Help with a Ramsa mixer

Posted: Sat Nov 07, 2009 10:51 am

Hey everyone,

I have a Ramsa 8210-A 10 channel mixer that I am using in conjunction with a firepod. In the past I have used it for its pre's considering they sound much better than the presonus ones. Right now I am in college, while the Ramsa remains at home, so I don't have access to it, but it came to mind the other day that I'm not sure about all of the routing capabilities of the board. I plan on putting it to use once I get back, so I have a question for any other Ramsa users.

The board has 4 aux outs on the back (2 stereo pairs and 2 mono), but it doesn't have any aux knobs on the board itself. It does have two individual sub mix knobs on each channel as well as a sub in. Because I don't have access to the board right now, I can't test if those would work. Does anyone here know how to use the aux sends? It would be a huge help.

Also, if you need any more info, let me know.

Thanks,

Damian

Posted: Sat Nov 07, 2009 3:18 pm

Nice little mixer, isn' it? I have its' big brother, the WRT-820 (20-channels/8busses/inline tape monitoring). Looks like yours has the same sweet 3-band/all sweep EQ, too. These boards are great bargains and I'm discovering that the pre's sound great, with the whole enchilada having great headroom and build quality.

Anyway, your board has some, uh,"unique" features designed into it, and these can be a bit confusing. It's been a long time since I played with one of your model, but I will try to clue you in...

First off, the section that has the 2 blue knobs labelled Sub Mix 1 & 2 are your "Aux" Sends. They have a center detent that is "Off". If you rotate the knob away from the center in one direction, it takes the signal "post-fader". If you roll it the other way, it takes it "pre-fader". Several manufacturers from that era did things this way, even Peawee. Now here's the catch...

I'm not 100% on this, because I can't find a diagram of the rear panel of your mixer, but I THINK the mixer is hardwired so that the channels' audio path feeds the sub mix section. If not, you will have to patch a jumper cable from the channels' line out ("direct out") into the channels' "Sub input" to connect the 2 circuits together. Mixers from some other manufacturers (namely TaxScam) made it so that you HAD to patch them together to get it to work like a "normal" mixer does these days. Otherwise, what you have is essentially 2 mixers-1 with a mic pre, EQ, 4-buss assign-and-panpot, with a fader; and the other mixer with a pair of pre/post send controls. Per channel, of course. Are you with me so far?

Now, you are asking, why did those Japs do it this way? Simple. You could patch the 8 outputs of an 8-track multi-track recorder to the channels' sub inputs and set up 2 monitor mixes with the Sub Mix section WHILE STILL USING THE CHANNEL STRIPS TO TRACK and it wouldn't take up any more real estate than your standard mixer...a crude sort of "inline monitoring" like that found on "modern" analog recording mixers.

Also, notice that you have a concentric pair of gain pots at the top of each channel, 1 is labelled "Sub In". This is to help trim the level of an external source run into the sub mix section so that a tape deck won't overload the input. Very well thought out, even if it is a bit confusing. Hopefully your Ramsa is hardwired so that a channel "normals" to the sb mix section unless you plug an external source in to interrupt that. When I had a TaxScam many, many moons ago, I hated that it did not have that feature...you HAD to jump everything around and that's just asking for trouble, because patchcords were not as reliable back in those days.

In any case you will really have to get your hands on the little devil and play with it to know for sure just how it's connected internally. Good luck, PM me with any questions...and know that mixer is no toy!

Posted: Sat Nov 07, 2009 4:16 pm

Thanks Moonbaby, I've loved the Ramsa so far for its pres and eq, and I got it for free, so I'd call it a good deal. If I wanted to hook up an outboard reverb unit as part of an aux send, would I go from the sub mix out or the aux out on the back of the board? I think the aux outs are part of the sub-group section, so I'm not sure what their purpose is. There is also a master "effect in," which is another thing I'm not certain about.

Also, what are the access in/outs?

Thanks,

Damian

Posted: Sun Nov 08, 2009 5:58 am

"Access in/outs" are the same as inserts, they let you patch in outboard processing like compressors.
To use a reverb (or other such FX unit), you would take one of the Sub Mix outs and run that into the processor, then RETURN the output of the processor to the Effects In.

I'm not 100% on this, but my hunch is that the 1/4" outs are the outputs of the Sub Mix 1&2, At least, that's where I'd start,
You got this mixer for FREE? Thumbs Up

It's a treasure, to be sure. I've worked with all sorts of Ramsas over the years, they're all good. Take care of it, keep it clean and it will last another 20 years.

Posted: Fri Nov 20, 2009 9:32 pm

I just ran into a wrs 840 for a good price. how do the pres sound on this I want a good sounding board not a half ass. I have never heard of ramsa till yesterday when I ran into this board. Reviews seem good but ya know. Panasonic makes these right?

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