Mackie SR408 / SR568 Owner's Manual - Page 68

mixer An electronic device used to combine various audio signals into a common output. Different from a blender, which combines various fruits into a common libation. monaural Literally, pertaining to or having the use of only one ear. In sound work, monaural has to do with a signal which, for purposes of communicating audio information, has been confined to a single channel. One microphone is a mono pickup; many microphones mixed to one channel is a mono mix; a mono signal played through two speakers is still mono, since it only carries one channel of information. Several monaural sources, however, can be panned into a stereo (or at least two-channel, if you are going to be picky) mix. Monaural sound reinforcement is common for environments where stereo sound reinforcement would provide an uneven reproduction to the listener. monitor In sound reinforcement, monitor speakers (or monitor headphones or in-the-ear monitors) are those speakers used by the performers to hear themselves. Monitor speakers are also called foldback speakers. In recording, the monitor speakers are those used by the production staff to listen to the recording as it progresses. In zoology, the monitor lizard is the lizard that observes the production staff as the recording progresses. Keep the lizard out of the mixer. mono Short for monaural. mult Probably short for multiple. In audio work, a mult is a parallel connection in a patch bay or a connection made with patch cords to feed an output to more than one input. A "Y" cable is a type of mult connection. Also a verb, as in "Why did you mult the flanger into every input in the board?" noise Whatever you don't want to hear. Could be hum, buzz or hiss; could be crosstalk or digital hash or your neighbor's stereo; could be white noise or pink noise or brown noise; or it could be your mother-in-law reliving the day she had her gallstone removed. noise floor The residual level of noise in any system. In a well designed mixer, the noise floor will be a quiet hiss, which is the thermal noise generated by bouncing electrons in the transistor junctions. The lower the noise floor and the higher the headroom, the more usable dynamic range a system has. pan, pan pot Short for panoramic potentiometer. A pan pot is used to position (or even move back and forth) a monaural sound source in a stereo mixing field by adjusting the source's volume between the left and right channels. Our brains sense stereo position by hearing this difference in loudness when the sound strikes each ear, taking into account time delay, spectrum, ambient reverberation and other cues. parametric EQ A "fully" parametric EQ is an extremely powerful equalizer that allows smooth, continuous control of each of the three primary EQ parameters (frequency, gain, and bandwidth) in each section independently. "Semi" parametric EQs allow control of fewer parameters, usually frequency and gain (i.e., they have a fixed bandwidth, but variable center frequency and gain). peaking The opposite of dipping, of course. A peak is an EQ curve that looks like a hill, or a peak. Peaking with an equalizer amplifies a band of frequencies. PFL An acronym for Pre Fade Listen. Broadcasters would call it cueing. Sound folks call it being able to solo a channel with the fader down. phantom power A system of providing electrical power for condenser microphones (and some electronic pickup devices) from the sound mixer. The system is called phantom because the power is carried on standard microphone audio wiring in a way that is "invisible" to ordinary dynamic microphones. Mackie mixers use standard +48 volt DC power, switchable on or off. Most quality condenser microphones are designed to use +48 VDC phantom power. Check the manufacturer's recommendations. Generally, phantom power is safe to use with non-condenser microphones as well, especially dynamic microphones. However, unbalanced microphones, some electronic equipment (such as some wireless microphone receivers) can short out the phantom power and be severely damaged. Check the manufacturer's recommendations and be careful! 68