Mackie Onyx 80 49. RUDE SOLO Lights, 51. MATRIX A and B Input Controls, 52. MATRIX A and B MASTER Controls, 50. LEFT/RIGHT Level Meters, 53.AFL Solo Switch

	SERIES	49. RUDE SOLO Lights
		These LEDs ﬂash on and off when a channel’s solo is
		active, as an additional reminder beyond the indicating
		LEDs next to each PFL or AFL button. The green LED
		indicates PFL solo mode, and the amber LED indicates
	80	indicates PFL solo mode, and the amber LED indicates
		AFL solo mode. If you work on a mixer that has a solo
		function with no indicator lights and you happen to
	ONYX	function with no indicator lights and you happen to
		forget you’re in solo mode, you can easily be tricked
		into thinking that something is wrong with your mixer.
		Hence, the RUDE SOLO lights. It’s especially handy at
		about 3 am when no sound is coming out of your moni-
		tors but your multitrack is playing back like mad.

51. MATRIX A and B Input Controls

The Matrix A and B controls allow you to create separate mixes, or a stereo mix, from Groups 1 through 8 and the Left and Right Mix outputs. Simply adjust the 10 input controls to create the mix you want at the MATRIX A or B outputs.

52. MATRIX A and B MASTER Controls

Use these controls to adjust the overall signal level at the MATRIX A and B outputs.

50. LEFT/RIGHT Level Meters

Like the SOLO meters, the Onyx 80 Series Left and

Right Level meters are made up of two columns of

twelve LEDs, with three colors to indicate different

ranges of signal level, trafﬁc light style. They range from

–30 at the bottom, to 0 in the middle, to +20 (CLIP) at

the top.

The 0 LED in the middle is labeled 0 dB = 0 dBu.

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. 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 +4 dBu pouring out the back will actually

read 0 VU on its meters. A “–10” mixer, with a –10 dBV

signal trickling out will read, you guessed it, 0 VU on its

meters. So when is 0 VU actually 0 dBu? Right now!

Mackie mixers show things as they really are. When 0

dBu (0.775 V) is at the outputs, it shows as 0 dB VU on

the meters. What could be easier? By the way, the most

wonderful thing about standards is that there are so

many to choose from.

Thanks to the Onyx 80 Series’ wide dynamic range,

you can get a good mix with peaks ﬂashing anywhere

between –20 and +10 dB on the meters. Most ampliﬁers

clip at about +10 dBu, and some recorders aren’t so

forgiving either. For best real-world results, try to keep

your peaks between “0” and “+7.”

Remember, audio meters are just tools to help assure

you that your levels are “in the ballpark.” You don’t have

to stare at them (unless you want to).

18	ONYX 80 SERIES

53.AFL Solo Switch

The AFL switch allows you to hear the Matrix signal through your headphones or monitor outputs. This comes after the MATRIX MAS- TER, so you can hear the relative signal level of each Matrix output.

When you engage the AFL switch on both MATRIX A and B, the soloed signal appears in stereo in the headphones and monitor outputs. This is useful when you want to use both Matrix outputs to create a stereo mix.

Remember, PFL solo mode always overides AFL solo mode. If you engage a PFL solo switch on a mono or stereo channel, the AFL solo is disconnected from the headphones and monitor outputs and replaced with the PFL signal. The Rude Solo LEDS below the SOLO meters indicate which solo mode is active.

POWER

+15V	-15V	+48V		+12V
20	CLIP			20
10				10
7				7
4				4
2				2
0	0dB=0dBu			0
2				2
4				4
7				7
10				10
20				20
30				30
SOLO			L	R
	RUDE
	SOLO
PFL AFL

	A	MATRIX		B
		GROUP
OO	MAX	1	OO	MAX
		GROUP
OO	MAX	2	OO	MAX
		GROUP
OO	MAX	3	OO	MAX
		GROUP
OO	MAX	4	OO	MAX
		GROUP
OO	MAX	5	OO	MAX
		GROUP
OO	MAX	6	OO	MAX
		GROUP
OO	MAX	7	OO	MAX
		GROUP
OO	MAX	8	OO	MAX
		LEFT
OO	MAX		OO	MAX
		RIGHT
OO	MAX		OO	MAX

MATRIX

MASTER

+15

STEREO

AFLAFL