75 Hz 18dB/oct

LOW CUT

SECTION 2: Panel Layout and Function

PAN

LR

U

LEVEL

OO +15

 

HI/LO EQ

 

TO MIX-B

 

MIX-B

 

MONITOR

SPLIT EQ

 

FLIP SW

CHANNEL

SOURCE

OL

-20

OVERVIEW

The panel layout of the Mackie 8•Bus Series follows the traditional arrangement: input channel strips to the left, with a master output/ monitoring/cue section to the right. Additionally, most of the Mackie input/output jack panel is located at the top of the mixing panel, for easy accessibility and patching. The tape outputs and inputs are on the rear panel.

INPUT CHANNELS (CHANNEL STRIPS)

The 16, 24 or 32 input channel strips on the Mackie 8•Bus consoles are identical, and contain all of the level, assignment and equalization controls for each input channel. This section describes the controls and functions of each feature of an input channel in detail.

FADER

 

PAN

 

 

SOLO

 

 

MUTE

 

 

16

 

dB

 

 

10

 

CHANNEL INPUT/OUTPUT

 

 

5

 

 

 

1-2

MASTER

 

 

U

 

I/O

 

3-4

 

5

 

CHANNEL STRIPS

 

 

 

5-6

 

10

 

MASTER

 

 

 

7-8

SECTION

 

 

20

 

 

30 L/R

MIX

40

50

60

OO

CHANNEL INPUT/OUTPUT

 

MASTER

I/O

CHANNEL STRIPS

MASTER

SECTIONCHANNEL INPUT/OUTPUT

MASTERI/O

CHANNEL STRIPS

MASTER

SECTION

The channel fader (1) is 100 millimeters long, with a precise logarithmic taper and attenuation in dBs printed along the slot for exact and repeatable level adjustments. The fader affects either the mic or line input to the channel (for recording) or the tape return to the channel (for mixing), depending on the position of the FLIP switch.

MUTE

The MUTE switch, located at the top of the fader (2), turns off the primary outputs of the channel: the eight buses, the L & R buses, the channel solo, the direct output and the post- fader AUX sends. Pre-fader aux sends are not muted. With the exception of lighting the mute LED, pushing the MUTE switch is the same as pulling the fader all the way down.

GOURMET PAN CONTROL ANDASSIGNMENT SWITCHES

The PAN control (3), immediately above the fader, pans the channel signal between the two sides of the L/R Mix buses, and also between odd and even pairs of buses 1 through 8.

The actual bus assignment of the PAN control depends on the positions of the five assignment switches located along the length of the fader. With no switches depressed, the PAN control has no effect (well, unless you solo the channel; it still pans the solo).

Pushing the L/R MIX switch (4) assigns the PAN to the main L/R Mix buses. Panning from L to R moves the sound smoothly (with constant loudness) from the left channel to the right channel. Assigning the PAN to a pair of the 8 buses has a similar effect. For example, pushing the 1-2 switch assigns the PAN to buses 1 and 2, and panning L to R will move the sound from bus 1 to bus 2 (from odd to even).

If you want to equally assign a channel to both buses 1 and 2, leave the PAN control at the top, or center, of its travel. If you only want bus 2, turn the PAN control fully clockwise (to the right).

Other comparably-priced consoles provide as little as 50dB attenuation/separation. We use active, buffered circuitry and a custom-taper potentiometer

4