Mackie 1642VLZ4 Musical Toy Instrument User Manual


 
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Owner’s Manual
Owner’s Manual
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com-
pact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1642VLZ4’swidedynamicrange,you
cangetagoodmixwithpeaksashinganywherebe-
tween–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.
Aux Talk
Sendsareoutputs,returnsareinputs.Eachchannel's
aux[35]knobstapthesignaloffthechannelandsend
ittotheauxsend[6]outputs.Aux1and2aresentto
theauxsends1and2[49]masterknobsbeforetheaux
sendoutputs;aux3and4aresentdirectly.
Theseoutputscanbefedtotheinputsofareverbor
otherdevice.Fromthere,theoutputsoftheexternal
devicearefedbacktothemixer’sstereoreturn[7]
inputs. Then these signals are sent through the stereo
return[51]levelcontrols,andnallydeliveredtothe
mainmix.
So,theoriginal“dry”signalscomefromthechannels
tothemainmix,andtheaffected“wet”signalscome
fromthestereoreturnstothemainmix,andoncemixed
together,thedryandwetsignalscombinetocreatea
glorioussound.Armedwiththisknowledge,let’svisit
theAuxiliaryWorld:
49. Aux Sends (Master)
Theseknobsprovideoveralllevelcontrolofauxsends
1and2,justbeforethey’redeliveredtotheirauxsend
[6]outputs.Thisisperfectforcontrollingthelevelof
stagemonitors,sinceyou’llbeusingaux1and2forthis,
withtheirpre[36]switchesengaged.Auxsends3and4
havenosuchcontrol—they’lljustsendtheirmixesdi-
rectlytotheirrespectiveauxsendoutputsatunitygain.
Theseknobsgofromoff(turnedfullydown),tounity
gainatthecenterdetent,with10dBofextragain
(turnedfullyup).Aswithsomeotherlevelcontrols,you
mayneverneedtheadditionalgain,butifyoueverdo,
you’llbegladyouboughta1642VLZ4.
This is usually the knob you turn up when the lead
singerglaresatyou,pointsathisstagemonitor,and
stickshisthumbintheair.(Itwouldfollowsuitthatif
thesingerstuckhisthumbdown,you’dturntheknob
down,butthatneverhappens.)
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