Filter
Top Products
it with your speakers and see if they sound
better with it or without it.
Below these switches is a¥nine‡band
graphic equaliser with bands set at 125Hz,
250Hz, 500Hz, 1kHz,2kHz, 4kHz,8kHz and
16kHz, all with a¥+/‡12dB range.The
equaliser affects the main stereo output
and the stereo line output, and because the
controls are stereo there’s no way to use
different EQ settings on the main and
monitor outputs when the mixer is used in
‘mono plus monitor’ mode.The graphic EQ
can be bypassed when not needed, and
though nine bands is far too few to use for
accurate feedback suppression, it is useful
for compensating for room or speaker
characteristics in a¥fairly general way.
A stereo bargraph meter in the master
section monitors the two master channels,
and directly below this is the headphone
level control and the stereo Sub Out level
control, which also has both PFL and AFL
switches.This output essentially duplicates
the main stereo output but has
independent level control, so if you were to
drive an additional power amp and speakers
from it, you could control the level
independently of the other speakers driven
directly from the EMX5000’s amplifier.
Test driving
With a¥mixer like this, I¥look for clarity of
interface, quiet mic amps and
good‡sounding EQ, as well as bomb‡proof
construction. On all counts the EMX5000
comes out well, and the mid‡band EQ is
particularly adept at tuning out honky
mid‡range artifacts, though I’d still have
liked more low range on the sweep control.
A¥small gripe is that the headphones always
monitor the PFL/AFL buss, rather than being
switchable to various useful sources, though
in live‡sound situations the former is usually
enough to manage with.
I’ve tested several other mixers with
built‡in effects, and it comes as a¥pleasant
surprise to find one with such
good‡sounding effects — including reverbs
whose decay time can be tamed to a¥useful
degree,using the Parameter knob.Also,
having two sets of effects makes it easy to
combine different effects, to allocate
different effects to different mixer
channels, or to set up two different vocal
treatments and then switch between them
very easily. Another very nice feature which
the manual rather underplays is that any
change you make to the parameter knob for
an effect is remembered when you change
patches. I¥also checked what happened
when the mixer was powered down — and
it came back up with my modified effects
settings still intact! In other words, you get
a¥degree of programmability without having
to go through any save or load routines.I’d
have felt happier with a¥clip LED at the input
to the effects processors but, despite piling
on a¥lot of send level, I¥never actually
managed to coax any audible distortion
from the effects.
The graphic equaliser
works as well as any
nine‡band equaliser can
be expected to and is
certainly better than
nothing when struggling
with feedback problems,
though it is really of
more use for general
room‡sound tailoring.
However, I¥think Yamaha
have missed a¥trick by
not providing two sets
of mono controls, so
that one equaliser could
be used in the monitor path and one in the
main when operating in ‘main plus monitor’
mode. Some users may also bemoan the
fact that not all the line outputs are
balanced, but that’s rarely a¥problem in the
kind of rigs this type of mixer is typically
used in.
Aside from these fairly minor
observations, I¥have to say that I¥really
enjoyed trying out this mixer. It has oodles
of clean power, made all the more useful by
the built-in limiters, it has an integral filter
for feeding a¥sub, which makes life very
easy if you have a¥spare sub‡woofer and
power amp but no electronic crossover, and
the effects are excellent. It also feels
reassuring, in that everything is set out
clearly, there are few (if any) features that
aren’t needed, and it’s built like a¥tank. I¥also
think the faders feel good, and though
they’re not a¥full 100mm, 75mm somehow
feels a¥lot longer than the basic 60mm
faders usually offered as an alternative.
Operating the EMX mixers is simplicity itself
for anyone who’s ever used a¥mixer before,
and I¥think the inclusion of switchable
power limits is a¥really great idea for anyone
who may not take all of their speakers to all
of their gigs. If you have passive speakers
and need up to a¥kilowatt of power to drive
them, as well as a¥requirement for a¥live
mixer with great effects, the EMX range
could be just what you need.ß
November 2004
SOUND ON SOUND LIVE
Active crossover: A¥crossover is an electronic
circuit designed to separate high‡ and
low‡frequency signals from each other so that
each can be fed to speakers optimised for the
role — ie.large and robust for bass,small and
light (and therefore fast) for high frequencies.If
a¥crossover is placed between the power amps
and the speakers (usually built into the
speakers), it is said to be ‘passive’.An ‘active’
crossover is used to divide signals before the
power amps,so separate amps are then used for
each band,further adding to efficiency.
Crossovers can be two‡way,simply splitting
highs and lows; three‡way,adding a¥mid band;
and ocasionally four‡way.
PFL/AFL: Pre‡Fade Listen/After‡Fade Listen.On
a¥live sound desk,pressing the PFL switch on
a¥channel will allow its signal to be heard in the
engineer’s headphone mix in isolation.The
channel fader position has no effect on this,as
the signal is picked up from before the fader in
the circuit,allowing a¥source to be identified
and checked for quality before introducing it
into the mix.AFL does the same thing,but
derives its signal after the fader.
Bridging: A¥method of achieving more output
from a¥power amp.If the same signal is applied
to two channels of an amplifier,one of them
with opposite polarity,a¥speaker ouput can be
derived between the positive output of one
channel and the negative of the other,allowing
the amp to apply twice the voltage across the
load.
Jargon explained
Part of the master section,
showing the clearly laid‡out
dual effects processors (far
left).One parameter of each
selected effect is available for
tweaking via the Parameter
knobs.At the top right you can
see the power amp controls,
with limiters.Below them is the
nine‡band graphic equaliser
section.