Samson MPL 1204 Owner's Manual page 9

Guided Tour - Main Section
3: Stereo Auxiliary Return Balance (brown) - These knobs determine the
relative levels of the left and right input signals connected to the MPL 1204's two
stereo Auxiliary returns. When the knob is placed at its center (detented)
position, both left and right input signals for that Aux return are at equal strength.
When moved left of center, the left input signal remains at the same strength but
the right input signal is attenuated; when the knob is moved right of center, the
right input signal remains at the same strength but the left input signal is
attenuated. When placed fully counterclockwise, only the left input signal is
heard (panned hard left); when placed fully clockwise, only the right input signal
is heard (panned hard right). These "radical" positions are useful when you are
using a stereo Aux return as two mono returns—see the "Using Aux Sends and
Returns" section on page 20 in this manual for more information.
4: Headphone Level - This knob sets the level of the signal sent to the
headphone jack (see #5 below). WARNING: To avoid possible damage to
connected headphones (or, worse yet, to your ears!), always turn this all the way
off (to the fully counterclockwise "0" position) before plugging in a pair of
headphones—then raise the level slowly while listening. The Headphone Level
has no effect on the final Main output level or on the Control Room output level.
5: Headphone jack - Connect any standard stereo headphones to this jack
(via a 1/4" TRS plug) for private monitoring of all soloed channels. The built-in
MPL 1204 headphone preamp delivers 120 mw at 33 ohms. For more
information, see the "PFL/AFL Soloing" section on page 22 in this manual.
6: Meter - This ten-segment bar meter shows the continuous output level of
either Bus 1/2 or Bus 3/4, depending upon the setting of the Meter switch
(see # 10 on page 8). For optimum signal-to-noise ratio, try to adjust all channel
levels so that program material is usually at or around 0 VU, with occasional but
not steady excursions to the red "+" segments. See the "Setting the Correct
Gain Structure" section on page 14 in this manual for more information.
7: Status LEDs - These show the status of various conditions within the
MPL 1204. The leftmost LED (labeled "PFL") lights steadily green when the
MPL 1204 is in PFL mode (see #8 below). The left center LED (labeled "AFL")
lights steadily red when the MPL 1204 is in AFL mode (see #8 below). The right
center LED lights steadily green when the Phantom Power switch (see #9 below)
is engaged and 48 volts phantom power is being delivered to all XLR mic
connectors. The rightmost LED (labeled "Power") lights steadily red whenever
the MPL 1204 is powered on.
8: Solo switch - This determines whether the MPL 1204 is in PFL mode (switch
up) or AFL mode (switch pressed in). For more information, see the "PFL/AFL
Soloing" section on page 22 in this manual.
9: Phantom Power switch - When this switch is pressed in, the MPL 1204
delivers 48 volts of phantom power to pins 2 and 3 of all XLR microphone
connectors in all twelve channels. WARNING: Only use this switch with the
MPL 1204 powered down. Before turning phantom power on, be sure to
disconnect all non-microphone signal sources (such as passive direct injection
boxes) from the XLR mic jacks. Although phantom power will have no adverse
affect on connected dynamic microphones, it should be used only when one or
more condenser microphones are connected to the MPL 1204. Refer to the
owners manual of your microphone to determine whether or not it requires
48 volts phantom power—we cannot assume responsibility if you damage
a mic by incorrectly applying phantom power. If you're not completely
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