Mackie 1604 Musical Toy Instrument User Manual


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1604VLZ4
1604VLZ4
48. Meters
The1604VLZ4’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[42]
matrix,andnochannelsareinsolo[27],themeter
displaywilljustsitthere.Toputthemtowork,
youmustmakeaselectioninthesourcematrix
(orengageachannel's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output
ortheheadphones.Theonlydifferenceisthatwhilethe
listeninglevelsarecontrolledbytheCR/phones[43]
knob,themeterdisplayreadsthesourcemixbefore
thatcontrol,givingyoutherealfactsatalltimes,
evenifyou’renotlisteningatall.
Whenthesolomode[44]switchissettoPFL(down),
allsoloedsignalswillbesenttotheleftmeteronly.
That,combinedwiththelevelsetLED[45],arealong
thepathofenlightenmentknownasthelevel-setting
procedure(page5).DuringAFLmode,themeterswill
behavenormally.
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Meters vs. Reality
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meter
display.A“+4”mixer,witha+4dBusignalpouringout
thebackwillactuallyread0VUonitsmeterdisplay.
A“–10”mixer,witha–10dBVsignaltricklingout,will
read,youguessedit,0VUonitsmeterdisplay.Sowhen
is0VUactually0dBu?Rightnow!
Attheriskofcreatinganotherstandard,VLZ4
compactmixersaddresstheneedofbothcrowds
bycallingthingsastheyare:0dBu(0.775V)atthe
outputshowsas0VUonthemeterdisplay.Whatcould
beeasier?Bytheway,themostwonderfulthingabout
standardsisthattherearesomanytochoosefrom.
Thankstothe1604VLZ4’swidedynamicrange,
youcangetagoodmixwithpeaksashinganywhere
between–20and+10dBonthemeterdisplay.
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.”
Pleaseremember:Audiometerdisplaysarejusttools
tohelpassureyouthatyourlevelsare“intheballpark.”
Youdon’thavetostareatthem(unlessyouwantto).
Ifyoundthatstaringatthemeterssendsyouintoa
hypnotictrance,pleasedonotbealarmed.Justcutmy
lawnandpolishmycareveryTuesday.
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