Mackie ProFX22 Owner's Manual - Page 19

28. FX FOOTSWITCH This 1/4" TRS connector is where to connect your favorite footswitch. This allows you to easily mute or un-mute the internal effects at will. Any one-button on/off footswitch will work. If the internal effects have already been muted with the internal FX mute switch [48], then the footswitch has no affect. 29. AUX RETURN L/R The stereo (aux) returns are designed for 1/4" TRS balanced or 1/4" TS unbalanced signals, from -20 dB to +20 dB. They allow the stereo processed output from external effects processors or other devices to be added to the main mix. Level adjustment of the incoming signals is made with the aux return controls [43]. You may also use these inputs to add any stereo line-level signals to your main mix, so it could be another line-level source, not just an effects processor. If you are connecting a mono source, use the left (mono) stereo return input, and the mono signals will appear on both sides of the main mix. 30. MAIN OUT L/R: XLR & 1/4" The male XLR connectors provide a balanced line-level signal that represents the end of the mixer chain, where your fully mixed stereo signal enters the real world. Connect these to the left and right inputs of your main power amplifiers, powered speakers, or serial effects processor (like a graphic equalizer or compressor/limiter). The XLR outputs are 6 dB hotter than the TRS outputs. The 1/4" TRS output connectors provide balanced or unbalanced line-level signals. Connect these to the next device in the signal chain like an external processor (compressor/limiter), or directly to the inputs of the main amplifier. These are the same signal that appears at the XLR main outputs, but 6 dB lower than the XLR outputs. When the meters read "0", these TRS outputs are at 0 dBu. 31. CR OUT L/R These 1/4" jacks are usually patched to the inputs of a control room amplifier or a headphone distribution amplifier. 32. SUB OUT 1-4 These four 1/4" jacks are usually patched to the inputs of a multitrack deck or to secondary amplifiers in a complex installation. 33. PHONES This 1/4" TRS connector supplies the output to your stereo headphones. It is the same signal that is routed to the control room outputs [31]. The volume is controlled with the cr/phones knob [53], right above the main mix fader [56]. Whenever a solo switch [22] is engaged, you will only hear the soloed channel(s) in the headphones. This gives you the opportunity to audition the channels before they are added to the main mix. (Solo signals reaching the headphones are not affected by the channel level or main level, therefore turn down the phones level first, as soloed channels may be loud.) The phones output follows ­standard conventions: Tip = Left channel Ring = Right channel Sleeve = Common ground WARNING: The headphone amp is loud and can cause permanent hearing damage. Even intermediate levels may be painfully loud with some headphones. BE CAREFUL! Always turn the phones level control [53] all the way down before connecting headphones or pressing a solo switch, or doing anything new that may affect the headphone volume. Then turn it up slowly as you listen carefully. 34. TAPE INPUTS / OUTPUTS The stereo unbalanced RCA inputs allow you to play a tape, CD player, iPod® dock, or other line-level source. The tape in jacks accept an unbalanced signal using standard hi-fi hookup cables. The stereo unbalanced RCA outputs allow you to record the main stereo mix onto a tape deck, hard disk recorder, or automatic CD burner, for example. This lets you make a recording for posterity/archive/legal purposes whenever the band gets back together again. The tape output is the stereo main mix, and it is not affected by the main mix fader [56]. The output could also be used as an extra set of main outputs for feeding another zone. Owner's Manual 19