zed10 fx have built in "ducking"

[nchangin]

Howdy folks, curious if this mixer has this capability? Last weekend noticed when I said announcements the music (through the usb input) would "duck" out like if a compressor was setup to function this way, is this what's happening?

[flanc]

I didn't realize the Zedfx series had a "ducking" feature.  I don't own one but have used one on a handful of occasions but honestly never looked for that feature, so it could have slipped past me.   

On a somewhat related and totally emarrasing note, I had a terrible experience with unexpected "ducking" on a Fender Passport system.   I recounted that story a few years back in the "Stupid Stories" section here.  I pasted it below if anyone wants a chuckle at my expense. LOL

 

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My dad is involved in local politics and is a proud father....all good things. Over the years at various political functions, he takes delight in inviting me, his singer son, out these functions to perform a ceremonial national anthem or some other patriotic diddy; all very apple pie and motherhood. So, having done this more times than I can count, I generally work (by hiding from my dad) to avoid getting roped into these performances. I love my dad and would do anything he asks; the trick is not getting asked. Anyway, my "epic fail" occurred at the last of these events and one that was most important to me and my dad...his swearing in ceremony as Judge of our local Orphan's court. The local politicos gathered to celebrate this honor for my dad and have him sworn in publicly. My dad called plenty early for this one and asked that I perform "God Bless the USA" popularized by Lee Greenwood. The mostly white haired attendees at these events go crazy for this stuff. He went on to further tell me that the hall that had been arranged already had a modern sound system, so all I needed was an instrumental track to plug into their PA and I was "good to go". This was good news for me since, in the past, I've lugged speakers and wireless mic's and various PA gear to accommodate my three minute song, but normally had to work the fader on all public speakers who like to hold the mic down by their naval, but want to hear their voice through the PA with the projection and timbre of God...but that's another story. On the night of the event, I arrive at the rented hall with an MP3 player loaded with one track - the instrumental backup to Lee Greenwood's "God Bless the USA". I made sure no song like "Crazy Bitch" or "Why Don't We Get Drunk and Scew" could possibly/accidentally be played afterward...a clean MP3 player with one lone song....what could possibly go wrong? With forethought, I brought along the necessary 1/8" headphone out to stereo RCA cable with a couple RCA to 1/4" converters to make sure I could connect to this modern PA of unknown specification. It was a simple task and I was prepared. Traffic was a bit rough as this event was held during our rush hour and I only arrived at the hall 10 minutes prior to the announced cocktail hour. I generally like to get to something like this a bit earlier...but this was a simple task...right? I stroll into the hall with the confidence of a seasoned soundman and singer who has a simple task ahead. I sigh as I see the modern PA setup on the stage...it was a Fender Passport...one of the larger models they make. They work just fine for small crowds and I got over my gear snobbery and quickly moved onto worrying about testing my MP3 lash up. I plugged my player into the "tape in" jacks and did a quick check to make sure we had everything working. Folks were already mulling around so I couldn't do a full sound check with me singing to the track...but no worries...I did a "check 1, 2" on the mic and it worked...and I played five seconds of the track and it worked; They would certainly work together...it's Miller time! I settle in with a beer and a plate of food and I'm now convinced that I'm ready. The agenda has me going on toward the end of the program so I have at least and hour to chill. They do the pledge of allegiance and the system seems to cover the room nicely...maybe 125 folks in the hall. Next up the anthem....ooops the singer that was lined up is still in traffic...so I'm pressed into duty...no problem...accapella version...the mic/system works great and I'm feeling really comfortable that my next tune is going to come off without a hitch. Fast forward to the end of the program now. The master of ceremony announces that Frank Jr (me..son of the esteemed honoree) will now sing Lee Greenwood's God Bless the USA. A healthy amount of applause is echoing while I hurry my wife up to the stage to work the MP3 player and to mix the levels between my Mic and the MP3. She does a fine job of getting the music started...I hear the jingly intro and launch into my vocal. But I can't really hear the track now. My wife is a singer in my band too and is pretty familiar with all this stuff. I gesture to her to raise the track volume but nothing is working. I'm still singing but now preoccupied as I can't hear the track...at all. I stop singing for a moment to announce we are having a problem and that we'll have to start over. I'm embarrassed now...actually horrified, but it's not my first time in front of a crowd and I'm playing it cool. As I pause to turn and help her work this Fender Passport PA...the music now blasts through at hair parting volume. My wife, God bless her, is fumbling with this big plastic, tinker toy, knob on the PA desperately trying to turn the track volume down...which she does. Rather than start over...and since I now have the accompaniment of my musical track to keep me in time and key....I trudge forward. Except, every time I sing, the volume of the track drops to the point that I can't hear it. So, I'm singing along..basically acapella and when I pause...the music blasts through. My wife is turning the volume knob on the instrumental track up and down trying to help compensate and she is gesturing wildly to me in an attempt to convey her wholesale confusion and sympathy...she's also chuckling a bit in evil delight...I probably would have done the same. I wrestle with the idea of just stopping but resign myself to my fate and finish this crazy version of the song. The end of the song slows a bit with the last "God...Bless..the...U.....S............Ayyyyyyyyy" and I was totally out of time with the track. The crowd gave me a generous amount of applause as they could tell I was struggling with technical problems. I stayed on key for the whole song...just not in time. Awwwwwww....I get flush with embarrassment just thinking about it. So...I go home and look up this friggin Fender Passport on the internet and download the manual. Mic channel one has an added "ducking" feature that quiet's (ducks) all the other channels when Mic 1 is in use...great for bingo and announcements. A full sound check would have revealed this and I would have worked around the problem (by using channel 2 for the mic). The morale of my long-winded story...always get a full sound check no matter how simple the perceived setup...and perhaps do a better job at avoiding your dad when you know he is going to ask an embarrassing favor.

