Fender PX-2212D
A twelve-channel powered mixer that Fender shipped inside its own road case. The console and the amp are two separate boxes, and the case becomes the stand.
Overview
The PX-2212D is the twelve-channel member of Fender Electronics' PX-2200 series of powered mixing consoles. Most powered mixers put everything in one head. This one doesn't. The mixer and the fan-cooled power amplifier live in separate chassis, joined by cabling that the included road case protects when the whole package is folded and latched. The case slides and springs open to become a console stand. That's practical packaging from a company better known for guitar amps. Fender's own literature describes the PX series as a one-piece package meant to deliver the performance of separate amps and mixers.
Each of the twelve input channels has a balanced XLR mic input and a ¼-inch line input, with a TRS insert point and a trim pot. The mic preamp supplies up to 48 dB of gain. Phantom power is 48V and switched globally, so condenser users get it on every channel or none. The channel strip runs a 60 mm fader, pan pot, PFL solo switch, and an LED peak indicator. The three-band fixed EQ is voiced at 80 Hz low shelving, 12 kHz high shelving, and a 2.5 kHz peak/dip midrange. It's a workmanlike voicing, not a surgical one, and with fixed frequencies you shape the sound with what you're given.
The sends are where the PX-2212D gets interesting for monitor-heavy work. Each channel has two pre-fader, pre-EQ monitor sends and one post-fader, post-EQ effects send. There's also an aux send that runs post-fader/post-EQ but can be flipped to pre-fader with an internal jumper. The master section gives separate faders for the left and right master buses, the mono L/R sum, and both monitor sends. There are two stereo effects returns with level and pan, PFL solo, and a mono return level for each monitor mix. In-place soloing is available on the main outputs, sends, and returns. RCA stereo tape inputs and outputs carry their own rotary level pots, and there are level controls for the solo bus and stereo headphones.
The processing side pairs two 9-band graphic EQs with the power amps. The routing is flexible. The graphic EQs and the amps can be switched to work on the L/R stereo buses, the mono sum, or the monitor buses, and patching into the EQ input jacks breaks the normal flow. The digital reverb is a 128-preset engine with an input clip indicator. It's a stereo DSP with rotary selection, editable reverb and delay times, and a Reverb Defeat switch that kills the effect without disturbing send and return levels. One period write-up counts the algorithms slightly differently. Electronic Musician (1993) describes 127 preset reverb and delay algorithms plus multi-effects such as delay-with-reverb, so treat the preset count as "around 128."
Power output is the one number that won't settle. Fender's period press materials put the PX-2212D and PX-2216D at 250 watts per channel into 4Ω, and that figure appears in both the EQ and Canadian Musician announcements. The more detailed Electronic Musician write-up (1993) states 300W RMS per side into 4Ω instead. Treat the rating as "reportedly 250-300W per side into 4Ω" until a service manual settles it. The amps are fan-cooled with a two-speed fan, can drive 2, 4, or 8Ω loads, and are protected by Fender's DeltaComp clip compression and protection circuitry, which guards against overload and shorted cables. Fender's published mixer specs claim 20 Hz to 40 kHz (±1 dB) frequency response, THD under 0.025% from 20 Hz to 20 kHz, a signal-to-noise ratio above 90 dBu at +4 dBu, and adjacent-channel crosstalk of −85 dB.
Pricing moved between announcements. Audio-Collection (August 1993, p.141) listed the PX-2212D at $1,899, matching one of Fender's own press releases. A later Electronic Musician notice quotes $2,139.99, and EQ rounds it to $2,140. The 8-channel PX-2208 ran $1,450 - $1,700 depending on the release and used a spring reverb instead of the digital engine. The 16-channel PX-2216D sat at $2,099 - $2,400. The PX-2212D is the middle child, and the price gap to the sixteen-channel was modest.
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