- A mixer can contain as few as two channels, with some having 24 or more in large television and music production studios. Channels, or tracks, are the devices you wish to mix audio from. A channel can be a tape deck, compact disc player, turntable, microphone or any other device that produces audio or video. Each channel, via the RCA jacks (the red, yellow and white plugs) or other inputs on the back of the console, is connected to a corresponding fader, or "pot," on the mixer, which controls its output volume. A cross-fader (see bottom of picture) is the horizontal fader connecting two channels, which is used as an audio transition between the two. In radio, when you hear one song fade out while another fades in, this is the work of a cross-fader. There is a master output control (far right in picture) which regulates the overall volume of your tracks.
- Radio and hip-hop disc jockeys in particular frequently use audio re-direction (cueing). A channel that can be cued will generally have a button you simply press to re-direct that channel's audio from your output to your headphones. You will be able to hear that particular channel's output in your headphones, but it will not be heard in your master output. This is useful for spontaneous edits of audio from callers into a live radio show or finding a particular spot on a song you want to incorporate into your work.
