17
Owner’s Manual
Owner’s Manual
ThelowEQprovidesupto
15dBboostorcutbelow80Hz.
Thecircuitisat(noboostor
cut)atthecenterdetentposi-
tion.Thisfrequencyrepresents
thepunchinbassdrums,bass
guitar,fatsynthpatches,andsomereallyseriousmale
singerswhoeatbrokenglassforbreakfast.
Usedinconjunctionwiththelowcut[33]switch,
youcanboostthelowEQwithoutinjectingatonof
subsonicdebrisintothemix.Werecommendusing
thelowcutfeatureonallchannels,exceptlow
frequencysignals,likekickdrumsandbassguitars.
ThemidEQ,or“midrange,”hasaxedbandwidthof
1octave.Themidknobsetstheamountofboostorcut,
upto15dB,andiseffectivelybypassedatthecenter
detent.Thefrequencyknobsetsthecenterfrequency,
sweepablefrom100Hzto8kHz.
Mostoftherootandlowerharmonicsthatdenea
soundarelocatedinthe100Hz–8kHzfrequencyrange,
andyoucancreatedrasticchangeswiththesetwo
knobs.ManyengineersusemidEQtocutmidrange
frequencies,notboostthem.Onepopulartrickistoset
themidfullyup,turnthefrequencyknobuntilyound
apointwhereitsoundsjustterrible,thenbackthemid
downintothecutrange,causingthoseterriblefrequen-
ciestodisappear.Soundssilly,butitworks.Sometimes.
ThehiEQprovidesyouup
to15dBboostorcutabove
12kHz,anditisalsoatatthe
detent.Useittoaddsizzleto
cymbals,anoverallsenseof
transparency,oranedgeto
keyboards,vocals,guitarand
baconfrying.Turnitdownalittletoreducesibilance
ortomasktapehiss.
WithtoomuchEQ,youcanscrewthingsuproyally.
We’vedesignedalotofboostandcutintoeachequalizer
circuitbecauseweloveyou,andknowthateveryone
willoccasionallyneedthat.ButifyoumaxtheEQon
everychannel,you’llgetmixmush.Equalizesubtlyand
usetheleftsidesoftheknobs(cut),aswellastheright
(boost).Ifyoundyourselfrepeatedlyusingfullboost
orcut,consideralteringthesoundsource,such
asplacingamicdifferently,tryingadifferentkindof
mic,changingthestrings,orgargling.
20
Hz
100
Hz
1k
Hz
10k
Hz
20k
Hz
–15
–10
–5
0
+5
+10
+15
20
Hz
100
Hz
1k
Hz
10k
Hz
20k
Hz
–15
–10
–5
0
+5
+10
+15
20
Hz
100
Hz
1k
Hz
10k
Hz
20k
Hz
–15
–10
–5
0
+5
+10
+15
31. Pan
Thisadjuststheamountofchannelsignalsentto
theleftversustherightoutputs.Pandeterminesthe
fateoftheL-Rassignment,subgroups1–2and3–4,
andthesolo(inAFLmode).Withthepanknobhard
left,thesignalwillfeedtheleftmainmix,subgroup1,
subgroup3andleftnormal(AFL)solomode(assuming
theirassignmentswitchesareengaged).Withtheknob
hardright,signalfeedstherightmainmix,subgroup2,
subgroup4andrightnormal(AFL)solomode.Withpan
setsomewherein-betweenleftandright,thesignalwill
bedividedbetweentheleftandrightbuses.
Stereo Sources
Yourlifewillbeeasierifyoufollowthisstandard
convention:Whenpatchingstereosoundsources
toamixer,alwaysplugtheleftsignalintoan“odd”
channel(1,3,5,etc.)andtherightsignalintothe
adjacent“even”channel(2,4,6,etc.).Thenpanthe
oddchannelhardleftandtheevenchannelhardright.
Constant Loudness ! ! !
The1604VLZ4’spancontrolsemployadesign
called“ConstantLoudness.”Ithasnothingto
dowithlivingnexttoafreeway.Asyouturn
thepanknobfromlefttoright(therebycausingthe
soundtomovefromthelefttothecentertotheright),
thesoundwillappeartoremainatthesamevolume
(orloudness).
Ifyouhaveachannelpannedhardleft(orright)and
reading0dB,itmustdipdownabout4dBontheleft
(orright)whenpannedcenter.Todootherwise,like
thoseBrandXmixers,wouldmakethesoundappear
muchlouderwhenpannedcenter.
32. 3-Band Mid-Sweep EQ
The1604VLZ4hasa3-band,mid-sweepequalization:
lowshelvingat80Hz,midsweeppeakingfrom100Hz
to8kHz,andhishelvingat12kHz.It’sprobablyall
theEQyou’lleverneed!(Shelvingmeansthatthe
circuitryboostsorcutsallfrequenciespastthe
speciedfrequency.Forexample,the1604VLZ4’s
lowEQboostsbassfrequenciesbelow80Hzand
continuingdowntothelowestnoteyouneverheard.
Peakingmeansthatcertainfrequenciesforma“hill”
aroundthecenterfrequency.)
20
Hz
100
Hz
1k
Hz
10k
Hz
20k
Hz
–15
–10
–5
0
+5
+10
+15