Mackie 1642 Musical Toy Instrument User Manual


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1642VLZ4
1642VLZ4
44. Mode (AFL/PFL)
The1642VLZ4’ssolosystemcomesintwoavors:
AFL(sometimescalledSIP,orsolo-in-place)andPFL
(sometimescalledPFL,orpre-fader-listen).
InAFL,thesoloedchannel’ssignalissentdirectly
tothecontrolroom,headphonesandmeterdisplayjust
asitwouldsoundtothechannel’sassignmentswitches:
post-EQ[32],post-fader[25]andpost-pan[31].
Theonlydifferenceisthatsoloworksregardless
ofthechannel’sassignmentpositions,andthat
makesitreallyhandy—youcancheckouta
channelbeforeyouassignit.
AFListhepreferredmodeduringmixdown:
Ifthechannelhassomemidrangeboostat4.236kHz,
ispannedasmidgentotheleft,anditsfaderisat
–5.385dB,that’sexactlywhatyou’llhearifyousolo
duringAFLmode.It’sjustasifyoutookthetimeto
mutealltheotherchannels.
PFLsoloisthekeyplayerintheall-important
level-setting procedure . It’ll send the channel’s
actualinternallevelstothemeterssoyou’llknow
justwhat’sgoingon,level-wise.Thisprocedureshould
beperformedeverytimeanewsoundsourceispatched
intoachannel’smic[1]orline[2]inputjacks.
PFLisalsothepreferredmodeforSR(sound
reinforcement,orlivesound),topreviewchannels
beforetheyareletintothemix.Itwon’tgiveyoustereo
placement,butwillgiveyousignalevenifthefader
is turned down.
Remember,PFLtapsthechannelsignalbefore
thefader.Ifyouhaveachannel’sfadersetway
below“U”(unitygain),solowon’tknowthat
andwillsendaunitygainsignaltothecontrolroom,
headphones,andmeterdisplay.Thatmayresultina
startlinglevelboostattheseoutputs,dependingonthe
positionofthesolo[46]levelknob.
45. Level Set LED
Whenthemodeswitch[44]isengaged,it’sinPFL
mode,themodeyoumustbeintosetlevels.Now,when
youengageanysoloswitch,thisLEDwillbea“green
light”tosetlevels.IfyoutriedtosetlevelsduringAFL
mode,themeterdisplaywouldbeatthemercyofthe
channelfader,andthatwouldbeabigproblem.
46. Solo (Level)
Thisknobcontrolsthelevelofthesignalscoming
fromthesolosystem.Afterthesololevelisdetermined,
the solo signals will proceed to take over the control
room,headphones,andmeterdisplay.
Onceagain,PFLsolotapsthechannelsignal
beforethefader.Ifyouhaveachannel’sfader
setwaybelow“U”(unitygain),PFLsolo
won’t know that and will send a unity gain signal to
thecontrolroom,headphones,andmeterdisplay.This
mayresultinastartlinglevelboostattheseoutputs,
dependingonthepositionofthesololevelknob.
47. Rude Solo Light
ThisashingLED(lightemittingdiode)serves
twopurposes—toremindyouthatyou’reinsolo,
andtoletyouknowthatyou’remixingona1642VLZ4.
Noothercompanyissoconcernedaboutyourlevelof
soloawareness.Weevenforcethesoloedchannel’s–20
LEDtoplayalong,soyoucanndthatrogueswitchfast.
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3:00inthe
morning,whennosoundiscomingoutofyourmonitors,
eventhoughyourmultitrackisplayingbacklikemad.
48. Meters
The1642VLZ4’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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