Mackie CFX mixer tips

[lg]

I have a CFX12 which I've generally just used as a submixer when recording drums & keyboards. I had the opportunity to do a small live gig the other evening and tried it the first time in that context. When I've used it in the past, I've always run my signal out the 4 sub output jacks, and have never been able to hear the onboard effects module when going out these jacks, which was fine anyway, as those effects seemed pretty coarse for my tracking purposes- though I always thought it was a bit peculiar that this didn't seem an option.

Well, since in this scenario I was actually feeding a PA through the main outs, I became aware that going though that part of the mixer, there seems to be no way to switch OFF the internal effects, so that I could get a 100% dry signal. This seemed just nuts, and I am convinced I was doing something wrong- I've scoured the manual to find any mention on how to do this, but to no avail- there's a "bypass switch" in the effects section that, rather than sending the dry signal past the module and out, as one would assume, basically just cuts the signal completely (maybe this unit's f'd up?). Also, rolling each channel's effects send down cuts the signal out completely as well, so I ended up just running a spring reverb on the lowest setting, and feeding the smallest signal through the internal effects send, boosting the signal elsewhere. This was a real compromise, and consequently I think the sound really suffered.

Anyway, if someone out there has this mixer and uses it this way (main outs)without effects, I'd love to know how they do it.

Gracias all.

[amishsixstringer]

I used to own a CFX20 and got rid of it for many reasons. 3 preamps were blown within a week of the time recieving it, the effects are god awful, and crosstalk was a huge problem. Anyhow, there is no way to put any of the aux effects into the subouts, which is just stupid, but I was able to hit "bypass" on the FX section and it bypassed the effects, but signal still passed. Perhaps you have a bad board. It doesn't seem uncommon that they're messed up. Good luck.


Neil

[lg]

yeah, i got it on the advice of someone i realized later didn't really know all that much. mackie, though they produce a ton of relatively inexpensive gear, did strike me as a reasonably quality-driven company, given their market niche (certainly better than behringer, though maybe that's not saying a lot). i've really not had any problems with the board up until now, so i guess it's been fine for my needs. sorry you had a bad experience. fwiw i've not noticed any crosstalk, but i agree the effects are pretty useless...