Mackie 1202VLZ4 Musical Toy Instrument User Manual


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Owner’s Manual
Owner’s Manual
Channel Strip Description
checkoutwhataparticularchannelisuptoanytime
duringasession.Youcansoloasmanychannelsat
atimeasyoulike.
Soloisalsothekeyplayerinthelevel-setting
procedureonpage5.
Soloedchannelsaresenttothesourcemix,which
ultimatelyfeedsyourcontrolroom,phonesandmeter
display.Wheneversoloisengaged,allsourceselections
(mainmix,alt3-4andtape)aredefeated,toallowthe
soloedsignaltodojustthat—solo!
WARNING: Pre-fadersolotapsthe
channelsignalbeforethelevelknob.
Ifyouhaveachannel’slevelknobsetbelow
“U”(unitygain),solowon’tknowthatandwillsend
aunitygainsignaltothecontrolroom,phonesand
meterdisplay.Thatmayresultinastartlinglevelboost
attheseoutputs.
25. Mute/Alt 3–4
Thedual-purposemute/alt3–4busisoursignature.
WhenGregwasdesigningourrst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amixdownorliveshow),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[16]outputs.Then,wheneveryou
pressthisswitch,youwillassignachanneltothese
unusedoutputs,disconnectingitfromthemainmix,
andeffectivelymutingthechannel.
Tousethisasanalt3–4switch,allyouhavetodois
connectthealt3–4outputstowhateverdestinationyou
desire.Herearetwopopularexamples:
Whendoingmultitrackrecording,usethealt3–4
outputstofeedyourmultitrack.Withmostdecks,you
can"mult"thealt3–4[16]outputs,usingY-cordsor
mults,tofeedmultipletracks.So,takealtoutputLand
sendittotracks1,3,5and7,andaltoutputRandsend
ittotracks2,4,6and8.Now,tracksthatareinrecord
orinputmodeswillhearthealt3–4signals,andtracks
inplaybackorsafemodeswillignorethem.
Whendoinglivesoundormixdown,it’softenhandy
tocontrolthelevelofseveralchannelswithoneknob.
That’scalledsubgrouping.Simplyassignthesechannels
tothealt3–4mix,engagealt3–4inthesource[33]
matrix,andthesignalswillappearatthecontrolroom
Theeightchannelstripslookalike,andfunction
identically.Theonlydifferenceisthatthefouronthe
leftareforindividualmicsormonoinstrumentsand
havemoregainavailable,whilethenextfourarefor
eitherstereoormonoline-levelsources.(Eachofthe
stereochannelstripsisactuallytwocompletecircuits.
Thecontrolsarelinkedtogethertopreservestereo.)
We’llstartatthebottomandworkourwayup…
“U” Like Unity Gain
VLZ4mixershavea“U”symbolonalmosteverylevel
control.This“U”standsfor“unitygain,”meaningno
changeinsignallevel.Onceyouhaveadjustedtheinput
signaltoline-level,youcanseteverycontrolat“U”and
yoursignalswilltravelthroughthemixeratoptimal
levels.What’smore,allthelabelsonourlevelcontrols
aremeasuredindecibels(dB),soyou’llknowwhat
you’redoinglevel-wiseifyouchoosetochangea
control’ssettings.
Youwon’thavetocheckit
hereandcheckitthere,asyou
wouldwithsomeothermixers.
Infact,somedon’tevenhaveany
referencetoactualdBlevels
atall!Youweresmart—you're
usinga1202VLZ4.
23. Level
Thisadjuststhechannel’s
level…fromoff,tounitygain
atthedetent,onupto12dB
ofadditionalgain.
Thelevelknobisthe
equivalentofachannelfader,
sosometimeswelapseandsay
thewordfader.
Channels1through4usemono
controls,andchannels5through
12usestereocontrols,andso
theymayfeelslightlydifferent.
Notaproblem.
24. Pre-Fader Solo
Thislovableswitchallows
youtohearsignalsthrough
yourheadphonesorcontrol
roomwithouthavingtoroute
themtothemainmixoralt3-4
mix.Youdon’tevenhavetohave
thechannel’slevel[23]knob
turnedup.Folksusesoloinliveworktopreview
channelsbeforetheyareletintothemix,ortojust
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