Do I really need a mixer?

A close-up shot of the faders on a mixer

1) What is a mixer?

An audio mixer is used to control the microphone’s volume (or other inputs connected, such as keyboards and guitars). It allows you to increase or decrease the volume of the microphone to the speaker easily.

The mixer can also do much more than that, such as adding effects and EQ, but the primary purpose is to control the volume of any equipment that it is connected to.

2) Do I need a mixer?

You might be wondering why we include a mixer if all you need is just one microphone.

Without a mixer, you will need to reach up to the speaker just to adjust the volume. It can be quite tiresome, especially if you need to make changes quickly.

Also, as the speakers typically only have one or two inputs, you will need a mixer if you wish to connect more equipment (such as a laptop or an instrument).

Some of our most popular sound system packages come included with a mixer, which we think you will agree is very useful for any sound system.

3) How do I adjust the volume?

Here is an example of a small mixer, the Yamaha MG06X.

The yellow circle indicates the input for Channel 1. This is where we plug in the microphone.

The red circle shows the level knob. You can control the volume of the microphone that is plugged into Channel 1. Turning clockwise increases the volume, while turning anti-clockwise decreases the volume.

If there are more inputs, you can control them with the respective level knob.

If you would like to modify the overall volume of the speakers, you can adjust the green knob accordingly. The stereo level knob controls the output of all the devices connected to the mixer.

Similarly, on a mixer which has faders instead of knobs, you adjust them the same way.

The yellow circle indicates the input for Channel 1, where we usually plug a microphone in.

The red box is where we adjust the volume for Channel 1. Pushing it upwards increases the volume, while pulling it downwards decreases the volume.

The green box controls the output volume of all the channels. If it is just too loud overall, you can reduce the pull it downwards to reduce the output volume.

Now that you know the purpose of a mixer and how to adjust the volume, you can go forth and be make volume changes easily during a dry rental.