Mackie ProFX22 Owner's Manual - Page 24

Whatever the selection, the control room outputs may also be used for other applications. The sound quality is just as impeccable as the main outputs. It may be used as an additional main mix output and this one will have its own level control. However, be aware that if a solo switch [22] is engaged, the mix will be interrupted: When a channel's solo switch [22] is engaged, any existing selection is replaced by the solo signal, appearing at the control room outputs [31], phones [33] and at the left meter [40]. The audible solo levels are then controlled by the control room knob [53]. The solo levels appearing on the meters are not controlled by the control room knob [53] - you would not want that, anyway. What you do want to see is the actual channel level on the meters regardless of how loud the control room and phones output levels might be. Solo signals reaching the headphones and monitor outputs are not affected by the channel level or main level; therefore, turn down the phones level [53] and monitor level [42] first, as soloed channels may be loud. 54. SUBS ASSIGN Switches One popular use of the subs is to use them as master faders for a group of channels on their way to the main mix fader [56]. Let us say you have a drum kit hogging up seven channels and you are going to want to control their group volume more conveniently. You do not want to try that with seven hands or seven fingers, so just unassign these channels from the main mix and reassign them to subs 1-2, engage the assign to main mix left on sub 1 and assign to main mix right on sub 2. Now you may ride the entire drum mix with two faders - subs 1 and 2. If you engage just one assign to main mix button per group (left or right), the signal sent to the main mix fader [56] will be the same level as the sub outs [32]. If you want the subgroup to appear in the center of the main mix, engage both the assign to main mix left and right buttons. The signal will be sent to both sides, and reduced in level by 3 dB like a pan pot, so the overall level is the same, whether the group is assigned to main left, main right, or both. 55. SUB 1-4 FADERS As you might expect, these faders control the levels of the signals sent to the sub outs [32]. All channels that are assigned to subs, not muted, and not turned fully down will appear at the sub outs. The sub signal is off when its fader is fully down, the "U" marking is unity gain, and fully up provides 10 dB additional gain. Remember that if you are treating two subs as a stereo pair, sub 1 and 2 for example, make sure that both sub faders "ride" together to maintain the left/ right balance. 56. MAIN MIX This stereo fader allows you to adjust the levels of ­the main mix signals sent to the XLR and 1/4" main line-level outputs [30] and the tape outputs [34]. This gives you the ultimate feeling of power and control over the sound levels sent to your audience. Adjust this control carefully, with your good eye on the meters to check against overloading, and your good ear to the levels to make sure your audience (if any) is happy. The main mix signals are off with the fader fully down, the "U" marking is unity gain, and fully up provides 10 dB of additional gain. This additional gain will typically never be needed, but once again, it's nice to know that it's there. The fader is stereo, as it affects both the left and right of the main mix equally. This is the ideal control to slowly bring down at the end of a song (or quickly in the middle of a song if the need ever arises). This control does not affect the mon send or FX send outputs [26, 27]. This does, however, conclude the main portion of the owner's manual. From here on out it's all appendices. 24 ProFX16 and ProFX22