29. AUX SEND 1 and 2
These controls allow you to set up two independent mixes, typically for running stage monitors or external effects processors.
The controls are off when turned fully down, deliver unity gain at the center, and can provide up to 15 dB of gain turned fully up. Chances are that you will never need this extra gain, but it’s nice to know it’s there if you do.
Aux Send 1 and 2 [6] are line-level outputs, and are used if you want to connect external processors, powered stage monitors, or external power amps with passive stage monitors. Aux Return 1 and 2 [7] are line- level inputs, typically used to return the output from external processors back to the main mix.
Carefully adjust how much of each channel appears in your aux mixes. For example, if you are running stage monitors, and someone wants "more me, and less them," adjust these carefully.
The aux sends can either be pre or post fader, depending on the position of the aux pre/post switches
[43].For stage monitor work, use pre, so the stage monitors do not increase in volume when the channel level is adjusted. For external processors, use post. In this way, the feed to external processors will vary with the channel level, keeping them in the same ratio (wet/dry).
30. PAN
For mono channels 1-4, this control allows you to adjust how much of the channel signal goes to the left main mix, and how much goes to the right main mix. It has no effect on the aux, as these are mono. In the center position, the mono channel is split equally to the left and right.
Pan also affects the channel output to the Alt 3–4 mix if a channel mute switch is engaged.
For channels 5-12, pan acts in a similar way to a home stereo balance control (panning left turns down the right channel, and panning right turns down the left channel).
If you have a stereo source and the mixer's stereo inputs are already taken, connect the source's left output into channel 1, and the right into channel 2. Pan the channel 1 fully left, and channel 2 fully right, then the source will appear in the main mix in full stereo.
The pan control employs a design called “Constant Loudness.” If you have a channel panned hard left (or right) and then pan to the center, the signal is attenuated about 3 dB to maintain the same apparent loudness. Otherwise, it would make the sound appear much louder when panned center.
31. MUTE switch and ALT 3–4
The dual-purpose mute/alt 3-4 switch is a Mackie signature. When Greg was designing our first product, he had to include a mute switch for each channel. Mute switches do just what they sound like they do. They turn off the signal by “routing” it into oblivion. “Gee, what
a waste,” he reasoned. “Why not have the mute button route the signal somewhere else useful, like a separate stereo bus?”
So mute/alt 3-4 really serves two functions—muting (often used during mixdown or live shows), and signal routing (for multitrack and live work) where it acts as an extra stereo bus.
To use this as a mute switch, all you have to do is not use the alt 3-4 outputs [14]. Then, whenever you assign a channel to these unused outputs, you’ll also be disconnecting it from the main mix, effectively muting the channel. The mute switch also disconnects the channel from the post-fader aux send bus. The channel’s signal is still present on the pre-fader aux send bus, so muting a channel does not affect your stage monitors, and the quiet and gentle disposition of your lead singer.
To use this as an alt 3-4 switch, all you have to do is connect the alt 3-4 outputs to whatever destination you desire. Here are two popular examples:
When doing multitrack recording, you can use the alt 3-4 outputs as a stereo or dual-mono feed to your multitrack.
When doing live sound or mixdown, it’s often handy to control the level of several channels with one knob. That’s called subgrouping. Simply assign these channels to the alt 3-4 mix, engage alt 3-4 in the control room/ phones source matrix [36], and the signals will appear at the control room [12] and phones [17] outputs. If you want the alt 3-4 signals to go back into the main mix, engage the assign to main mix switch [37] and the control room knob [38] will control the levels of all the channels assigned to alt 3-4.
Another way to do the same thing is to assign the channels to the alt 3-4 mix, then patch out of the alt
3-4 out (left/3 and right/4) back into an unused stereo channel (5-12). If that’s your choice, don’t ever engage the mute/alt 3-4 switch on that stereo channel, or you’ll have every dog in the neighborhood howling at your feedback loop.
Another benefit of the alt 3-4 feature is that it can act as an “afl” (after fader listen). Just engage a channel’s mute/alt 3-4 switch and the alt 3-4 switch in the source matrix and you’ll get that channel, all by itself, in the control room and headphones.