Mackie 402VLZ4 Musical Toy Instrument User Manual


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402VLZ4
402VLZ4
“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adjustedtheinputsignal
toline-level,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level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.
2-Band Equalization
The402VLZ4has2-bandequalizationat
carefullyselectedpoints—lowshelvingat
80Hz,andhishelvingat12kHz.“Shelving”
meansthatthecircuitryboostsorcutsall
frequenciespastthespeciedfrequency.
Forexample,rotatingthelowEQknob15dB
totherightboostsbassstartingat80Hzand
continuingdowntothelowestnoteyou
never heard.
WithEQ,youcanalsoscrewthings
uproyally.We’vedesignedalotof
boostandcutintoeachequalizer
circuit,becauseweknoweveryonewill
occasionallyneedthat.Butifyoumaxthe
EQsoneverychannel,you’llgetmixmush.
Equalizesubtlyandusetheleftsidesofthe
knobs(cut),aswellastheright(boost).
Veryfewgold-record-albumengineersever
usemorethanabout3dBofEQ.Ifyouneed
morethanthat,there’susuallyabetterway
togetit,suchasplacingamicdifferently
(orusingadifferentkindofmicentirely).
8. Hi EQ
This control
givesyouupto
15dBboostor
cutabove12kHz,
and it is also flat
at the center. Use
it to add sizzle
tocymbals,and
anoverallsenseoftransparency,oredgeto
keyboards,vocals,guitarandbaconfrying.
Turnitdownalittletoreducesibilance,
ortohidetapehiss.
20Hz 100Hz 1kHz 10kHz 20kHz
–15
–10
–5
0
+5
+10
+15
Hi EQ
6. Instrument Switch (Ch. 1–2)
Whenthisswitchispressedin,
channel1or2'slineinputcanaccept
directinstrument-levelsignalsfromguitars
orotherinstruments.Theywillbe
impedance-matchedtothelineinput,
withouttheneedforaDIbox.
Whenthisswitchisout,youcanconnect
line-levelsourcessuchasCDplayers,MP3
players,keyboards,drummachinesand
more.YouwillneedaDIboxifconnecting
instrument-levelsignalstotheinputsof
channel 3 and 4.
Direct-In(DI)boxesarecommonly
availablefrommostmusicstores.
Theyprovidesignaland
impedancematchingforthedirect
connectionofguitarsandotherinstruments
toampliersandmixers.Theyconvert
unbalancedinstrument-levelsignalstoa
balancedmic-leveloutput.Normally,they
justlooklikeafunnylittleboxwitha1/4"TS
inputatoneend,andanXLRoutputatthe
other.Thegoodthingisthatyoudonotneed
themwiththe402VLZ4.
7. Gain (Ch. 1–2)
Ifyouhaven’talready,
pleasereadthe'Getting
Started'sectiononpage5.
Gainadjuststheinput
sensitivityofthemicand
lineinputsconnectedto
channels1and2.Thisallowssignalsfrom
theoutsideworldtobeadjustedtooptimal
internaloperatinglevels.
IfthesignalcomesthroughtheXLRjack,
therewillbe0dBofgainwiththeknobfully
down,rampingto60dBofgainfullyup.
Throughthe1⁄4"input,thereis20dBof
attenuationfullydownand40dBofgain
fullyup,witha“U”(unitygain)markat
10:00.This20dBofattenuationcanbe
veryhandywheninsertingaveryhotsignal,
orwhenyouwanttoaddalotofEQgain,
orboth.Withoutthis“virtualpad,”this
scenariomightleadtochannelclipping.
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