Quick start guide ™ d i g i t a l 8 • b u s mackie’s 56-input, 72-channel, fully automated digital audio mixing console.
Table of contents 1. Introduction ............................................................................................................. 3 about the quick start guide ...................................................................................................... 3 unpacking...............
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Q u i c k s t a r t g u i d e 3 introduction figure 1. Unpacking the console 1. Introduction now you’ve done it! You’ve just invested in the newest generation of affordable digital mixing consoles by mackie designs. Whether or not you’ve used digital mixing consoles before, you will be pleased by th...
D i g i t a l 8 • b u s 4 introduction figure 2. Unpacking the remote cpu the remote cpu • use a sharp knife to cut the tape on the top of the box. • open the flaps to expose the remote cpu inside. • lift the remote cpu up and out of the packing box. The foam blocks will come with it, and the bottom...
Q u i c k s t a r t g u i d e 5 the basics 2. The basics the traditional split-console approach bank 1 and fader bank 2 as two separate mixing consoles, where fader bank 1 is used for tracking and fader bank 2 is used for monitoring and mixdown. Three things to keep in mind as you become familiar wi...
D i g i t a l 8 • b u s 6 the basics monitoring but wait! Of course you want to be able to monitor the signal as you’re recording it. And your preference is to monitor the signal actually recorded onto the tape rather than the signal going from the console to the tape machines, so you can hear if th...
Q u i c k s t a r t g u i d e 7 the basics down to one of the bus 1–8 masters (fader bank 4), and assign the bus master to any one (for a mono mix) or two (for a stereo mix) of the 24 tape outputs. As you bounce the tracks down, you’ll monitor the previously recorded tracks through the monitoring ha...
D i g i t a l 8 • b u s 8 3. Tutorial hookup — let’s get it working this is a step-by-step guide to connect a few things to the digital 8•bus and get it working. You can pop the quick start video into your vcr and follow along. You will need the following items to proceed: 1 electronic keyboard 1 st...
Q u i c k s t a r t g u i d e 9 console data parallel video serial keyboard mouse conceived, designed, and manufactured by mackie designs inc • woodinville • wa • usa • the following are trademarks or registered trademarks of mackie design inc.: "mackie", "d note: the video monitor must be a multi-s...
D i g i t a l 8 • b u s 10 turn on the power switch on the front panel of the remote cpu, then turn on the power to all your peripheral equipment. The digital 8•bus takes a few moments to load the mackie real time os (operating system) and initialize the dsps. When the vacuum fluorescent display in ...
Q u i c k s t a r t g u i d e 11 getting sound out now that you have set all the options the way you want them, we can make a sample recording and see how the digital 8•bus actually works. • first, connect a keyboard to channels 3 and 4 line inputs. Channels 3 and 4 mic buttons should be in the up p...
D i g i t a l 8 • b u s 12 assigning channels 3 and 4 to tracks 3 and 4. • make sure fader bank 1 is selected (1–24 mic/line). Shift masters 1-24 25-48 49-72 (track) (monitor) bank select effects mic/line tape in • press the route to tape button in the bus assignment section. Bus 1 bus 2 bus 3 bus 4...
Q u i c k s t a r t g u i d e 13 • select fader bank 2 (tape 25–48). Shift masters 1-24 25-48 49-72 (track) (monitor) bank select effects mic/line tape in • turn the faders down on channels 27 and 28. The trim control at the top of the channel strip has no effect when fader bank 2 is selected. • sta...
D i g i t a l 8 • b u s 14 saving your session when you first turn on the digital 8•bus, a session named startup is loaded by default. You should create a new session any time you start a new project. After you’ve started a project, it’s a good idea to save it under a new name whenever you want to b...
Q u i c k s t a r t g u i d e 15 general guidelines to recall your new default snapshot: • make sure the snapshot button in the transport section is on. • enter the two-digit number you used to store your default snapshot with the number buttons (for this example, enter “05”). • press the enter butt...
