Output Section Description; Main Mix Fader; Vlz Mix Architecture; Sub Faders - Mackie 1642-VLZ PRO Owner's Manual

AUX SEND EFFECTS TO MONITORS
U U U
1 1 1
+10 +20 +15
O O O O O O
U U U
2 2 2
O O +10 O O +20 O O +15
U
ASSIGN OPTIONS
1 3
SOLO
MAIN MIX
+20
O O
TO SUBS
U
2 4
C - R / PHNS
SOLO
+20
O O
ONLY
PWR
PHAN
STEREO AUX RETURN
U
MAX
O O +20
O O
TAPE IN
PHONES
TAPE TO
MAX
O O MAIN MIX
CONTROL ROOM
TAPE
O O MAX
SOLO
–
SUBS 1 2
MODE LEVEL
SET
–
SUBS 3 4
NORMAL (AFL)
LEVEL SET (PFL)
MAIN MIX
RUDE SOLO LIGHT
CR SOURCE
LEFT LEFT LEFT LEFT
RIGHT RIGHT RIGHT RIGHT
1 2 3 4
5 6 7 8
dB
10
5
U
5
10
20 20
30 30
40 40
50 50
60 60
O O O O
you want "The Great Fade-Out."
achieved by using Very Low Impedance (VLZ).
To implement VLZ in a mixer, the power supply
must be able to deliver plenty of current to the
circuitry. That's why those "wall wart" mixers are
often noisy — they can't power a VLZ circuit.
At Mackie, audio quality is much more im-
portant than the price of wall warts. All of our
22

OUTPUT SECTION DESCRIPTION

You've just learned about the
input channels and how the sig-
TO AUX
nals get in and out. The signals
SEND 1
come in via MIC and LINE input
jacks, are manipulated by the
TO AUX
SEND 2
channels, and then sent to the
output section. In the output
section, things get a bit more
–
1 2
–
3 4
complicated, so put on your
thinking caps.
RETURNS
SOLO

MAIN MIX FADER

This fader controls the lev-
LEFT RIGHT
0 dB=0 dBu
els of signals sent to the MAIN
28
OUTPUTS
10
PUT RCA jacks
7
4
and AUX RETURNs that are as-
2
0 signed to the MAIN MIX, not
2
muted and not turned fully
4
7
down will appear at the MAIN
10
OUT. Before the main mix gets
20
30
to this fader, the signals pass
through the MAIN INSERT
The MAIN MIX signals are
off with the fader fully down,
the "U" marking is unity gain,
MAIN
MIX
and fully up provides 10dB ad-
dB ditional gain. This additional
10
gain will typically never be
5
needed, but once again, it's
U
nice to know it's there. The
5
fader itself is a stereo version
10
of the channel and subgroup
faders — same supersmooth
custom taper, same dead si-
lence when turned fully down.
This is the fader to pull down
at the end of the song when
VLZ MIX
ARCHITECTURE
When designing a mixing
circuit, the lowest noise and
best crosstalk specs are
mixers now employ VLZ circuitry and built-in
power supplies that deliver more than enough
current, resulting in sonic specifications that
rival consoles upwards of $50,000!
levels of signals sent to the SUB OUTS. All chan-
nels that are assigned to subgroups, not muted
and not turned fully down will appear at the
SUB OUTS. Unlike the MAIN OUT, the sub-
group signals do not pass through an insert jack
on their way to the subgroup faders. That's no
problem — should you want to send these sig-
and TAPE OUT-
nals through a serial effects processor, simply
patch from the SUB OUTS to the effect's input,
. All channels
and from the effect's output to whatever the fi-
nal destination is, usually a multitrack recorder.
fully down, the "U" marking is unity gain, and
fully up provides 10dB additional gain. Re-
member that if you're treating two subgroups
as a stereo pair, subgroup 1 and 2 for example,
.
make sure that both subgroup faders "ride"
together, to maintain the left/right balance.
them as master faders for a group of channels
on their way to the MAIN MIX. Let's say you've
got a drum kit hogging up seven channels and
you're going to want to fade them out at a differ-
ent rate than the other channels. You don't want
to try that with seven hands or seven fingers, so
just un-assign these channels from L/R, reassign
them to subgroup 1–2, engage the ASSIGN TO
MAIN MIX, LEFT on subgroup 1 and the AS-
SIGN TO MAIN MIX, RIGHT on subgroup 2.
Now you can ride the entire stereo drum mix
with two faders — 1 and 2.
MIX switch per subgroup (LEFT or RIGHT),
the signal sent to the MAIN MIX will be the
same level as the SUB OUTS. If you want the
subgroup to appear in the center of the main
mix, engage both the ASSIGN TO MAIN MIX,
LEFT and ASSIGN TO MAIN MIX, RIGHT
switches. The signal will be sent to both sides,
and will be attenuated just enough to pre-
serve constant loudness, just like the channel
PAN
SUBGROUP FADERS
As you might expect, these faders control the
The subgroup signal is off when its fader is

ASSIGN TO MAIN MIX

One popular use of the subgroups is to use
If you engage just one ASSIGN TO MAIN
knobs when set in the center.