Mackie 1642 Musical Toy Instrument User Manual


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1642VLZ4
1642VLZ4
Channel Strip Description
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1642VLZ4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.
27. Solo
This lovable switch allows you to check signals in
thephonesorcontrolroomwithouthavingtoassign
themtotheL/R,1-2or3-4mixes.Youcansoloas
manychannelsasyoulike.Solodoesnotinterrupt
anyoftheotherchannels,busesoroutputs—that’s
called nondestructive solo.
Usingthemode[44]switch,the1642VLZ4’ssolo
systemcomesintwoavors:AFL(sometimescalledSIP,
orsolo-in-place)andPFL(pre-fader-listen).Themode
switch is described in tender loving detail on page 21.
Thereareeightmono,andfourstereochannelstrips.
Manyofthefunctionsareidenticalforthemonoand
stereochannels.We’llstartatthebottomandworkour
wayup,pointingoutthedifferencesaswegoalong.
“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set-
tings.
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walkupand
downonceaweekorso,andthatwill
help scare the crud away. We do not
recommendspraycleaners.
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