Mackie 1402-VLZ4 Owners Manual - Page 17

Owner's Manual Whatever your selection, you can also use the control room outputs for other applications. Its sound quality is just as impeccable as the main outputs. It can be used as additional main mix output, which may sound silly since there are already three, but this one has its own level control. However, should you do something like this, be sure that you do not engage a solo switch, as that will ­interrupt your source selection. 35. Solo Mode (AFL/PFL) Engaging a channel's solo [24] switch will cause this dramatic turn of events: Any existing source matrix selections will be replaced by the solo signal, appearing in the control room, headphones, and meter. The a­ udible solo levels are then controlled by the control room / submix [34] fader. The solo levels appearing on the right meter display are not controlled by anything - you wouldn't want that. You want to see the actual channel level on the meter display r­ egardless of how loud you're listening. With this solo mode switch in the up position, you're in AFL mode, meaning After-Fader-Listen. You'll hear the output of the soloed channel and it will follow the gain, EQ, fader and pan settings. It's similar to muting all the other channels, but without the hassle. Use AFL mode during mixdown. With the solo mode switch in the down position, you're in PFL mode, meaning Pre-Fader-Listen (post EQ). This is required for the level setting procedure, and is handy for quick spot-checks of channels, especially ones that have their faders turned down. In either mode, solo will not be affected by a channel's mute/alt [25] switch position. 36. Rude Solo Light This flashing Light Emitting Diode serves two purposes - to remind you that at least one channel is in solo, and to let you know that you're mixing on a 1402VLZ4. No other company is so concerned about your level of solo awareness. If you work on a mixer that has a solo function with no indicator lights, and you happen to forget you're in solo, you can easily be tricked into thinking that something is wrong with your mixer. Hence the rude solo light. It's especially handy at about 3 a.m. when no sound is coming out of your monitors but your multitrack is playing back like mad. 37. Assign To Main Mix Let's say you're doing a live show. Intermission is nearing and you'll want to play a soothing CD for the crowd to prevent them from eating the furniture. Then you think, "But I have the CD player plugged into the tape i­nputs, and that never gets to the main outs!" Oh, but it does. Simply engage this switch and your control room source selection,­ a­ fter going through the control room / submix [34] fader, will feed into the main mix, just as if it were a­ nother stereo channel. Another handy use for this switch is to enable the alt 3-4 mix to become a submix of the main mix, using the control room/submix fader as its level control. Side effects: (1) Engaging this switch will also feed any soloed channels into the main mix, which may be the last thing you want. (2) If you have main mix as your control room source selection and then engage assign to main mix, the main mix lines to the control room will be interrupted to prevent feedback. Then again, why would anyone want to ­assign the main mix to the main mix? 38. Meters - Many Displays In One! The 1402VLZ4's peak metering system is made up of two columns of twelve LEDs. Deceptively simple, considering the multitude of signals that can be monitored by it. If nothing is selected in the source ­matrix and no channels are in solo, the meters will just sit there and do nothing. To put them to work, you must make a selection in the source matrix (or engage a solo switch). Why? You want the meter display to reflect what the engineer is listening to, and as we've covered, the engineer is listening either to the control room outputs or the phones outputs. The only difference is that while the listening levels are controlled by the control room / submix [34] knob, the meters read the source mix before that control, giving you the real facts at all times, even if you're not listening at all. Thanks to the 1402VLZ4's wide dynamic range, you can get a good mix with peaks flashing anywhere between -20 and +10 dB on the meters. Most amplifiers clip at about +10 dB, and some recorders aren't so forgiving either. For best real-world results, try to keep your peaks between "0" and "+7". You may already be an ­expert at the world of "+4" (+4 dBu=1.23 V) and "-10" (-10 dBV=0.32 V) operating levels. Basically, what makes a mixer one or the other is the relative 0 dB VU (or 0 VU) chosen for the meters. A "+4" mixer, with a +4 dBu signal pouring out the back will actually read 0 VU on its meters. A "-10" mixer, with a -10 dBV signal trickling out, will read 0VU on its meters. So when is 0 VU actually 0 dBu? Right now! Owner's Manual 17