MACKIE 1202-VLZ3 - Manual (Page 17)

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Owner’s Manual
Owner’
s Manual
Whatever your selection, you can also use the CON-
TROL ROOM [15] outputs for other applications. Its
sound quality is just as impeccable as the MAIN OUTS
[11 and 13]. It can be used as additional main mix
output, which may sound silly since there are already
three, but this one has its own level control. However,
should you do something like this, be sure that you do
not engage a SOLO switch, as that will interrupt your
SOURCE selection.
A WORD ABOUT PRE-FADER SOLO (PFL)
Engaging a channel’s SOLO [24] switch will cause
this dramatic turn of events: Any existing control room
source selections will be replaced by the solo signal,
appearing in the control room, headphones, and in the
right meter. The audible solo levels are then controlled
by the CONTROL ROOM / SUBMIX [34] knob. The solo
levels appearing on the right meter display are not con-
trolled by anything — you wouldn’t want that. You want
to see the actual channel level on the meter display
regardless of how loud you’re listening.
“PRE-FADER” SOLO means that the channel signal
is being tapped before the channel’s LEVEL [23] knob
(not really a fader in this case, but we were afraid you’d
laugh if we called it Pre-Knob Solo). It does, however,
obey GAIN [4], LOW CUT [3] and EQ [27] settings,
making it the perfect tool for quick inspections of sus-
pect channels. The channel’s PAN [26] and MUTE/ALT
3-4 [25]settings have no effect on the solo signal.
Note: For stereo channels 5-12, the solo signal is the
mono sum of the left (odd-numbered) and right (even-
numbered) signals for that channel strip.
WARNING: PRE-FADER SOLO [24] taps the
channel signal before the LEVEL knob. If you
have a channel’s LEVEL knob set below “U”
(unity gain), SOLO won’t know that, and will send a
unity gain signal to the control room, phones and meter
display, that may result in a startling level boost at these
outputs.
35. RUDE SOLO LIGHT
This flashing Light Emitting Diode serves two purpos-
es — to remind you that at least one channel is in solo,
and to let you know that you’re mixing on a Mackie. No
other company is so concerned about your level of solo
awareness. If you work on a mixer that has a solo func-
tion with no indicator lights, and you happen to forget
you’re in solo, you can easily be tricked into thinking
that something is wrong with your mixer. Hence the
RUDE SOLO LIGHT. It’s especially handy at about 3 a.m.
when no sound is coming out of your monitors but your
multitrack is playing back like mad.
36. ASSIGN TO MAIN MIX
Let’s say you’re doing a live show. Intermission is near-
ing and you’ll want to play a soothing CD for the crowd
to prevent them from eating the furniture. Then you
think, “But I have the CD player plugged into the TAPE
inputs, and that never gets to the MAIN OUTS!” Oh, but
it does. Simply engage this switch and your control room
source selection, after going through the CONTROL
ROOM / SUBMIX [34] knob, will feed into the main mix,
just as if it were another stereo channel.
Another handy use for this switch is to enable the ALT
3-4 mix to become a submix of the main mix, using the
CONTROL ROOM/SUBMIX knob as its level control.
Side effects: (1) Engaging this switch will also feed
any soloed channels into the main mix, which may be
the last thing you want. (2) If you have MAIN MIX as
your control room source selection and then engage AS-
SIGN TO MAIN MIX, the main mix lines to the control
room will be interrupted to prevent feedback. Then
again, why would anyone want to assign the main mix to
the main mix?
37. METERS – MANY DISPLAYS IN ONE!
The 1202-VLZ3’s peak metering system is made up of
two columns of twelve LEDs. Deceptively simple, consid-
ering the multitude of signals that can be monitored by
it.
If nothing is selected in the SOURCE matrix and no
channels are in SOLO, the METERS will just sit there
and do nothing. To put them to work, you must make
a selection in the SOURCE matrix (or engage a SOLO
switch).
Why? You want the meter display to reflect what the
engineer is listening to, and as we’ve covered, the en-
gineer is listening either to the CONTROL ROOM [15]
outputs or the PHONES [12] outputs. The only differ-
ence is that while the listening levels are controlled by
the CONTROL ROOM / SUBMIX [34] knob, the meters
read the SOURCE mix before that control, giving you the
real facts at all times, even if you’re not listening at all.
Thanks to the 1202-VLZ3’s wide dynamic range,
you can get a good mix with peaks flashing anywhere
between –20 and +10 dB on the METERS. Most ampli-
fiers clip at about +10 dB, and some recorders aren’t so
forgiving either. For best real-world results, try to keep
your peaks between “0” and “+7”.
You may already be an expert at the world of “+4” (+4
dBu=1.23 V) and “–10” (–10 dBV=0.32 V) operating
levels. Basically, what makes a mixer one or the other
is the relative 0 dB VU (or 0 VU) chosen for the meters.
A “+4” mixer, with a +4 dBu signal pouring out the back
will actually read 0 VU on its meters. A “–10” mixer,
with a –10 dBV signal trickling out, will read 0VU on its
meters. So when is 0 VU actually 0 dBu? Right now!