D i g i t a l 8 • b u s 16 6. Press the pfl solo button in the studio/solo section. In this mode the faders do not affect the solo level at the control room output. Studio/solo solo level studio level clear solo talkback to studio afl solo pfl solo mixdown solo talkback level level rude solo light 7...
Q u i c k s t a r t g u i d e 17 general guidelines gate press the gate button to view the selected channel’s gate settings. On low previous select low mid eq compressor gate setup select super cd encoding • you can adjust each parameter’s value by turning the v-pot below each parameter. • press the...
D i g i t a l 8 • b u s 18 • when the plug-in you want to use appears in the display, press the select button below transmit. The selected plug-in will now be downloaded to the fx card. • repeat for each card you have installed. Now that you’ve configured the cards with the effects you want to use, ...
Q u i c k s t a r t g u i d e 19 • adjust the master v-pot in the master v-pot section to adjust the overall amount of aux 1 signal to send to the internal reverb. Master pan solo • press aux 2 in the v-pot select section. • adjust the channel 29 v-pot for the amount of send level you want to send t...
D i g i t a l 8 • b u s 20 using the vocal studio from the console: 1. Select aux 1 in the v-pot select section. Aux 5 aux 6 aux 1 aux 3 aux 2 aux 4 level to tape digital trim 1-24 1-48 turn the v-pot up to about the 2 o’clock position on the channel playing back the lead vocal track to route the si...
Q u i c k s t a r t g u i d e 21 12. Press the effects button in the bank select section to select fader bank 3. Shift masters 1-24 25-48 49-72 (track) (monitor) bank select effects mic/line tape in 13. Make sure fx1–4 are assigned to the l/r bus. Turn up the fx1 fader to hear the baritone harmony. ...
D i g i t a l 8 • b u s 22 9. Click on the detune button on the left side of the control panel. This adjusts the pitch of the harmony voice slightly above or below the exact note it is creating, to create a more natural sound. You can leave these set to zero for now. 10. Click on the volume button o...
Q u i c k s t a r t g u i d e 23 15. Roll the tape. Make sure the lead vocal track is turned up and center-panned between the left and right sides. 16. Click on the effects button in the bank select section to select fader bank 3. Shift masters 1-24 25-48 49-72 (track) (monitor) bank select effects ...
D i g i t a l 8 • b u s 24 • connect the output of the digital delay to an unused line in (channels 13–24) on the rear panel of the digital 8•bus. If the digital delay has a stereo output, connect it to two line in jacks on the digital 8•bus. For this example, let’s connect it to line in 23 and 24. ...
Q u i c k s t a r t g u i d e 25 • press the solo level button in the studio/solo section and use the level v-pot to adjust the solo level in the control room output. Studio/solo solo level studio level clear solo talkback to studio afl solo pfl solo mixdown solo talkback level level rude solo light...
D i g i t a l 8 • b u s 26 5. Hookup for multitrack recording figure 8. Tracking hookup hookup for multitrack recording vocal enhancer line in insert aux 2 2 line in insert aux 3 3 line in insert aux 4 4 line in insert aux 5 5 line in insert aux 6 6 line in insert aux 7 7 line in insert aux 8 8 line...
Q u i c k s t a r t g u i d e 27 hookup for tracking figure 8 shows a typical hookup for tracking. Four microphones are connected to channels 1–4 for vocals. Two of them are condenser mics which require phantom power, so the +48v ph switch is pushed in on those channels. A vocal enhancer is connecte...
D i g i t a l 8 • b u s 28 line in insert aux 2 2 line in insert aux 3 3 line in insert aux 4 4 line in insert aux 5 5 line in insert aux 6 6 line in insert aux 7 7 line in insert aux 8 8 line in insert aux 9 9 line in insert aux 10 10 line in insert aux 11 11 line in insert aux 12 12 line in master...
Q u i c k s t a r t g u i d e 29 the configuration shown in figure 8 has two external effects devices connected for monitoring. Aux 8 send goes to a digital reverb, which has stereo outputs that feed into the line inputs of channels 19 and 20. Aux 11–12 goes out to a multi-effects stereo processor, ...
