User Manual

Master Fader and My Fader Reference Guide

Chapter 6 : Mixer View : Subgroups and VCAs

Introduction

The previous chapter was an in-depth look at channel faders with a super-duper sneaky-peeky quick look

at subgroups and VCA groups. There we wanted to display the similarities and dierences between these

channels, but you know what? There’s more to them than just the why and how they look and act similarly

(or dierently) than the input channels. They deserve their own chapter...and here you are! Let’s take a

deeper look at subgroups and VCAs.

Subgroups and VCAs may be used as master faders for a group of channels on their way to the main mix.

Let us say you have a drum kit hogging up seven channels and want to fade them out at a dierent rate

than the other channels. You do not want to try that with seven hands or seven ngers. That’s dicult

at best...instead, just assign channels to a subgroup or VCA! They sound like the same thing, though;

what are the dierences between a subgroup and a VCA? How do you decide which to use and when?

Subgroups

The main dierence between subgroups and VCAs is that subgroups have basic output DSP and

VCAs do not. This includes 4-band EQ (no HPF or LPF) and compression. So you should choose to

use a subgroup when you need to provide processing to a group of channels. The most commonly

used example of this is for drums. Route all the drums to a stereo linked subgroup and apply

compression to the entire drum set together. Then you can send that compressed signal to the mains

for the audience to hear.

Another common use is for backing vocals where you might want to EQ them all the same. Instead

of doing the same thing on each channel, simply send them all to a subgroup and EQ them there.

Each subgroup fader controls the level of the signals sent to the main L/R, to the matrix, and/or

to any physical output via patching. All channels that are assigned to subgroups, not muted, and not

turned fully down will appear here. The subgroup signal is o when its fader is fully down and fully up

provides 10 dB additional gain.

The DL32R has six subgroups, while the DL1608 / DL806 have four subgroups each.

To route signals to a subgroup, tap a subgroup’s routing button followed by tapping the

button of every channel that should be a member of that subgroup. Assigned buttons will

illuminate, while unassigned channels will remain gray. It is permissible for any channel to be

a member of multiple subgroups. In this example, we’re sending channels 14-17 [lead and

background vocals] to subgroup 1.

We are able to set up each input channel the way we want – levels, DSP, routing, etc. – send

them all to subgroup 1 and change the level and DSP of a single channel [subgroup 1] instead

of having to update all four channels separately. Dude!

There is an entire chapter dedicated to output routing on pages 110-114.

It’s also possible to assign a channel to a subgroup outside of using the subgroup’s routing

button. Simply tap the channel’s routing button followed by tapping the button for each sub-

group desired. Repeat this for each channel as necessary.

There is an entire chapter dedicated to input routing on pages 78-82.