Mackie PPM608 Owner's Manual - Page 12

PPM608 Front Panel Features 11 12 10 14 8 9 7 13 Patchbay section This is where you plug in things such as: microphones, line-level i­nstruments, guitars, and effects, a r­ ecorder, PA system, powered monitors, powered subwoofer etc. (The speaker-level outputs from the internal power amplifiers are on the rear panel.) Check out the hookup diagrams for some connection ideas. See Appendix B (page 25) for further details and some rather lovely drawings of the connectors you can use with your mixer. Channels 1 to 4 have the extra benefit of built-in signal in-line compressors [29]. These may be adjusted to add just the right amount of compression to your vocals and help prevent distortion and the effects of tonsillitis. The mic inputs may employ high or low gain based upon the setting of the switch [28]. Please review the gain switch settings on page 18 for more information. 7. MIC INPUTS We use phantom-powered, balanced m­ icrophone inputs just like the big studio mega-consoles, for ­ exactly the same reason: This kind of circuit is­­ excellent at rejecting hum and noise. You can plug in almost any kind of mic that has a standard ­ XLR-type male mic connector. Professional ribbon, dynamic, and condenser mics all sound excellent through these inputs. The mic inputs will handle any kind of mic level you can toss at them, without overloading. PHANTOM POWER Most modern professional condenser mics are equipped for phantom power, which lets the mixer send low-current DC voltage to the mic's electronics through the same wires that carry audio. (Semi-pro condenser mics often have batteries to accomplish the same thing.) "Phantom" owes its name to an ability to be "unseen" by dynamic mics (Shure SM57/SM58, for instance), which don't need ­external power and aren't affected by it anyway. The mixer's phantom power is globally c­ ontrolled by the phantom [42] switch on the front panel. (The phantom power for all channels is turned on and off together.) 12 PPM608