Mackie 1202-VLZ Pro Owner's Manual - Page 20

LOW EQ This control gives you up to 15dB boost or cut at 80Hz. The circuit is flat (no boost or cut) at the center detent position. This fre- quency represents the punch in bass drums, bass guitar, fat synth patches, and some really serious male singers. Used in conjunction with the +15 +10 LOW CUT switch , you can boost +5 the LOW EQ without injecting a 0 ton of subsonic debris into the mix. -5 MID EQ -10 -15 Short for "midrange," this knob 20Hz 100Hz Low EQ 1kHz 10kHz 20kHz provides 12dB of boost or cut, cen- tered at 2.5kHz, also flat at the +15 center detent. Midrange EQ is +10 often thought of as the most dy- +5 0 namic, because the frequencies -5 that define any particular sound -10 are almost always found in this -15 range. You can create many inter- 20Hz 100Hz 1kHz 10kHz 20kHz Low EQ with Low Cut esting and useful EQ changes by turning this knob down as well as +15 up. +10 +5 HI EQ 0 This control gives you up to 15dB -5 boost or cut at 12kHz, and it is also -10 -15 flat at the detent. Use it to add 20Hz 100Hz 1kHz 10kHz 20kHz sizzle to cymbals, and an overall Mid EQ sense of transparency, or edge to +15 keyboards, vocals, guitar and bacon +10 frying. Turn it down a little to re- +5 duce sibilance, or to hide tape hiss. 0 -5 Moderation during EQ -10 -15 20Hz 100Hz Hi EQ With EQ, you can also screw 1kHz 10kHz 20kHz things up royally. We've designed a lot of boost and cut into each equalizer circuit, because we know everyone will occasionally need that. But if you max the EQs on every channel, you'll get mix mush. Equalize subtly and use the left sides of the knobs (cut), as well as the right (boost). Very few gold-record-album engineers ever use more than about 3dB of EQ. If you need more than that, there's usually a better way to get it, such as placing a mic differently (or using a different kind of mic entirely). AUX SEND These tap a portion of each channel signal out to another source for parallel effects processing or stage monitoring. AUX send levels are controlled by the channel's AUX 1 and AUX 2 knobs and by the AUX 1 MASTER . These are more than just effects and monitor sends. They can be used to generate separate mixes for recording or "mix-minuses" for broadcast. By using AUX 1 in the PRE mode , these mix levels can be obtained independently of the channel's GAIN control. AUX 1 in post mode and AUX 2 are postLOW CUT, post-EQ and post-GAIN. That is, the sends obey the settings of these controls. AUX 1 in PRE mode follows the EQ and LOW CUT settings only. PAN and GAIN have no effect on the PRE send (see diagram below). Each AUX send level ranges from off through unity (the center detent position) on up to 15dB of extra gain (when turned fully clockwise). Chances are you'll never need this extra gain, but it's nice to know it's there if you do. Channel 5-12 AUX pots control the mono sum of the channel's stereo signals for each AUX send. For instance, channel 5 (L) and 6 (R) mix together to feed that channel's AUX send knobs. We recommend going into a stereo reverb in mono and returning in stereo. We have found that on most "stereo" reverbs the second input just ties up an extra AUX send and adds nothing to the sound. There are exceptions, so feel free to try it both ways. If your effects device is true stereo all the way through, use AUX 1 to feed its left input and AUX 2 to feed the right input. Still with us? Good for you. Here come the tricky parts, where the mixing is really done. GAIN (FADER) PAN MAIN / ALT INPUT TRIM LO CUT INSERT EQ "Pre vs. Post" Signal Flow Diagram "PRE" SIGNAL "POST" SIGNAL "POST" SIGNAL OBEYS MUTE STATUS AUX 2 KNOB AUX 1 KNOB TO AUX SEND 2 LEVEL TO AUX SEND 1 LEVEL AUX SEND 1 PRE/POST SWITCH (IN MASTER SECTION) 20