Mackie 1402 VLZ Owner's Manual page 40

mixer
An electronic device used to combine
various audio signals into a common output.
Different from a blender, which combines vari-
ous fruits into a common libation.
monaural
Literally, pertaining to or having the use of
only one ear. In sound work, monaural has to do
with a signal which, for purposes of communicat-
ing audio information, has been confined to a
single channel. One microphone is a mono
pickup; many microphones mixed to one chan-
nel is a mono mix; a mono signal played through
two speakers is still mono, since it only carries
one channel of information. Several monaural
sources, however, can be panned into a stereo
(or at least two-channel, if you are going to be
picky) mix. Monaural SR is common for envi-
ronments where stereo SR would provide an
uneven reproduction to the listener.
monitor
In sound reinforcement, monitor speakers
(or monitor headphones or in-the-ear moni-
tors) are those speakers used by the
performers to hear themselves. Monitor speak-
ers are also called foldback speakers. In
recording, the monitor speakers are those used
by the production staff to listen to the record-
ing as it progresses. In zoology, the monitor
lizard is the lizard that observes the produc-
tion staff as the recording progresses. Keep the
lizard out of the mixer.
mono
Short for monaural.
mult
Probably short for multiple. In audio work,
a mult is a parallel connection in a patch bay
or a connection made with patch cords to
feed an output to more than one input. A "Y"
cable is a type of mult connection. Also a
verb, as in "Why did you mult the flanger into
every input in the board?"
noise
Whatever you don't want to hear. Could be
hum, buzz or hiss; could be crosstalk or digital
hash or your neighbor's stereo; could be white
noise or pink noise or brown noise; or it could
be your mother-in-law reliving the day she had
her gallstone removed.
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noise floor
The residual level of noise in any system.
In a well designed mixer, the noise floor will
be a quiet hiss, which is the thermal noise
generated by bouncing electrons in the tran-
sistor junctions. The lower the noise floor and
the higher the headroom, the more usable dy-
namic range a system has.
pan, pan pot
Short for panoramic potentiometer. A pan
pot is used to position (or even move back and
forth) a monaural sound source in a stereo mix-
ing field by adjusting the source's volume
between the left and right channels. Our brains
sense stereo position by hearing this difference
in loudness when the sound strikes each ear,
taking into account time delay, spectrum, ambi-
ent reverberation and other cues.
parametric EQ
A "fully" parametric EQ is an extremely
powerful equalizer that allows smooth, con-
tinuous control of each of the three primary
EQ parameters (frequency, gain, and band-
width) in each section independently. "Semi"
parametric EQs allow control of fewer param-
eters, usually frequency and gain (i.e., they
have a fixed bandwidth, but variable center
frequency and gain).
peaking
The opposite of dipping, of course. A peak is
an EQ curve that looks like a hill, or a peak.
Peaking with an equalizer amplifies a band of
frequencies.
PFL
An acronym for Pre Fade Listen. Broadcast-
ers would call it cueing. Sound folks call it being
able to solo a channel with the fader down.
phantom power
A system of providing electrical power for
condenser microphones (and some electronic
pickup devices) from the sound mixer. The sys-
tem is called phantom because the power is
carried on standard microphone audio wiring in
a way that is "invisible" to ordinary dynamic mi-
crophones. Mackie mixers use standard +48
volt DC power, switchable on or off. Most quality
condenser microphones are designed to use +48
VDC phantom power. Check the manufacturer's
recommendations.
Generally, phantom power is safe to use with
non-condenser microphones as well, especially
dynamic microphones. However, unbalanced
microphones, some electronic equipment (such