panel you can control the input gain, add phantom power (48v) and polarity flip the signal if there are phase issues. There’s also a hipass filter (LOW CUT) which is not part of the designated EQ setup.

A traditional gate with expander and ducking functions. Press VIEW for more functionalities in the display.

A compressor/limiter. From this panel you can control the threshold. Press VIEW to get more control and functions in the display.

The GATE and DYNAMICS also share a meter displaying the threshold for the gate and gain reduction for the compressor.

4 band EQ. Separated into Low, Lo Mid, Hi Mid and High. Width sets the Q factor, then dial in the frequency and add or decrease gain. The different modes are set with the MODE button and resemble traditional Low pass, High pass and Band Pass filters.

Here you can send your selected channel to any bus the old fashioned way. Because the buses are stereo tracks, button 1/3 controls how much you send to the stereo bus and button 2/4 controls panning. Look further down in the Buses section to learn how to do it the easy way.

This panel is for sending to the stereo mix. When an input channel is selected you have to press MAIN STEREO on this panel to send the audio to the main stereo out. This should be the first step in troubleshooting when you're unable to hear a signal.

PORTAL TIP: To avoid feedback in the portal, we do not send the microphones to the main stereo output, just to the zoom bus.

Buses are output tracks that are sent out of the mixer. We can select which and how much of the input channels we want to send to a bus. In the portal we use buses to send audio to zoom or Lola (the RME). There are 16 buses on the Midas, but as we usually send stereo tracks out of the mixer it is more convenient to think of them as 8 stereo buses. Push SEL to select your bus (select bus 1 and bus 2 will be automatically selected as well), then push FADER FLIP. Now you can determine how much you want to send from each input channel just by moving their faders. Also, if you ever wonder what is being sent to a bus, just push SEL (the bus you want to inspect), > FADER FLIP, and the faders will automatically display the level at which they are sent to the bus. Buses are sent as they are, i.e. you cannot apply any signal processing to the buses. Buses are great for dedicated monitor mixes.

DCA groups are a simple way to control the volume of any group of tracks. The fader of a DCA group is only a control signal, so there are no stereo tracks in the DCA. Use one DCA for each group you need to control. To access and choose which input channels to control with a DCA group, press and hold (important) SEL and then press SEL on the input channels you wish to control with the DCA fader. You can choose as many as you want. This enables you to set a balanced mix on the input channels but still be able to reduce or increase the volume on the group as a whole without losing the balance between the tracks. DCA groups can also contain FX tracks. There are 8 DCA groups on the MIDAS,

In addition to the dual dynamics and EQ section of each channel strip, the Midas M32 includes 16 FX “plug-ins” accessible from the display screen. You can also use external effects via the AUX in/out section behind the console. Here is a tutorial in how you can add FX to your channels or busses in Midas:

The Midas M32 has 8 stereo signal processing effects engines under the hood, which is accessed via the display screen. Here you can choose between 16 FX “plug-ins”. These effects can be assigned to any input, group, or output mix bus. The M32 use 40-bit floating point digital signal processing. Most of the effects are based on physical modeling of classic audio hardware. The effects also include a 31-band graphical EQ which can be controlled with the motorized faders. Below is also an overview of the different effects included.

You access and choose effects by pressing the [EFFECTS] button among the ‘Screen Selection Buttons’ to the right of the main display. In the Effects screen, you select which effect is to be used for each of the 8 different effect slots. Here you can configure their input and output paths, monitor the levels, and adjust the different effect parameters.

NB! FX 1-4 can be insert or side-chain effects. FX 5-8 are insert only – you cannot put reverbs here, or some of the power-intensive effects.

The EFFECTS screen controls various aspects of the eight effects processors. On this screen the user can select specific types of effects for the eight internal effects processors, configure their input and output paths, monitor their levels, and adjust the various effects parameters.

The EFFECTS screen contains the following separate tabs:

home: The home screen provides a general overview of the virtual effects rack, displaying what effect has been inserted in each of the eight slots, as well as displaying input/output paths for each slot and the I/O signal levels.

fx1-8: These eight duplicate screens display all of the relevant data for the eight separate effects processors, allowing the user to adjust all parameters for the selected effect.

