Mackie 1604-VLZ4 User Manual - Page 27

Owner's Manual Balanced XLR Output Connector The male XLR connectors provide a balanced linelevel signal that represents the end of the mixer, where the fully mixed stereo signal enters the real world. Connect these to the left and right line-level inputs of powered speakers or to the left and right line-level inputs of an amplifier (with speakers already attached). Be sure the cables are wired per AES (Audio Engineering Society) standards: Balanced XLR Output Connector Pin 1 - Shield (Ground) Pin 2 - Positive (+ or hot) Pin 3 - Negative (- or cold) accept 1-plug-type stereo micro­phones. They must be separated into a left cord and a right cord, which are plugged into the two mic preamps. You can cook up your own adapter for a stereo microphone. "Y" two cables out of a female 1⁄4" TRS jack to two male XLR plugs, one for the right signal and one for the left. • Unbalanced send/return circuits. When wired as a send/return "Y" connector, a 1⁄4" TRS jack or plug is connected tip to signal send (output from mixer), ring to signal return (input back into mixer), and sleeve to ground (earth). Unbalanced 1/4" TS Connector SHIELD 1 COLD 3 2 HOT 1 3 2 SHIELD COLD HOT Balanced XLR Output Connector Balanced 1/4" TRS Connector TRS stands for Tip-Ring-Sleeve, the three ­connections available on a stereo 1/4" cable. This allows for a direct connection to the channel input jacks. Be sure the cables are wired per AES (Audio Engineering Society) standards: Balanced 1/4" TRS Connector Sleeve - Shield (Ground) Tip - Positive (+ or hot) Ring - Negative (- or cold) RING SLEEVE SLEEVE RINGTIP TIP Balanced 1/4" TRS Connector RING TIP SLEEVE TRS jacks and plugs are used in several ­d­ ifferent applications: • Balanced mono circuits. When wired as a balanced connector, a 1⁄4" TRS jack or plug is connected tip to signal high (hot), ring to signal low (cold), and sleeve to ground (earth). • Stereo Headphones, and rarely, stereo microphones and stereo line connections. When wired for stereo, a 1⁄4" TRS jack or plug is connected tip to left, ring to right and sleeve to ground (earth). VLZ4 mixers do not directly TS stands for Tip-Sleeve, the two connections available on a mono 1⁄4" cable. This allows for a direct conection to the channel input jacks. Be sure the cables are wired per AES (Audio Engineering Society) standards: Unbalanced 1/4" TS Connector Sleeve - Shield (Ground) Tip - Positive (+ or hot) SLEEVE SLEEVE TIP TIP Unbalanced 1/4" TS Connector TIP SLEEVE TS jacks and plugs are used in many different ­applications, always unbalanced. The tip is connected to the audio signal and the sleeve to ground (earth). Some examples: • Unbalanced microphones • Electric guitars and electronic instruments • Unbalanced line-level connections Switched 1/4" Phone Jacks Switches can be incorporated into 1⁄4" phone jacks, which are activated by inserting the plug. These switches may open an insert loop in a ­circuit, change the input routing of the signal or serve other functions. The 1604VLZ4 uses switches in the channel insert and bus ­insert jacks, input jacks and stereo returns. It also uses these switches to ground the line-level inputs when nothing is plugged into them. In most cases, the plug must be inserted fully to activate the switch. The 1604VLZ4 takes a­ dvantage of this in some circuits, specifying circumstances where you are to insert the plug only partially. See "Special C­ onnections", on the next page. Owner's Manual 27