In this tech note I will be going over the two micro USB ports found on the back panel of MixerFace and the correct cables needed to connect.
The right USB port (with the lightning bolt under it) is the CHARGING USB port and its sole purpose is to connect to a charger to re-charge the built-in lithium battery. MixerFace’s battery will charge from any standard USB charger, computer, or external USB power bank for convenience on the go. It is ok to leave the unit charging as there is no risk of “over-charging”. As far as battery life indication goes, see the three LED’s above the power button for reference. Three lit LEDs signifies about 100% battery life left, two lit LEDs equals about 50%, and one lit LED will mean you have about 30% battery life left.
The left USB port (with the USB symbol under it) will be your USB port for connecting to your USB device of choice- whether that be a mobile phone, tablet, or computer. This is how you use MixerFace as an audio interface for your USB device. The included USB cable has a standard USB A connection opposite the micro USB end (which goes into MixerFace) but you can use a variety of adapters to connect MixerFace to other ports such as Apple Lightning, Andriod OTG, or USB C ports.
Please note you can rest assured the USB cable included with your unit will function properly for both charging and connecting to the USB devices of your choice. However, not all USB cables will function in this way. There are a couple different types of USB cables, some which only will work for charging and not passing data — thus these kinds of cables will prove useless when trying to connect the interface to a device for recording.
Tip: USB Cables which pass BOTH data + will work for charging have 4 wires inside, while USB cables which only work for charging consist of only 2 wires inside. This doubling of the number of wires usually means the data cables will be a bit thicker than their charge only counterparts 🙂
