Mackie 1642-VLZ Pro Owner's Manual - Page 22

OUTPUT SECTION DESCRIPTION AUX SEND U EFFECTS TO MONITORS U U You've just learned about the input channels and how the sig- 1 1 1 TO AUX SEND 1 +10 U +20 U +15 U nals get in and out. The signals come in via MIC and LINE input OO OO OO OO OO OO 2 2 2 TO AUX SEND 2 jacks, are manipulated by the +10 +20 +15 channels, and then sent to the U ASSIGN OPTIONS output section. In the output 1 SOLO 3 +20 U MAIN MIX TO SUBS 31--24 section, things get a bit more complicated, so put on your OO OO 2 4 SOLO PHAN PWR +20 C-R / PHNS RETURNS ONLY SOLO STEREO AUX RETURN thinking caps. MAIN MIX FADER MAX PHONES OO U +20 TAPE IN OO OO MAX CONTROL ROOM TAPE TO MAIN MIX LEFT RIGHT 0 dB=0 dBu 28 10 7 4 2 This fader controls the levels of signals sent to the MAIN OUTPUTS and TAPE OUTPUT RCA jacks . All channels and AUX RETURNs that are as- TAPE SUBS 1-2 SUBS 3- 4 MAIN MIX CR SOURCE 0 OO 2 MAX SOLO 4 7 10 MODE LEVEL SET 20 NORMAL (AFL) LEVEL SET (PFL) 30 RUDE SOLO LIGHT signed to the MAIN MIX, not muted and not turned fully down will appear at the MAIN OUT. Before the main mix gets to this fader, the signals pass through the MAIN INSERT . LEFT LEFT LEFT LEFT The MAIN MIX signals are off with the fader fully down, RIGHT 1 5 RIGHT 2 6 RIGHT 3 7 RIGHT 4 8 MAIN MIX the "U" marking is unity gain, and fully up provides 10dB ad- dB 10 dB 10 ditional gain. This additional 5 5 gain will typically never be U U needed, but once again, it's 5 5 nice to know it's there. The 10 10 fader itself is a stereo version 20 20 of the channel and subgroup 30 30 faders - same supersmooth 40 40 50 60 50 60 custom taper, same dead si- OO OO lence when turned fully down. This is the fader to pull down at the end of the song when you want "The Great Fade-Out." VLZ MIX ARCHITECTURE When designing a mixing circuit, the lowest noise and best crosstalk specs are achieved by using Very Low Impedance (VLZ). To implement VLZ in a mixer, the power supply must be able to deliver plenty of current to the circuitry. That's why those "wall wart" mixers are often noisy - they can't power a VLZ circuit. At Mackie, audio quality is much more important than the price of wall warts. All of our mixers now employ VLZ circuitry and built-in power supplies that deliver more than enough current, resulting in sonic specifications that rival consoles upwards of $50,000! SUBGROUP FADERS As you might expect, these faders control the levels of signals sent to the SUB OUTS. All channels that are assigned to subgroups, not muted and not turned fully down will appear at the SUB OUTS. Unlike the MAIN OUT, the subgroup signals do not pass through an insert jack on their way to the subgroup faders. That's no problem - should you want to send these signals through a serial effects processor, simply patch from the SUB OUTS to the effect's input, and from the effect's output to whatever the final destination is, usually a multitrack recorder. The subgroup signal is off when its fader is fully down, the "U" marking is unity gain, and fully up provides 10dB additional gain. Remember that if you're treating two subgroups as a stereo pair, subgroup 1 and 2 for example, make sure that both subgroup faders "ride" together, to maintain the left/right balance. ASSIGN TO MAIN MIX One popular use of the subgroups is to use them as master faders for a group of channels on their way to the MAIN MIX. Let's say you've got a drum kit hogging up seven channels and you're going to want to fade them out at a different rate than the other channels. You don't want to try that with seven hands or seven fingers, so just un-assign these channels from L/R, reassign them to subgroup 1-2, engage the ASSIGN TO MAIN MIX, LEFT on subgroup 1 and the ASSIGN TO MAIN MIX, RIGHT on subgroup 2. Now you can ride the entire stereo drum mix with two faders - 1 and 2. If you engage just one ASSIGN TO MAIN MIX switch per subgroup (LEFT or RIGHT), the signal sent to the MAIN MIX will be the same level as the SUB OUTS. If you want the subgroup to appear in the center of the main mix, engage both the ASSIGN TO MAIN MIX, LEFT and ASSIGN TO MAIN MIX, RIGHT switches. The signal will be sent to both sides, and will be attenuated just enough to preserve constant loudness, just like the channel PAN knobs when set in the center. 22