Mackie 1642-VLZ PRO Owner's Manual - Channel Strip Description
17
CHANNEL STRIP DESCRIPTION
A Clean Fade
Faders are not rocket
science — they operate by
dragging a metal pin (the
wiper) across a carbon-based
strip (the track). It is possible for airborne
crud to land on the track. Should that happen,
you may hear scratchy noises or signal drop-
outs as the wiper stumbles over the crud. Do
all you can to keep airborne crud out of your
profession. Use air conditioned rooms when-
ever possible, avoid smoking near the mixer,
keep food and drink away from the mixer, and
for pity’s sake, never put the mixer in your
kitchen! We also recommend “exercising” the
faders — give them a few full-travel excur-
sions once a week or so, and that will help
scare the crud away. We do
not recommend
spray cleaners.
ASSIGN (1–2, 3–4, L/R)
Alongside each channel fader are four but-
tons, labeled
SOLO, 1–2, 3–4 and L/R. The
latter three are collectively referred to as chan-
nel assignment switches.
1, 3 and L are the left
sides of these stereo pairs, and
2, 4 and R are
the right sides. Used in conjunction with the
channel’s
PAN knob , these switches deter-
mine the destination of a channel’s signal:
With the
PAN knob set at the center detent,
the left and right sides receive equal signal
levels. To feed only one side or the other, just
turn the
PAN knob accordingly.
If you’re doing a mixdown to a 2-track, simply
engage the
L/R switch on each channel that you
want to hear, and they’ll be sent to the
MAIN
MIX. If you want to create a subgroup of certain
channels, engage either the
1–2 or 3–4 switches
instead of the
L/R, and they’ll be sent to the ap-
propriate subgroup faders
. From there, the
subgroups can be sent back to the
MAIN MIX
, allowing you to use the subgroup faders as a
master control for those channels.
There are eight mono channel strips and
four stereo channel strips. Many of the func-
tions are identical for the mono and stereo
channels. We’ll start at the bottom and work
our way up, pointing out the differences as we
go along.
“U” LIKE UNITY GAIN
Mackie mixers have a “
U”
symbol on almost every level
control. This “
U” stands for
“unity gain,” meaning no
change in signal level. Once you have per-
formed the
Level-Setting Procedure , you
can set every control at “U” and your signals
will travel through the mixer at optimal levels.
What’s more, all the labels on our controls are
measured in decibels (dB), so you’ll know
what you’re doing level-wise if you choose to
change a control’s settings.
You won’t have to check it here and check it
there, as you would with some other mixers. In
fact, some don’t even have any reference to
actual dB levels at all! Ever seen those “0–10”
fader markings? We call these AUMs (Arbitrary
Units of Measurement), and they mean noth-
ing in the real world. You were smart — you
bought a Mackie.
FADER
The fader is almost the last control in a
channel’s signal path. It’s placed after the
EQ
and
MUTE controls (post-EQ /post-MUTE and
before the
PAN control (pre-PAN). The “U”
mark, about three-quarters of the way up,
indicates unity gain, meaning no increase or
decrease of signal level. All the way up pro-
vides an additional 10 dB, should you need to
boost a section of a song. If you find that the
overall level is too quiet or too loud with a
fader near unity, you’ll want to confirm the
TRIM setting by performing the Level-Setting
Procedure .
1
MUTE
TRIM
1
LOW CUT
75 Hz
18dB/OCT
+15dB -45dB
U
U
O
O
+15
O
O
U
+15
U
O
O
+15
AUX
1
PRE
U
+15
-
15
FREQ
800
2k
200
8k
100
MID
PAN
L
R
U
+15
-15
80Hz
LOW
0
60
2
3
U
+15
-15
EQ
U
O
O
+15
4
12k
HI
dB
30
20
10
O
O
40
50
5
5
U
60
10
SOLO
1-2
3-4
L/R
OL
-20
M
IC GAIN
-10dBV
REC
1