Mackie ONYX 820i 42. PHONES Knob, 43. LEFT/RIGHT Level Meters, 44. RUDE SOLO Light, 47+10

CTRL ROOM/PHONES

SOURCE 0dB=0dBu

38				L	R
					20	CLIP
	MAIN MIX				15
					10
39					6	43
	TAPE				3
					0
FW 1-2		ALT 3-4			2
						LEVEL
					4	SET
40
					7
	ASSIGN TO				10
	MAIN MIX				20
41				42	30
OO	MAX	OO	MAX	RUDE
CONTROL		PHONES
				SOLO
ROOM
					44

AUX MASTER

42. PHONES Knob

This controls the volume at the phones output, from off to maximum gain.

WARNING: The headphone amp is loud, and

can cause permanent hearing damage. Even intermediate levels may be painfully loud

with some headphones. BE CAREFUL! Always turn this control all the way down before connecting headphones, or pressing a solo switch [37], or doing anything new that may affect the headphone volume. Then turn it up slowly as you listen carefully.

43. LEFT/RIGHT Level Meters

These peak 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.

If no source [38, 39] is selected in the control room/ phones, and no channels are in solo, the meters won’t do anything. To display signal levels, select one or more of

PRE

46 POST

PRE

POST

SEND		48
45		1
	+15
OO		RTN TO
		AUX1
		2
OO	+15

RETURN

1

OO 47+10

2

OO +10

the sources. For example, press main mix [38] to show the main mix level in the meters. While the listening levels are controlled by the control room and phones knobs, the meters indicate the source mix before these knobs, giving you the real facts at all times, even if you’re not listening at all.

When a channel is soloed, the left meter shows no reading, and the right meter shows the level of that

49	AUX SEND 1-2	50
	TO FW 5-6

POWER

channel’s signal level, pre-fader. The right meter's 0 dB LED is labeled "level set" to show where the level should be when adjusting a channel’s gain [23] in the solo mode (as described in “Set the Levels” on page 3).

51 52

OO MAX

MIC LEVEL

DESTINATION

53

PHONES AUX 1-2

54

TALKBACK

56

ASSIGN TO

FW 7-8

U

55

OO +10dB

MAIN MIX

When 0 dBu (0.775 V) is at the main mix outputs, it shows as 0 dB on the meters.

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 “+6.” 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).

44. RUDE SOLO Light

This large LED flashes when one or more channel solo switches are engaged [37]. This acts as a reminder that what you hear in the control room and headphones is the soloed channel(s). If you forget you’re in solo mode, you can easily be tricked into thinking that something is wrong with your mixer. Hence, the rude solo light. Please forgive its rudeness, it is only trying to help, and wants to be your friend.

24Onyx 820i