Pan; Stereo Sources; Constant Loudness; Band Mid-Sweep Eq - Mackie 1604vlz Owner's Manual

31. Pan

This adjusts the amount of channel signal sent to
the left versus the right outputs. Pan determines the
fate of the L-R assignment, subgroups 1–2 and 3–4,
and the solo (in AFL mode). With the pan knob hard
left, the signal will feed the left main mix, subgroup 1,
subgroup 3 and left normal (AFL) solo mode (assuming
their assignment switches are engaged). With the knob
hard right, signal feeds the right main mix, subgroup 2,
subgroup 4 and right normal (AFL) solo mode. With pan
set somewhere in-between left and right, the signal will
be divided between the left and right buses.

Stereo Sources

Your life will be easier if you follow this standard
convention: When patching stereo sound sources
to a mixer, always plug the left signal into an "odd"
channel (1, 3, 5, etc.) and the right signal into the
adjacent "even" channel (2, 4, 6, etc.). Then pan the
odd channel hard left and the even channel hard right.

Constant Loudness ! ! !

The 1604VLZ4's pan controls employ a design
called "Constant Loudness." It has nothing to
do with living next to a freeway. As you turn
the pan knob from left to right (thereby causing the
sound to move from the left to the center to the right),
the sound will appear to remain at the same volume
(or loudness).
If you have a channel panned hard left (or right) and
reading 0 dB, it must dip down about 4 dB on the left
(or right) when panned center. To do otherwise, like
those Brand X mixers, would make the sound appear
much louder when panned center.

32. 3-Band Mid-Sweep EQ

The 1604VLZ4 has a 3-band, mid-sweep equalization:
low shelving at 80 Hz, mid sweep peaking from 100 Hz
to 8 kHz, and hi shelving at 12 kHz. It's probably all
the EQ you'll ever need! (Shelving means that the
circuitry boosts or cuts all frequencies past the
specified frequency. For example, the 1604VLZ4's
low EQ boosts bass frequencies below 80 Hz and
continuing down to the lowest note you never heard.
Peaking means that certain frequencies form a "hill"
around the center frequency.)
The low EQ provides up to
15 dB boost or cut below 80 Hz.
The circuit is flat (no boost or
cut) at the center detent posi-
tion. This frequency represents
the punch in bass drums, bass
guitar, fat synth patches, and some really serious male
singers who eat broken glass for breakfast.
Used in conjunction with the low cut [33] switch,
you can boost the low EQ without injecting a ton of
subsonic debris into the mix. We recommend using
the low cut feature on all channels, except low
frequency signals, like kick drums and bass guitars.
The mid EQ , or "midrange," has a fixed bandwidth of
1 octave. The mid knob sets the amount of boost or cut,
up to 15 dB, and is effectively bypassed at the center
detent. The frequency knob sets the center frequency,
sweepable from 100 Hz to 8 kHz.
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Most of the root and lower harmonics that define a
sound are located in the 100 Hz–8 kHz frequency range,
and you can create drastic changes with these two
knobs. Many engineers use mid EQ to cut midrange
frequencies, not boost them. One popular trick is to set
the mid fully up, turn the frequency knob until you find
a point where it sounds just terrible, then back the mid
down into the cut range, causing those terrible frequen-
cies to disappear. Sounds silly, but it works. Sometimes.
The hi EQ provides you up
to 15 dB boost or cut above
12 kHz, and it is also flat at the
detent. Use it to add sizzle to
cymbals, an overall sense of
transparency, or an edge to
keyboards, vocals, guitar and
bacon frying. Turn it down a little to reduce sibilance
or to mask tape hiss.
With too much EQ, you can screw things up royally.
We've designed a lot of boost and cut into each equalizer
circuit because we love you, and know that everyone
will occasionally need that. But if you max the EQ 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). If you find yourself repeatedly using full boost
or cut, consider altering the sound source, such
as placing a mic differently, trying a different kind of
mic, changing the strings, or gargling.
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