IF YOU'RE LIKE most musicians and small-venue engineers, you've run up against the limitations of having too few auxiliary sends on smaller consoles. The lack of auxiliary buses can be frustrating if you want to set up more than one monitor mix, run additional effects processors, or do a multitrack recording. You'd like to have more flexibility, but perhaps you're not ready or willing to invest in a bigger board.
Just when you resigned yourself to making do with your modest mixer's scant two or four auxiliary sends, Shure gives you an out — eight outs, to be precise. Meet the AuxPander, Shure's clever new box that lets you trick any little mixer with inserts into thinking it's an 8-bus console. Why hasn't anyone thought of this before?
BRICK HOUSE
As the name implies, the AuxPander is an auxiliary expander; it lets the user set up eight additional auxiliary sends through a host console's channel insert jacks. Essentially a busing matrix, it can receive as many as eight inputs from the main console. Those eight discrete inputs can be combined and routed to any of the eight available outputs without affecting the original signal flow through the main mixer. Insert jacks on the AuxPander allow any mono or stereo outboard signal processor to be inserted into the channel paths (see Fig. 1). If you need independent mix options, this box gives you plenty.
The AuxPander weighs a solid 12 pounds and is housed in a sturdy black box measuring 13.0 inches wide, 6.8 inches tall, and 8.6 inches deep. Two handles on the faceplate offer some roll-bar protection to the pots across the front panel. Included hardware lets you rackmount the AuxPander, which takes up four spaces. If you don't have the rackspace, the unit stands alone easily on the little rubber feet on its base.
POTS ON PARADE
Sixty-four potentiometers parade across the AuxPander's front panel. Grouped into four main sections — Stereo A through D — they correspond to the four main stereo output buses. Each of the four groups has eight pairs of potentiometers corresponding to the eight input channels.
The four stereo output bus sections are labeled Stereo A/Outs 1-2, Stereo B/Outs 3-4, Stereo C/Outs 5-6, and Stereo D/Outs 7-8. Each of the eight channels contains one level control per stereo bus to adjust the level of signal being sent to the mix. A balance knob pans the signal between the left and right outputs, so the signals can be mixed in a stereo field, sent discretely to either output for a mono send to a monitor, or routed to a track on a multitrack machine (see Fig. 2).
CHECK OUT THE BACK, JACK
The back panel (see Fig. 3) contains 32 ¼-inch jacks. Eight in/out jacks receive signals from a host mixer's channel insert points through ¼-inch TRS cables and send them back unaffected. In case the host mixer's inserts are set up as ring-send (as opposed to the standard tip-send), a Tip Assign switch reverses the connection. Eight insert jacks let you patch in outboard processors (just as you would using the host mixer's inserts), and an Insert Assign switch selects which signal paths will be affected by the inserted device. Options include Remote, in which only the signal returning to the mixer is processed; Local, in which only the signal routed through the AuxPander is processed; and Global, in which both the AuxPander and the mixer signals are affected.
Four pairs of balanced, line-level output jacks let you send the four stereo (or eight mono) bus mixes to any number of destinations, such as monitor amps, in-ear monitor systems, a multitrack recording device, or additional effects processors. Eight direct input jacks (four stereo pairs) let you input line-level audio, which is summed with the signal at the corresponding left and/or right stereo output jacks. When a device is plugged in to only the left side of one of these pairs (L/Mono), the signal will appear at both the left and right stereo outputs. That handy feature lets you plug in additional sound sources — for example, a click track for the drummer's monitor mix — without being forced to send them through the host mixer.
UNDER THE 'SCOPE
I put the AuxPander to work at a concert for which I did double duty on live sound and recording. A Mackie Sound Reinforcement 24-8 24-channel mixer served as the house console. The Mackie's auxiliary sends were assigned to processors, so I used the inserts on several channels to route signal to the AuxPander in order to get a feed of quieter sources (vocals and flute) to mix in with my stereo pair of mics for a live mix to DAT. My recording mixer was a Mackie 1202-VLZ; I used it primarily as a routing device for externally preamplified signals; the convenient and effective AuxPander arrangement let me mix in some definition on the quieter sound sources without hassling the live sound setup.
I also put the unit through some controlled tests in my studio to evaluate the sonic qualities in a less stressful environment. I checked out the AuxPander in different scenarios, building a multitrack recording with discrete outputs, creating multiple monitor mixes, and setting up additional effects sends. I used an Allen and Heath MixWizard WZ16-2DX as the main console, a Mackie 1202-VLZ as the monitoring console, and an Alesis XT20 ADAT as the multitrack device. In all the tests, the AuxPander proved easy to use and offered delightful flexibility for setting up separate mixes.
When all the levels on the AuxPander were turned completely down, a ghost of a signal remained at the monitoring console on the channels with hotter original signals. That bleed caused me some concern. Also, though the AuxPander didn't seem to adversely affect the signal being sent back into the main mixer's inserts, the summing amplifiers of the stereo buses added some apparent noise at the outputs. The audible hiss translated to the monitoring mixer as well as the Panasonic SV3800 DAT mixdown deck. That wasn't a big problem when running extra effects or sending out a monitor mix, but I might choose a shorter signal path for more critical recording applications. However, for sound reinforcement and live recording in a limited setting, the AuxPander could be the tool of choice.
EXPANDING HORIZONS
In terms of functionality, the Shure Auxpander is a real winner. If you aim to use the unit to increase your monitor mix options as a gigging musician, you should be aware that some clubs may not have the additional monitor amps — or monitors, for that matter — to accommodate your new aux expansion unit. But with a little planning, you can make such a system work for you. If you have outfitted your group with an in-ear monitor system, the AuxPander will give you more options than you ever had before.
Also, two or more AuxPanders can be hooked together to create different matrix options, such as 16 aux sends for 8 channels, 8 aux sends for 16 channels, and so on. The modular aspect of the design gives the user room to grow. Functionally flexible and well laid out, the AuxPander is simple to use, relatively compact, and easy to transport.
Although I noticed added noise at the Auxpander's outputs, due perhaps to its summing amplifiers, I heard no apparent signal degradation and no noise added back into the host console's channels through the inserts. The Shure AuxPander will help folks who have suffered the limitations of too few aux sends, as well as those who want to expand their band personnel, add in-ear monitors, or expand their options for live recording and the like. It's a clever idea whose time has come.
AUXPANDER SPECS
Inserts (8) ¼" TRS
In/Out (8) ¼" TRS
Direct Inputs (8) balanced ¼" TRS
Outputs (8) impedance-balanced ¼" TRS
Frequency Response 20 Hz-20 kHz, ±1 dB
Dynamic Range 100 dB
Maximum Input Level 21 dBu
Nominal Input Impedance 10 k• (all inputs)
Channel Gain +12 dB (level pot full CW); 0 dB (level pot center)
Maximum THD @ 1 kHz 0.01% (A weighted)
Minimum Common Mode Rejection >50 dB (all level pots full CW)
Maximum Crosstalk 60 dB (1 kHz @ 0 dBu)
Dimensions 13.0" (W) × 6.8" (H) × 8.6" (D)
Weight 12 lb.