[nchangin]

Flanc: Lol what a time to have to sing Mr Greenwoods song without the track, I'm glad you survived the ordeal.

My ordeal not so big, it was a 3 day country music fest at my camper so after hours had the music going to have fun with friendly neighbors and that kind of thing. This is the first year I brought a mic so was having some fun with passer by's (one girl even stopped by and gave us 1900 deadly jello shots) evey time I'd say something into the mic the music would seemingly fade out but not completely out, just like a comp set up as a "ducker" which I have read about in the past used by say radio stations etc. If it is ducking glad I found out now rather than at some karaoke gig, but no where in the literature is it stated? Thanks for the story!

[Reson8tor]

That's weird. The Zed-10FX has no dynamic processing. The circuit diagram shows the USB input audio tying into the analog mixer circuits at two points: the "Stereo 2 channel" input jacks, and the "Playback" input jacks. Inserting a plug into those jacks stops the USB input (mechanical break) at that point. 

I don't think there is any other automatic ducking function, at least it's not mentioned in the manual. The circuit diagram is a little vague about just where the USB audio input comes from, and I suppose they could have included automatic ducking. I would expect it to be mentioned in the manual if that were the case, since some people wouldn't want it to work that way. 

One other thought... did you have whatever audio software you were using on the computer in a mode that would mute the USB output when it heard an incoming signal from the mixer? That's the only other thing I can think of.

 

[agedhorse]

 

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Reson8tor wrote:

 

 

That's weird. The Zed-10FX has no dynamic processing. The circuit diagram shows the USB input audio tying into the analog mixer circuits at two points: the "Stereo 2 channel" input jacks, and the "Playback" input jacks. Inserting a plug into those jacks stops the USB input (mechanical break) at that point. 

 

I don't think there is any other automatic ducking function, at least it's not mentioned in the manual. The circuit diagram is a little vague about just where the USB audio input comes from, and I suppose they could have included automatic ducking. I would expect it to be mentioned in the manual if that were the case, since some people wouldn't want it to work that way. 

 

One other thought... did you have whatever audio software you were using on the computer in a mode that would mute the USB output when it heard an incoming signal from the mixer? That's the only other thing I can think of.

 

 

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I don't recall any processing either.

Is it possible that the amp was being driven so hard into limiting that it functioned essentially as a ducker (ie. keying on the vocal but acting on the mix)?