The Dub Mixer diagram shows a Pre/Post selector in the headphone section. On the unit itself you can’t find it, and that’s normal: there isn’t one on the panel.
Short answer: the Dub Mixer has no physical Pre/Post selector. The cue point follows the FADER switch, the one that turns the crossfader on. With FADER ON, the cue is taken after the channel’s VOL knob, post-fader. With FADER OFF, it’s taken before the VOL knob, pre-fader, like the PFL on a DJ mixer.
Cueing a channel in your headphones
The headphone output is a 3.5 mm jack on the front of the unit. Its level is set with the headphone knob, also on the front.
Both main channels, CH 1 and CH 2, have their own CUE button, just above the VOL knob. Press it once: the LED lights up and the channel goes to your headphones. Press it again to take the channel out of your headphones.
In your headphones you hear the channel on its own, without the rest of the mix. That’s where you line up the next track while the crowd hears nothing.
The internal delay, the external effect return, the siren and the sampler don’t go into a channel’s cue: they come back into the main mix. AUX 1 and AUX 2 have no CUE button either. To hear all of that in your headphones, switch to the master.
Listening to the master in your headphones
Turn on both CUE buttons at the same time: the headphones switch to the master. You then hear everything the unit sends out, effects, siren, sampler and AUX inputs included. It’s the right move to judge an effect the way the crowd hears it.
This switch to the master is on from the factory. You can turn it off in the configurator with the Dual CUE -> Master setting. With both CUE buttons lit, you then hear CH 1 and CH 2 together in your headphones, without the rest of the mix.
Pre-fader or post-fader
On a regular DJ mixer, you use a selector to choose where the cue is taken: before the channel fader (pre-fader, or PFL) or after it (post-fader). The Dub Mixer has no channel faders. Each channel’s level is set with its VOL knob, and that’s what people often call the channel fader. There’s no dedicated selector either: you make the choice with the FADER switch.
The FADER switch is a small slide switch. It turns the crossfader on or off.
With FADER ON, the crossfader is active and the cue is taken after the VOL knob. The headphones follow your VOL: if the knob is closed, you hear nothing in your headphones. That’s post-fader mode.
With FADER OFF, the crossfader is bypassed: CH 1 and CH 2 both go into the mix, each at its VOL level. The cue is then taken before the VOL knob. You can line up a track with its VOL closed and listen to it in your headphones, then open the VOL to bring it into the mix. That’s pre-fader mode.
The FADER switch sets the cue point for both channels at once: you can’t have CH 1 cued pre-fader and CH 2 post-fader.
In both positions, the cue is taken before the filters. In your headphones you hear the channel without the filter section. To hear the filters, switch to the master with both CUE buttons.
The right setting depends on how you play. If you mix with the VOL knobs, like on a rotary mixer, set FADER to OFF to get pre-fader cueing. If you blend or scratch on the crossfader, keep FADER ON and open the VOL of the channel you want to cue.
If the routing diagram shows a Pre/Post selector, it’s because the unit does have two cue points, before and after the VOL knob. You switch between them with the FADER switch, not with a separate button.
The headphone settings in the configurator
Two cue settings aren’t on the panel. They live in the configurator, on the Headphones Monitor card.
Max Gain caps the headphone level. The value is shown in dB. The factory setting, 0 dB, gives you full level. Lower it, to -6 dB for example, if your earphones are very sensitive or if you want to spare your ears. The headphone knob keeps its full travel, it just tops out lower. At the very bottom, -inf dB, the headphones are muted.
With Dual CUE -> Master, you choose what you hear when both CUE buttons are lit. When it’s on, as it is from the factory, you hear the master. When it’s off, you hear CH 1 and CH 2 together, without the effects or the AUX inputs.
Getting started with the configurator is covered in How to configure and customize your Dub Mixer.
The CUE LEDs
A lit CUE LED means the channel is being cued.
If the CUE LED and the CLIP LED blink together, the signal coming into that channel is too hot. Turn down the output of the device plugged into that channel: turntable, player or sound card.
Frequently asked questions
Going further
Every panel control is described in Dub Mixer front and back panel controls. The internal routing, channel by channel, is in Inside the Dub Mixer: internal functions and audio routing.
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