Mackie Onyx 1620 Owner's Manual - Page 12

ONYX 1620 10. HIGH MID EQ +15 +10 +5 0 -5 -10 -15 20Hz 100Hz 1kHz High Mid EQ Short for "midrange," this knob provides 15 dB of boost or cut centered at the frequency determined by its FREQ knob (see FREQ next), or at 2.5 kHz for the 10kHz 20kHz stereo channels. Midrange EQ is often thought of as the most dynamic because the frequencies that define any particular sound are almost always found in this range. The HIGH MID EQ range (400 Hz to 8 kHz) includes the female vocal range as well as the funda- mentals and harmonics for many instruments. 11. LOW MID EQ +15 This is a second midrange +10 EQ control that provides 15 +5 dB of boost or cut centered 0 at the frequency deter- -5 mined by its FREQ knob. -10 It extends down to 100 Hz, -15 20Hz 100Hz 1kHz 10kHz 20kHz which includes the male Low Mid EQ vocal range and the funda- mentals of some lower instruments (guitar, lower brass). 14. AUX Sends These tap a portion of each channel's signal out to either an effects processor or for stage monitoring. The AUX Send levels are controlled by the channel's AUX 1-4 knobs, and by the AUX MASTER 1-4 knobs. Since the AUX Sends are mono, the left and right signals in the stereo channels are summed together prior to the channels' AUX 1-4 controls, sending the combined signal to the AUX SEND outputs. These are more than just effects and monitor sends. They can be used to generate separate mixes for recording, for another zone, or "mix-minuses" for broadcast. 15. PAN PAN adjusts the amount of channel signal sent to the left versus the right outputs. On the stereo channels (channels 9-16), the PAN knob works like the balance control on your home stereo (panning left turns down the right channel, and panning right turns down the left channel). With the PAN knob hard left, the signal feeds either the MAIN LEFT (bus 1) or ALT LEFT (bus 3), depending on the setting of the ALT 3/4 switch. With the knob hard right, the signal feeds either the MAIN RIGHT (bus 2) or ALT RIGHT (bus 4). 12. FREQ +15 This knob ranges from +10 100 Hz to 2 kHz for the +5 LOW MID EQ, and 400 Hz 0 to 8 kHz for the HIGH MID -5 EQ. This determines the -10 -15 center frequency for the 20Hz 100Hz 1kHz 10kHz 20kHz EQ filter, and allows you Mid EQ Freq Sweep to zero in on the precise narrow band of frequencies you want to have affected by the LOW MID and HIGH MID EQ. 13. LOW EQ +15 +10 This control gives you up to 15 dB of boost or cut +5 at 80 Hz. The circuit is flat 0 (no boost or cut) at the -5 center detent position. -10 This frequency represents -15 20Hz 100Hz 1kHz 10kHz 20kHz the punch in bass drums, Low EQ bass guitar, fat synth patches, and some really serious male singers. Note: Used in conjunction with the Low Cut switch, you can boost the LOW EQ without injecting tons of infrasonic debris into the mix. 12 ONYX 1620 Constant Loudness: The Onyx 1620's PAN control employs a design called "Constant Loudness." If you have a channel panned hard left (or right) and then pan to the center, the signal is attenuated about 3 dB to maintain the same apparent loudness. Otherwise, it would make the sound appear much louder when panned center. 16. MUTE/ALT 3-4 The dual-purpose MUTE/ALT 3-4 switch is a Mackie signature. When Greg was designing our first product, he had to include a mute switch for each channel. Mute switches do just what they sound like they do. They turn off the signal by "routing" it into oblivion. "Gee, what a waste," Greg reasoned. "Why not have the mute button route the signal somewhere else useful, like a separate stereo bus?" So MUTE/ALT 3-4 really serves two functions-muting (often used during mixdown or live shows), and signal routing (for multitrack and live work) where it acts as an extra stereo bus. To use this as a MUTE switch, all you have to do is not use the ALT 3-4 outputs (41). Then, whenever you assign a channel to these unused outputs, you'll also be disconnecting it from the MAIN MIX, effectively muting the channel. The MUTE switch also disconnects the channel from the POST AUX SEND bus. The channel's signal is still present on the PRE AUX SEND bus.