Mackie 1202-VLZ Pro Owner's Manual - Output Section Description
21
MAIN MIX
As the name implies, this knob controls the
levels of signals sent to the main outputs: XLR
LEFT and RIGHT ,
1
⁄
4
"
MAIN OUTS and RCA
TAPE OUTPUT . All channels and AUX RE-
TURNS that are not muted or turned fully down
will wind up in the
MAIN MIX.
Fully counterclockwise is off, the center detent
is unity gain, and fully clockwise provides 10dB
additional gain. This additional gain will typically
never be needed, but once again, it’s nice to know
it’s there. This is the knob to turn down at the end
of the song when you want The Great Fade-Out.
VLZ MIX ARCHITECTURE
When designing a mixing cir-
cuit, the lowest noise and best
crosstalk specs are achieved by
using Very Low Impedance
(VLZ). To implement VLZ in a mixer, the power sup-
ply must be able to deliver plenty of current to the
circuitry. That’s why those “wall wart” mixers are of-
ten noisy–they can’t power a VLZ circuit.
At Mackie, audio quality is much more important
than the price of wall warts. All of our mixers employ
VLZ and built-in power supplies that deliver more
than enough current, resulting in sonic specifications
that rival consoles upwards of $50,000!
SOURCE MATRIX
Typically, the engineer sends the
MAIN MIX to
an audience (if live) or a mixdown deck (if record-
ing). But what if the engineer needs to hear
something other than the
MAIN MIX? With the
New Improved 1202-VLZ PRO, the engineer has
several choices of what to listen to. This is one of
those tricky parts, so buckle up.
Via the
SOURCE switches, you can choose to
listen to any combination of
MAIN MIX, ALT 3-4
and
TAPE. By now, you probably know what the
MAIN MIX is. ALT 3-4 is that additional stereo mix
bus .
TAPE is the stereo signal coming in from
the
TAPE INPUT RCA jacks .
Selections made in the
SOURCE matrix deliver
stereo signals to the
CONTROL ROOM, PHONES
and meter display. With no switches engaged,
there will be no signal at these outputs and no
meter indication.
The exception to that is the
SOLO function .
Regardless of the
SOURCE matrix selection,
engaging a channel’s
SOLO switch will replace
that selection with the
SOLO signal, also sent
to the
CONTROL ROOM, PHONES and right
meter (the left meter becomes inactive). This
is what makes the Level-Setting Procedure
so easy to do.
WARNING: Engaging
both the
TAPE and
ASSIGN TO MAIN MIX
buttons in the
SOURCE
matrix can create a feed-
back path between
TAPE INPUT and TAPE
OUTPUT. Make sure your tape deck is not
in record, record-pause, or input monitor
mode when you engage these switches, or
make sure the
CONTROL ROOM / SUBMIX
level knob is fully counterclockwise (off).
OUTPUT SECTION DESCRIPTION
U
O
O
+10
U
O
O
+20
U
O
O
+20
MAX
O
O
+10dB
O
O
POWER
AUX 1 MASTER
AUX
RETURN
1
2
MAIN MIX
/SUBMIX
EFX TO
MONITOR
NORMALLED
PRE
POST
AUX 1
SELECT
CTL ROOM
U
U
RUDE
SOLO
LIGHT
LEVEL
SET
CONTROL
ROOM
SOURCE
ALT 3–4
TAPE
MAIN MIX
CLIP
LEFT RIGHT
0dB=0dBu
ASSIGN
TO MAIN MIX
28
10
7
4
2
0
2
4
7
10
20
30