Advantages of Analogue Audio Mixer Technology
The next time you attend a rock concert, listen closely to the music. Do you notice that even if the performers are playing different instruments, each instrument is perfectly blended with the rest of the other sounds? Combining sounds is possible with a device called an audio mixer.
An audio mixer is an electronic device that is used for routing or changing the timbre, level, and dynamics of audio signals. The modified audio signals are then combined to produce a single, concerted output signal that you can hear through the main speakers. While newer digital mixers have been introduced in the market, many sound engineers and recording studios still prefer the more traditional analogue devices.
Analogue consoles are still extremely popular because of their ease of operation. More specifically, the device has one knob, fader, or button per function, allowing a sound engineer to make audio signal adjustments easily and quickly. Although multiple inputs take up more physical space, analogue mixers allow a more rapid response to changing states of performance. On the other hand, digital mixers produce a noticeable delay of effects, an effect of the computer, instead of a human, making calculations when adjusting input levels.
Another advantage of analogue consoles is that they allow simpler hardware routing. Basically, you only need to connect the mixer to its power supply and to the main amplifier. Connect the instrument or a gadget to an input jack and you are done. On the other hand, in digital mixers, you need to reassign inputs so that the convenient grouping of such inputs exist near each other at the fader bank. This can be disorienting if you have to alter or add a hardware patch.