IMPORTANT SENSITIVITY ADJUSTMENT PROCEDURE!

So important we put it first, before anything else.

To fully achieve the LM-3204 Mixer’s impressive headroom and specs, you should always “tune” the input sensitivity for each channel.

FOLLOW THIS PROCEDURE FOR EACH CHANNEL IN USE

1.Set the Control Room, Phones, Left and Right Master Fader and Solo controls all the way off. (As you are working through the steps, you can bring these controls up a bit to hear what you are doing, but be careful. There’s a lotta level in this mixer.)

2.Apply signal to channel input.

Insert a stereo line input into the correspond- ing Left and Right Input jacks at the rear of the mixer.

or

Insert a mono line input into the correspond- ing Left Input jack on the rear of the mixer.

3.Set channel strip controls as follows: Gain control at “U” detent.

Solo switch down. Mute switch up.

Balance control at “U” detent. EQ controls at “U” detent.

Aux controls fully counterclockwise (off).

4.Apply an audio signal to the input. The material and level you use to set up the mixer should be vaguely representative of what you will really be doing when you really do it. If you’re connected to a tape deck or a CD player, put some music on and push the button! If you’re hooked up to a synthesizer, tickle those plastic ivories!

5.The channel’s –20dB LED should light. The L/R main meters will show the actual internal operating level of soloed signals. Now you will optimize levels.

For a meter reading of 0dBu with +4dBu input (line level) signals, the settings in step 3 should be just about right. Adjust the channel Gain control slightly so that you get peaks that regularly hit 0dB on the Left and Right meters. For –10dBV signals, you may have to turn the channel Gain control clockwise to

boost the signal to read 0d B on the Left and Right meters.

On the other hand, you might have to deviate from this approach on certain channels. For example, you don’t want to set the hi-hat cymbal channel at 0dB. Use your judgement on this. The Long Arm Exercise: For Microphone signals (using an onboard Mackie mic preamp), leave the channel Gain setting at the “U” detent and instead adjust the Mic Trim pot on the rear of the mixer until you get peak levels of around 0dB on the Left and Right meters. Remember, the sound coming in the microphone should be typical of what you will really be using. For patching instruc- tions, see page 11, “Microphone Preamplifiers.”

6.If desired (optional):

Adjust the channel strip’s EQ to about what you will be using during the session. Repeat Step 5.

7.Return the channel strip’s Solo button to the up position.

8.Repeat steps 1–7 on the next channel that is being used.

9.As you un-solo the channel strips to listen to your mix, ease up the Left and Right master faders to set a good mix level on the meters, with occasional peaks of 0dB.

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