Mackie 1604VLZ4 Musical Toy Instrument User Manual


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15
Owner’s Manual
Owner’s Manual
Channel Strip Description
25
26
The16channelstripslookalikeand
functionidentically.Soifyoulearnone,
youhavelearnedthemall.Theonly
differenceisthattheeightontheleft
havedirectout[5]jacksandtheeight
ontherightdon’t.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performed
thelevel-settingprocedure,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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.
25. Channel Fader
Thefaderisalmostthelastcontrol
inachannel’ssignalpath.It’splaced
aftertheEQ[32]andmute[30]
controls(post-EQ/post-mute)and
beforethepan[31]control(pre-pan).
The“U”mark,aboutthree-quartersof
thewayup,indicatesunitygain,meaning
noincreaseordecreaseofsignallevel.
Allthewayupprovidesanadditional
10dB,shouldyouneedtoboostasection
ofasong.Ifyoundthattheoveralllevel
istooquietortooloudwithafadernear
unity,you’llwanttoconrmthesetting
byperformingthelevel-settingprocedure
onpage5.
A Clean Fade
Fadersarenotrocketscience—they
operatebydraggingametalpin(the
wiper)acrossacarbon-basedstrip(the
track).Itispossibleforairbornecrudto
landonthetrack.Shouldthathappen,youmayhear
scratchynoisesorsignaldropoutsasthewiperstumbles
overthecrud.Doallyoucantokeepairbornecrudout
ofyourprofession.Useair-conditionedroomswhenever
possible,avoidsmokingnearthemixer,keepfoodand
drinkawayfromthemixer,andforpity’ssake,never
putthemixerinyourkitchen!Wealsorecommend
“exercising”thefaders—givethemafewfull-travel
excursionsonceaweekorso,andthatwillhelpscare
thecrudaway.Donotusespraycleaners,ratheruse
compressedair,oravacuumwithbrushattachment.
26. Assign (1–2, 3–4, L–R)
Alongsideeachchannelfaderarefourbuttons,
labeledsolo,1–2,3–4andL–R.Thelatterthreeare
collectivelyreferredtoaschannelassignmentswitches.
1,3andLaretheleftsidesofthesestereopairs,and
2,4andRaretherightsides.Usedinconjunctionwith
thechannel’span[31]knob,theseswitchesdetermine
thedestinationofachannel’ssignal:Withpansetat
thecenterdetent,theleftandrightsidesreceiveequal
signallevels.Tofeedonlyonesideortheother,justturn
thepanknobaccordingly.
Ifyou’redoingamixdowntoa2-track,simplyengage
theL–Rswitchoneachchannelthatyouwanttohear,
andthey’llbesenttothemainmix.Ifyouwanttocreate
asubgroupofcertainchannels,engageeitherthe1–2
or3–4switchesinsteadoftheL–R,andthey’llbesent
totheappropriatesubgroupfaders.Fromthere,the
subgroupscanbesentbacktothemainmix,allowing
youtousethesubgroupfadersasamastercontrolfor
those channels.
Ifyou’reprintingnewtracksorbouncingexisting
ones,you’llalsousethe1–2and3–4switches,but
nottheL–Rswitch.Here,youdon’twantthesubgroups
sentbackintothemainmix,butsentout,viathe
subouts[8]jacks,toyourmultitrackinputs.
However,ifyou’reprintingtracksviathedirect
out[5]jacks,allthechannelassignmentswitches
shouldbedisengaged(up).
The1604VLZ4iswhatwecalla“true4-busmixer.”
Eachchannelmaybeassignedorunassignedtoanyof
thesubgroupswithoutaffectingtheothersubgroups
orsettingswithinthechannel,andeachsubgrouphas
itsownmasterfaderanddedicatedoutput.Infact,
sincethereare4subgroupsandthemainL/Rmix,
it’sactuallyatrue6-busmixer.Wecouldhavenamed
itthe1606VLZ4.Darn!
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