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CHANNEL STRIP DESCRIPTION
The sixteen channel strips look alike and function identically. The only difference is that the eight on the left have DIRECT OUT jacks and the eight on the right don’t. We’ll start at the bottom and work our way up.
“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
, you can set every control at “U” and your signals will travel through the mixer at optimal lev- els. What’s more, all the labels on our controls are measured in decibels (dB), so you’ll know what you’re doing
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
FADER
The fader is almost the last control in a channel’s signal path. It’s placed after the EQ and MUTE controls .
A Clean Fade
Faders are not rocket
science — they operate by
dragging a metal pin (the wiper) across a
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
ASSIGN (1–2, 3–4, L–R)
Alongside each channel fader are four but- tons, labeled SOLO, , 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 . From there, the subgroups can be sent back to the MAIN
, allowing you to use the subgroup faders as a master control for those channels.
TRIM |
| 1 |
IC GAI | ||
M |
| N |
U |
|
|
10 |
| 60 |
+10dB |
| |
AUX | U |
|
|
| |
1 |
|
|
OO |
| +15 |
| U |
|
2 |
|
|
OO |
| +15 |
PRE |
|
|
| U |
|
3 |
| 5 |
OO |
| +15 |
| U |
|
4 |
| 6 |
OO |
| +15 |
5/6 |
|
|
SHIFT |
| |
EQ | U | HI |
|
| 12k |
| +15 | |
| U | MID |
| +15 | |
800 | ||
200 |
| 2k |
100 |
| 8k |
| U | LOW |
|
| 80Hz |
| +15 | |
LOW CUT |
| |
75 Hz |
|
|
18dB/OCT |
| |
PAN |
|
|
L |
| R |
1 |
|
|
MUTE |
| |
|
| OL |
|
| |
|
| SOLO |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| L - R |
|
| OO |
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