Constant Loudness; Band Mid-Sweep Eq - Mackie 1642-VLZ3 Owner's Manual

34
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 ap-
pear 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
32
louder when panned center.

32. 3-BAND MID-SWEEP EQ

The eight mono channels have 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 frequen-
cies past the specified frequency. For
example, the 1642-VLZ3's LOW EQ
boosts bass frequencies starting at 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 position. This frequency repre-
sents the punch in bass drums, bass
guitar, fat synth patches, and some
really serious male singers.
Used in conjunction with the LOW CUT [34] 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.
16
164-VLZ3

CONSTANT LOUDNESS ! ! !

The 1642-VLZ3's PAN [31]
controls employ a design
called "Constant Loudness."
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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.
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With too much EQ, you can screw things up royally.
We've designed a lot of boost and cut into each equal-
izer circuit because we know 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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