As stated in the user manual, the Effects section is divided into different tabs. We have the ‘home’ tab, and a tab for each of the different effect slots. (‘fx1’ through ‘fx8’). The ‘home’ tab shows a high-level overview of the eight effect processor slots. Here you can choose effects for each slot and see an overview of which effect you have assigned to which source/destination, together with its input and output volume. You can also mute the effect from this page

Below are two step-by-step tutorials in how to choose a side-chain/send effect and an insert effect. Reverb and delays are typical send effects, while compressors and EQ are typical insert effects.

For the send effect, I’m going to use mix bus 7-8 and choose a reverb on slot 1 as an example:

1. Scroll the sixth encoder so that it highlights the first slot ‘fx1’.
2. Scroll the fifth encoder to the ‘Hall Reverb’ and press the encoder to confirm.
3. Scroll the first encoder to choose Bus 7 (left input) and press the encoder to choose. Then scroll the second encoder to choose Bus 8 (right input) and press to choose.
   • You can set both inputs to the same channel for mono input to stereo output. For this example, we assume you want to add reverb to a stereo source.
4. Pressing the third and/or fourth encoder will mute the effect.
5. Press the sixth encoder or press the right arrow to jump to the ‘fx1’ tab for setting the parameters of the reverb.
6. Send every channel you want to have reverb to mix bus 7 and 8 by using the ‘Bus Sends’ of the chosen channels.
   • For mono sources (vocals etc), send the channel to both bus 7 and 8.
   • For stereo sources (keyboards, laptop etc), send the left channel to bus 7 and the right channel to bus 8

For the input effect, I’m going to choose a compressor on slot 5 as an example:

1. Scroll the sixth encoder so that it highlights the fifth slot ‘fx5’.
2. Scroll the fifth encoder to the ‘Leisure Compressor’ and press the encoder to confirm.
3. Scroll the first encoder to choose which channel you want to place the compressor. Choose another channel with the second encoder for stereo input, alternatively leave it ‘Off’.
4. Pressing the third and/or fourth encoder will deactivate (mute) the insert.
5. Press the sixth encoder or press the right arrow repeatedly to jump to the ‘fx5’ tab for setting the parameters of the compressor.
6. If you want insert effects on slot 1-4, you choose ‘Insert’ as the source with the first and second encoder.
7. When using insert effects on slot 1-4, you will have to view the channel settings for the channel you want to insert the effect.
8. Go to the ‘Config’ tab of the chosen channel, then select and press Fx5L:LEC with the sixth encoder. For stereo effects, select and press Fx5R:LEC on the second (right) channel.
9. Press the fifth encoder to activate the insert and scroll it to place the insert Post or Pre the EQ/Dynamics block.
   • You can also choose to set inserts for FX 5-8 via the channel view.

TIP: When in the ‘Effects’ screen, you can press the [UTILITY] button to the right of the screen to save and load presets for the different FX slots.

You can also choose the Main M/C as sources for FX slots 1-4 in addition to Insert and Mix Bus 1-16. For FX slots 5-8 you can choose Main M/C, Main LR, Matrix 1-6 in addition to the 32 Channels and 16 Mix Buses

If you want to use external hardware to process the channels on the Midas M32, you can use the 6 AUX in/outs behind the console for send/return of external effects. Such external effects could be rack/outboard units, guitar effect pedals or analog synthesizers with Audio In for using its analog filter, among others.

Here is an example of how to connect an external chorus pedal to the M32 as an insert through AUX 1-2:

1. Plug AUX Out 1-2 to the Left and Right Inputs of your chorus pedal respectively.
   • Just use AUX 1 if the external effect only has a mono input.
2. Plug the Left and Right Output of your chorus pedal back to the AUX In 1-2 respectively.
   • Just use AUX 1 if the external effect only has a mono output.
3. When using external effects as inserts, you will have to view the channel settings for the channel you want to insert the effect. This is the same procedure as for inserting the internal effects.
4. Go to the ‘Config’ tab of the chosen channel, then select and press ‘AUX 1’ with the sixth encoder. For stereo effects, select and press ‘AUX 2’ on the second (right) channel.
5. Press the fifth encoder to activate the insert and scroll it to place the effect Post or Pre the EQ/Dynamics block.

Here is a list of some of the included effects with the original hardware inspiration or description in parenthesis. Some might have been replaced on newer firmware.

