Mackie 1202VLZ4 Musical Toy Instrument User Manual


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Owner’s Manual
Owner’s Manual
Whateveryourselection,youcanalsousethecontrol
room[15]outputsforotherapplications.Itssound
qualityisjustasimpeccableasthemainouts[11and
13].Itcanbeusedasadditionalmainmixoutput,which
maysoundsillysincetherearealreadythree,butthis
onehasitsownlevelcontrol.However,shouldyoudo
somethinglikethis,besurethatyoudonotengagea
soloswitch,asthatwillinterruptyoursourceselection.
A Word About Pre-Fader Solo (PFL)
Engagingachannel’ssolo[24]switchwillcause
thisdramaticturnofevents:Anyexistingcontrolroom
sourceselectionswillbereplacedbythesolosignal,
appearinginthecontrolroom,headphones,andinthe
rightmeter.Theaudiblesololevelsarethencontrolled
bythecontrolroom/submix[34]knob.Thesololevels
appearingontherightmeterdisplayarenotcontrolled
byanything—youwouldn’twantthat.Youwanttosee
theactualchannellevelonthemeterdisplayregardless
ofhowloudyou’relistening.
“Pre-fader”solomeansthatthechannelsignalis
beingtappedbeforethechannel’slevel[23]knob
(notreallyafaderinthiscase,butwewereafraid
you’dlaughifwecalleditpre-knobsolo).Itdoes,
however,obeygain[4],lowcut[3]andEQ[27]
settings,makingittheperfecttoolforquickinspections
ofsuspectchannels.Thechannel’span[26]andmute/
alt3-4[25]settingshavenoeffectonthesolosignal.
Note:Forstereochannels5-12,thesolosignalis
themonosumoftheleft(odd-numbered)andright
(even-numbered)signalsforthatchannelstrip.
WARNING:Pre-fadersolo[24]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.
35. Rude Solo Light
ThisashingLightEmittingDiodeservestwo
purposes—toremindyouthatatleastonechannel
isinsolo,andtoletyouknowthatyou’remixingon
a1202VLZ4.Noothercompanyissoconcernedabout
yourlevelofsoloawareness.Ifyouworkonamixer
thathasasolofunctionwithnoindicatorlights,and
youhappentoforgetyou’reinsolo,youcaneasilybe
trickedintothinkingthatsomethingiswrongwithyour
mixer.Hencetherudesololight.It’sespeciallyhandy
atabout3a.m.whennosoundiscomingoutofyour
monitorsbutyourmultitrackisplayingbacklikemad.
36. Assign To Main Mix
Let’ssayyou’redoingaliveshow.Intermissionis
nearingandyou’llwanttoplayasoothingCDforthe
crowdtopreventthemfromeatingthefurniture.
Thenyouthink,“ButIhavetheCDplayerpluggedinto
thetapeinputs,andthatnevergetstothemainouts!”
Oh,butitdoes.Simplyengagethisswitchandyour
controlroomsourceselection,aftergoingthrough
thecontrolroom/submix[34]knob,willfeedinto
themainmix,justasifitwereanotherstereochannel.
Anotherhandyuseforthisswitchistoenablethe
alt3-4mixtobecomeasubmixofthemainmix,using
thecontrolroom/submixknobasitslevelcontrol.
Sideeffects:(1)Engagingthisswitchwillalsofeed
anysoloedchannelsintothemainmix,whichmaybe
thelastthingyouwant.(2)Ifyouhavemainmixas
yourcontrolroomsourceselectionandthenengage
assigntomainmix,themainmixlinestothecontrol
roomwillbeinterruptedtopreventfeedback.Then
again,whywouldanyonewanttoassignthemainmix
tothemainmix?
37. Meters – Many Displays In One!
The1202VLZ4’speakmeteringsystemismadeup
oftwocolumnsoftwelveLEDs.Deceptivelysimple,
consideringthemultitudeofsignalsthatcanbe
monitoredbyit.
Ifnothingisselectedinthesourcematrixand
nochannelsareinsolo,themeterswilljustsitthere
anddonothing.Toputthemtowork,youmustmakea
selectioninthesourcematrix(orengageasoloswitch).
Why?Youwantthemeterdisplaytoreectwhatthe
engineerislisteningto,andaswe’vecovered,the
engineerislisteningeithertothecontrolroom[15]
outputsorthephones[12]outputs.Theonlydifference
isthatwhilethelisteninglevelsarecontrolledbythe
controlroom/submix[34]knob,themetersreadthe
sourcemixbeforethatcontrol,givingyoutherealfacts
atalltimes,evenifyou’renotlisteningatall.
Thankstothe1202VLZ4’swidedynamicrange,
youcangetagoodmixwithpeaksashinganywhere
between–20and+10dBonthemeters.Most
ampliersclipatabout+10dB,andsomerecorders
aren’tsoforgivingeither.Forbestreal-worldresults,
trytokeepyourpeaksbetween“0”and“+7”.
Youmayalreadybeanexpertattheworldof“+4”(+4
dBu=1.23V)and“–10”(–10dBV=0.32V)operating
levels.Basically,whatmakesamixeroneortheother
istherelative0dBVU(or0VU)chosenforthemeters.
A“+4”mixer,witha+4dBusignalpouringouttheback
willactuallyread0VUonitsmeters.A“–10”mixer,
witha–10dBVsignaltricklingout,willread0VUonits
meters.Sowhenis0VUactually0dBu?Rightnow!
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