D i g i t a l 8 • b u s 30 figure 10. Live sound hookup line in insert aux 2 2 line in insert aux 3 3 line in insert aux 4 4 line in insert aux 5 5 line in insert aux 6 6 line in insert aux 7 7 line in insert aux 8 8 line in insert aux 9 9 line in insert aux 10 10 line in insert aux 11 11 line in in...
Q u i c k s t a r t g u i d e 31 we made the digital 8•bus as easy to use as an analog console. Figure 10 shows how to use the digital 8•bus in a live mix situation. • a number of microphones are connected to channels 1–12 for vocals. Two of them are condenser mics which require phantom power, so th...
D i g i t a l 8 • b u s 32 digital 8•bus overview 7. Digital 8•bus overview channel strip description refer to the foldout page at the end of this manual for an overall view of the various sec- tions described. Channel strip section there are 24 channel strips on the digital 8•bus. Channels 1–12 hav...
Q u i c k s t a r t g u i d e 33 master v-pot section master pan solo the master v-pot acts as a master level con- trol for the currently selected aux bus. If the pan button is selected, the master v-pot be- comes inactive and all the channel strip v-pots become pan controls. When the master solo bu...
D i g i t a l 8 • b u s 34 studio/solo section studio/solo solo level studio level clear solo talkback to studio afl solo pfl solo mixdown solo talkback level level rude solo light this section contains a v-pot to control sev- eral different functions. When solo level is selected, the v-pot controls...
Q u i c k s t a r t g u i d e 35 copy, or paste operation. There is only one level of undo. Pressing undo a second time re- stores the original cut, copy, or paste operation (you can undo an undo!). Master fader/shortcuts section select control write alt master l/r shortcuts these buttons are used t...
D i g i t a l 8 • b u s 36 rear panel description this section describes rear panel connector types, their functions, and associated signal buses. Channels 1–12 inputs +48v ph line in insert +48v ph line in insert +48v ph line in insert +48v ph line in insert +48v ph line in insert +48v ph line in i...
Q u i c k s t a r t g u i d e 37 the alt i/o slot accepts either an aio•8, a dio•8 card, or a pdi•8 card, and provides eight additional inputs and outputs. The inputs are routed to rets 1–8 (channels 65–72) in fader bank 3 (effects). The outputs are as- signable to either the 8 bus outputs (bus 1–8)...
D i g i t a l 8 • b u s 38 aux out section the aux outputs are eight mono and two stereo-paired trs, line-level, balanced auxiliary outputs. Aux outputs 1 and 2 are analog out- puts paralleled with the internal effects send buses 1 and 2 correspondingly.Aux outputs 3 through 8 are independent analog...
Q u i c k s t a r t g u i d e 39 the midi in connection is used to bring in midi time code (mtc) from a modular digital multitrack (mdm) recorder or other external device. It is also used to receive program changes and sysex dumps from outboard gear. The midi out connection is used to send out midi ...
D i g i t a l 8 • b u s 40 data and synchronization i/o console data parallel video serial keyboard mouse conceived, designed, and manufactured by mackie designs inc • wo odinville • wa • usa • made in usa • fabrique au usa • copyrigh t ©1997 • the following are trademarks or registered trademarks o...
41 digital 8•bus overview q u i c k s t a r t g u i d e trim trim trim trim trim trim trim trim trim trim trim trim 23 24 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 11 12 13 14 15 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 master aux 7 aux 8 aux 5 aux 6 aux 1 aux 3 aux 2 aux 4 on low previous select low mid hi mid eq compressor gate plug-ins ...
42 digital 8•bus overview d i g i t a l 8 • b u s console data power supply warning: shut off remote power supply before connecting or disconnecting power supply cable from console aux 1 aux 2 aux 3 aux 4 aux 5 aux 6 aux 7 aux 8 aux 9 aux 10 aux 11 aux 12 +48v ph line in insert talkback phones 2 19 ...