• Leisure Compressor (Teletronix’ LA-2A Leveling Amplifier)

• Ultimo Compressor (1176LN Limiting Amplifier)

• Fair Compressor (Fairchild 670 Tube Compressor)

• Combinator (5-band multiband compressor)

• XTEC EQ1 (Pultec EQP-1a)

• XTEC EQ5 (Pultec MEQ5)

• Sub Octaver (Sub-harmonics generation)

• Edison EX1 (Stereo field manipulation)

• Sound Maximizer (Sonic Maximizer 482i)

• Dimensional Chorus (Roland Dimension-D)

• Modulation Delay (Delay/Chorus/Reverb)

• Lexicon 480L (Lexicon 480L – Rich Plate, Room, Rich Chamber)

• Exciters (Aphex Aural Exciter) & Enhancers (SPL Vitalizer)

• TruEQ Stereo GEQ (Klark Teknik DN360)

This 31-band Graphical EQ (with master fader) can be controlled by the M32’s motorized faders, with channel LCDs showing the corresponding filter frequencies!

• Vintage room (Quantec QRS)

• Plate Reverb (Lexicon PCM70)

• 3-Tap Delay (Stereo tap-delay with sub-divisions)

• Hall Reverb (Lexicon 480L)

• Flanger & Delay (Lexicon PCM70)

• Wave Designer (SPL Transient Designer)

• Stereo Precision Limiter (Sony Oxford Dynamics)

• De-Esser (SPL 1239)

• Vintage Reverb (EMT250 Plate Reverb)

• Chorus & Chamber (Lexicon PCM70)

As the Midas M32 keep getting more powerful from firmware updates since it’s release in 2014, the above list is no longer complete. Below is a table of all the included effects as of firmware 4.06:

Reverbs

• Hall Reverb
• Ambience
• Rich Plate Reverb
• Room Reverb
• Chaber Reverb
• Plate Reverb
• Vintage Reverb
• Vintage Room
• Gated Reverb

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• Reverse Reverb

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Delays

• Stereo Delay
• Triple Delay
• Rhythm Delay

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Modulation

• Stereo Chorus
• Stereo Flanger
• Stereo Phaser
• Dimension-C
• Mood Filter
• Rotary Speaker
• Tremolo / Panner
• Subovtaver
• Delay + Chamber
• Chorus + Chamber
• Flanger + Chamber
• Delay + Chorus
• Delay + Flanger
• Modulation Delay

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Equalizers

• Dual Graphic EQ
• Stereo Graphic EQ
• Dual TruEQ
• Dual DeEsser
• Stereo DeEsser
• Stereo Xtec EQ1
• Dual Xtec EQ1
• Stereo Xtec EQ5
• Stereo Xtec EQ5 Dynamics
• Wave Designer
• Precision Limiter
• Combinator
• Dual Combinator
• Fair Comp
• M/S Fair Comp
• Dual Fair Comp
• Leisure Comp
• Dual Leisure Comp
• Ultimo Comp
• Dual Ultimo Comp
• Dual Enhancer
• Stereo Enhancer
• Dual Exciter
• Stereo Exciter

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Imaging

• Stereo Imager
• Edison EX1
• Sound Maxer

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Harmonics

• Dual Guitar Amp
• Stereo Guitar Amp
• Dual Tube Stage
• Stereo Tube Stage

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Pitch

• Dual Pitch Shifter
• Stereo Pitch

To route in the M32, you push the “routing” button to the left of the screen. When routing, you can only route in octet blocks. This means that you can only route in blocks of eight for source, and can't split them up in smaller blocks.

Input

• Local
  • XLR inputs on the mixer
• AES50
  • Stageboxes connected through the AES50 socket on the back
• Card
  • The chosen expansion card. USB card installed in the MCT mixer.

When using the portal for telematic music performance, it will probably be desirable that every musician use headphones for monitoring to avoid feedback issues. This can be done by sending two buses through XLR Out to a headphone amplifier.

