Mackie 24.8Bus Owner's Manual - Page 39

SECTION 5: PA AND SOUND REINFORCEMENT APPLICATIONS WITH THE MACKIE 8•BUS CONSOLE One of Mackie Designs' primary product philosophies is to make its mixers as multi-purpose as possible to make them more affordable. This sounds like a contradiction in terms, but it isn't. By creating consoles JUST for recording and other models JUST for PA, other companies complicate the manufacturing process and reduce their economies of scale. We designed the 8•Bus Series from the ground up for both recording and PA sound reinforcement applications. If you have any doubt as to the durability of your new console, just think of how many smaller Mackie mixers have logged literally millions of air miles on grueling tours (and how many vintage Tapco mixers that Greg Mackie designed are still around and in day-today use). From a features standpoint, Mackie 8•Bus Series consoles are easy to configure for public address and sound reinforcement applications, whether you are mixing the house, stage monitors or both at once. Use the L/R main mix buses and your main L/R outputs as your main signal path. If you want a headphone cue mix, either patch the Control Room outputs to a suitable headphone amplifier, or select MONITOR as the source for Phones 1 or Phones 2. This will allow you to listen to any source you can select for the Control Room. You can also use the solo buses as headphone cue. If you prefer, you can modify the solo circuits for PFL (Pre-Fade Listen). SETUP Refer to the STEREO LIVE MIX drawings on page 40 and 41. You should normally use the L/R Mix buses as your Main or House feed. Patch out from the L/R outputs (peferbly the balanced XLR outputs) into the input to your amp stack (usually your House graphic equalizer). Any of the AUX buses can be used to feed a stage monitor mix, but AUX Send 1 and 2 are balanced, so they would be the best choice for several different stage monitor mixes. Set the AUX Sends in each channel to PRE and patch the AUX Send outputs to the appropriate amplifiers. If you need to provide a simultaneous mix for a stereo recording, use the MIX-B buses as described in MAKING A SIMULTANEOUS RECORDING. Text continued on Page 42 FOLLOW THIS SENSITIVITY ADJUSTMENT PROCEDURE FOR EACH CHANNEL IN USE: 1. I Assign signal to channel fader: • If channel will be used with a microphone, MIC/LINE switch should be up & FLIP switch should be up. • If channel will be used with line input, MIC/LINE switch should be down & FLIP switch should be up. 2. Set channel strip controls as follows: I TRIM pot all the way counterclockwise (+4dB) I AUX SEND controls all the way counterclockwise (off) I EQ switch up I LOW-CUT switch either on or off (on recommended for mic inputs) I Channel fader at UNITY I PAN pot hard left or right I SOLO switch down 3. I Make appropriate "noise" into the channel input. For example, have a performer play/ sing/strike something or someone, etc. at the level they're going to record or perform. Don't just play a single sustained note, but rather, jam away as you would be during recording or performance. 4. The channel's -20dB LED should light. The L/R main meters will show the actual internal operating level of soloed signals. Now you will optimize levels. 5. I Adjust the TRIM control clockwise to get peaks that regularly hit 0dB on the L/R meters. 6. If desired (optional): I Press the EQ switch in. I Adjust the channel strip's EQ to about what you will be using during the session. I Re-perform Step 5. 7. I Return the channel strip's SOLO button to its up position, and set the PAN pot back where you found it. 8. I Repeat Steps 1-7 on the next channel that is being used. 37 PA & SR