Mackie SR408 / SR568 Owner's Manual - Page 25

25

150

220

350

45

75

800

30

U

+15

-15

U

+15

-15

U

+15

-15

U

+15

-15

250

700

70

3k

45

2.5k

6k

700

15k

500

HI

12k

FREQ

FREQ

FREQ

80Hz

EQ IN

HPF

LOW

40

MUTE

EQ

1-2

3-4

5-6

7-8

L-R

CENTER

HI

MID

LOW

MID

PAN

dB

O

O

5

5

U

60

50

SOLO

R

L

LEFT/RIGHT

mix

. If you want to create a

Subgroup of certain Channels, engage one of

the numbered switches instead of the

L-R

, and

the signals from those Channels are sent to the

appropriate Subgroup Fader

. From there,

the Subgroups can be sent back to the main

LEFT/RIGHT

mix

, allowing you to use the

Subgroup Faders as a master control for those

Channels.

CENTER (assignment)

Point Before: Fader

.

Point After:

CENTER

mix

.

This switch works the same way as the other

assignment switches — engage the switch and

that Channel’s signal is sent to that mix — but

it is not a stereo destination. Since the

CENTER

assignment occurs before the

PAN

control, it

will receive the same level as the Fader output,

regardless of the

PAN

position.

Be aware:

If you’re using the

LEFT/RIGHT

MAIN OUTPUTS

but not the

CENTER OUT-

PUT

, and you want a Channel’s signal to

appear in the center of the main

LEFT/RIGHT

mix, engage the

L-R

switch and set the

PAN

control to the center. Don’t use the

CENTER

assignment switch — it won’t go anywhere,

but it will appear in the

PHONES

mix, and

that could mislead you into thinking it actually

is in the main

LEFT/RIGHT

mix.

If you want to create a

LEFT/RIGHT/CENTER

mix for your main feed, and also a

LEFT/RIGHT

mix with

CENTER

blended in for a secondary

feed, you’ll want to use the

MATRIX

section.

Use

MATRIX A

for the

LEFT

and

MATRIX B

for

the

RIGHT

secondary mix outputs. Turn

MA-

TRIX A

’s

LEFT

knob and

MATRIX B

’s

RIGHT

knob to their “

U

” markings. On

MATRIX A

and

B

, turn their

CENTER

knobs about one-third of

the way up (10:00 position).

SOLO

PFL Point Before:

EQ IN

switch.

PFL Point After:

PFL

mix (mono)

SOLO

(of

LEFT/RIGHT/CENTER

Faders)

.

AFL Point Before:

PAN

.

AFL Point After:

AFL

mix (stereo)

SOLO

(of

LEFT/RIGHT/CENTER

Faders)

.

SOLO

allows you to audition signals

through your headphones without having to

assign them to any of the

LEFT/RIGHT/CEN-

TER

mixes

or Subgroup

(

SUB 1–8

mixes)

. You can simultaneously

SOLO

as many

Channels (and other signals) as you like. The

SR40•8 features nondestructive solo: Engaging

SOLO

does not interrupt any of the other

Channels, buses, or outputs. Not only that, via

the

INPUTS PFL/AFL

and

OUTPUTS PFL/

AFL

switches in the output section, the

SOLO

system comes in two flavors:

PFL

(Pre-

Fader-Listen) and

AFL

(After-Fader-Listen,

solo-in-place).

PFL

is the key player in the all-important

Level-Setting Procedure

. It’ll send the

Channel’s actual internal levels to the

HEAD-

PHONES

, Channel Meters

and

SOLO LEFT/RIGHT/CENTER

Meters

so

you’ll know just what’s going on level-wise.

This procedure should be performed every

time a new sound source is patched into a

Channel’s

MIC

or

LINE IN

jacks.

PFL

is often the preferred mode in SR

(Sound Reinforcement, or live sound), to pre-

view Channels before they are assigned into the

mix. It won’t give you stereo placement, but will

give you signal even if the Fader is pulled down.

Remember,

PFL

taps the Channel signal be-

fore the Fader. If you have a Channel’s Fader set

way below “

U

” (unity gain), the

SOLO

mix won’t

know that and will send a unity gain signal to

the

HEADPHONES

and Meters. That may re-

sult in a startling level boost at these outputs,

depending on the position of

SOLO LEVEL

.

In

AFL

mode, the soloed Channel’s signal is

sent directly to the

HEADPHONES

and Meters

just as it would sound to the Channel’s stereo

assignment switches: post-

EQ

, post-Fader and

post-

PAN

.

AFL

works regardless of the

Channel’s assignment settings, and that makes

it handy for auditioning a Channel before you

assign it to a mix.

AFL

is the preferred mode during mixdown:

If the Channel has some midrange boost at

4.26kHz, is panned 20.3 degrees to the left, and

its Fader is at –5.38dB, that’s exactly what

you’ll hear if you solo during

AFL

-SIP mode.

It’s just as if you took the time to mute all the

other signals.

Be aware:

INPUTS SOLO

has precedence

over

OUTPUTS SOLO

— you can’t combine

these signals. For instance, if you have

SUB 1

(an output signal) in

SOLO

, then you engage

SOLO

on Channel

15

(an input signal), the

SUB 1

signal will be removed and replaced by

the Channel

15

signal.

Mackie SR408 / SR568 Owner's Manual - Page 25

Level-Setting Procedure

Page 25 highlights