1. Choose two unused Mix Buses for routing to the headphone amplifier. For this example, we’ll use Mix Bus 7-8 for Left and Right. Then send all desired channels to either or both Mix Buses.
   • By default, Mix Bus 1-14 is routed to XLR Out 1-14 respectively. XLR 15-16 are linked to Main Out L+R. In the Portal, we usually use Mix Bus 1-2 for sending to Zoom, and Mix Bus 8-9 for sending to RME Input 1-8.
   • In the Portal, XLR Out 1-8 are physically connected to Stage Box 1 by the screens, and XLR Out 9-16 are physically connected to Stage Box 2 by the RME Interface and LoLa PC.
2. If you want to change Post/Pre EQ (for Mix Bus 1-8) or Post/Pre Fader (for Mix Bus 9-16), you can do this in the ‘Sends’ tab of a channel. You’ll probably want your monitoring to be Pre Fader. All Mix Buses 1-8 are Pre Fader, but be sure to check this setting when using Mix Buses 9-16.

Besides using the faders and buttons on the mixer, the M32 can also be controlled by using a computer or tablet. This makes the mixer available on any computer or tablet on the same network, so you can change almost all parameters without being physically beside the mixer. BUT this applies only to parameters you are using while mixing. This means that you can't change settings or configurations remotely.

For doing remote control, you need to connect the device to the mixer. This can be a wifi router or a switch. You plug the router, switch or wifi access point through the “Ethernet” RJ45-plug on the back side of the mixer. The other end of the cat5/6/7 cable should be plugged in one of the LAN ports, not WAN on your router. On the M32 go to Setup and go to the Network tab. From here you can assign IP-adress, Subnet Mask and Gateway manually or automatically. This depends on how you want to configure it, but if you are using a stand-alone router/access point, the easiest is to let the M32 decide what parameters it wants to use itself. This is done easily by pushing the DHCP button on the bottom left. On your tablet or computer, open the M32 program, available on the Midas website or in the App Store. For computers the program is called M32 Edit, and in the App Store the app is called M32 Mix. In the M32 Edit or M32 Mix application, you connect to the same network as the mixer is connected to, launch the application/program and type in the same IP-address as the M32 defined in the “Network” tab.

Now you have complete control over all the basic mix-functions and routing functions.

Sending and receiving audio from a Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) is fairly easy on the M32. You can both record 32 channels from the M32 and use it as a sound interface, or you can send 32 channels to the M32 to use something called “Virtual Soundcheck”. Virtual Soundcheck (VS) can be used to pre-produce and pre-mix audio stems, that you will later mix live. It’s also handy when you want to get to know the mixer, and experiment on it. VS lets you play around and get the mix you want, without using sources that's linear/live. To set up a virtual soundcheck, you first have to connect your computer to the M32. This can be done easily through the usb-card on the back of the M32. You also have to configure the routing in the mixer. To do this, you go to Routing, select Input from the tabs, and select the channels you want to have input from the card.

Then you have to be in DAW Control. This is done by going to Setup, selecting Remote in the tabs, and enable “REMOTE BUTTON” in the bottom left. You can also change between playback or recording. This can be changed in the bottom left, where it says Record and Play. This enables either virtual soundcheck or record mode from the DAW/computer.

There are multiple ways of doing talkback to the sources in the mixer. But the easiest way is to use the in-built talkback. Here you have multiple functions built in already, so you can configure the talkback to whatever bus or output you want. The in-built talkback function is located on the top right side of the mixer. Here we have two channels, Talk A and Talk B. We also have a XLR microphone input, a level control, and a view button. The view button shows a page on the monitor, so you can control where and how the talkback sends.

At the monitor, you can see we can assign the talkbacks to different locations. Since we have two channels, we can assign Talk A differently to Talk B. This is done in the tabs at Talkback A and B. Talkback destinations assign where you send it. Latching means that you only tap the Talk A or B once to latch it. If this isn’t enabled, you tap-to-talk Talk A or B to talk.

To the right of the mixer, you have function buttons. On the mixer, they are called Assign. You can configure these buttons to control different parameters in the mixer. This includes effects, sends, MIDI, remote, mute and more. This is handy when you want to change parameters easily without going into menus and configurations. You also have three layers of function buttons. This is Layer A, B and C. Each layer can contain its own functions.

To configure these buttons, you hit the view button on the bottom right of the Assign area. The monitor will now show the configure window for all of the function-buttons. As you can see in the image below, you can set all of the buttons to do it’s own thing over three layers. To change function buttons in a different layer, select the tab Set A, B and C.

After reading this guide, we hope you will know how to operate the most basic functions, and some more advanced functions. Of course this guide does not cover all of the features the Midas M32 has, and you will stumble upon challenges. The best way to learn how the mixer works is to use it. Ask other students, and you can together discover how to solve a challenge.