43

Compact Mixer Reference Guide

MIXER ANATOMY: CHAPTER 4
Master Section
This is t he por t ion of t he mixer where ever yt hing
comes t oget her. Heres where youll nd t he mas-
t er level cont r ols for t he main and all t he auxiliar y
mixes, auxiliar y ret ur n cont r ols, monit or sour ce se-
lect ion and level cont r ols, met er s, and ot her feat ures
t hat var y fr om model t o model. While channel st r ips
look pret t y much alike on all of our mixer s, t here are
a lot of differences in t heir Mast er sect ions.
Well st ar t wit h t he cont r ols t hat are common t o all
mixer s and t hen br anch out t o t he unique feat ures
found on t he different models.
MAIN (L/R MIX) Fader
This is t he dual fader or r ot ar y knob t hat adjust s
t he level of t he MAIN LEFT and RIGHT out put s
t oget her. The fader is fed fr om t he MAIN L/R busses,
t he fader out put is amplied, and it ends up at t he
MAIN out put jacks. If t he mixer is equipped wit h
MAIN INSERT jacks, t he fader follows t hem in t he
chain.
On a mono mixer, ever yt hings t he same except t he
Main fader is a single cont r ol fed fr om a single bus.
The Unit y Gain point on t he Mast er is appr oxi-
mat ely of t he way up on a slide fader and 12 oclock
on a r ot ar y knob. All t he way up pr ovides 10 dB of
boost above Unit y gain, and fully down shut s t he
out put s complet ely off. This is t he fader t o pull down
gr acefully when you want t o do t hat Great Fadeout .
One of t he differences among models is whet her
or not t he signal t o t he Tape out put ( RCA) jacks is
cont r olled by t he MAIN fader. On t he CFX and PPM
ser ies, t he TAPE OUT jacks are ahead of t he MAIN
fader ( you wont hear your fades on t ape) , but on all
t he ot her models, t he TAPE out put s follow t he MAIN
fader.
Meters
On all Mackie mixer s, unless youve pressed a
SOLO but t on, t he met er s read t he level of t he Main
LEFT and RIGHT out put s. On mixer s t hat have CON-
TROL ROOM SOURCE swit ches, t he met er s indicat e
t he level of what ever sour ce is select ed ( one choice,
nat ur ally, is MAIN MIX) .
If no CR sour ce is select ed and no channel is in
SOLO, t he met er s will just sit t here. That s not such
a bad t hing t hough, since it will give you a clue as t o
why youre not hear ing anyt hing in t he headphones
or cont r ol r oom speaker s.
Metering and Common Sense
There are t wo ver y impor t ant point s on t he met er
scale. The t op LED ( Clip level) , and t he 0 LED near
t he middle of t he scale.
The CLIP LED illuminat es when t he
main out put level reaches + 22 or + 28
dBu, depending on t he model and t he
out put jack. This is t he end of t he line. The mixer
cannot put out any more volt age t han t his, but it will
dist or t while t r ying t o do so. We guar ant ee it .
Bear in mind, t oo, t hat t heres a pret t y
good chance t hat what ever s connect ed
t o t hose out put s will be breat hing har d
at t his level. If your amplier clips at + 20 dBu, your
sound syst em will dist or t before t he met er s hit + 22.
Good level management involves knowing t he capa-
bilit ies of ever y par t of t he syst em and set t ing levels
and gains so t hat not hing clips before t he last link in
t he chain. It does no good t o feed a dist or t ed signal
t o a nice clean amplier. See Gain St r uct ure in t he
Tips sect ion for more infor mat ion and some oper at -
ing hint s t hat will keep you out of t r ouble.
The ot her impor t ant point on t he
met er scale is t he 0 LED. It s t he t ar get
for set t ing TRIMs using t he Level Set t ing
Pr ocedure and it also indicat es t he nominal out put
level of t he mixer.
When any SOLO swit ch is pressed, t he met er is
aut omat ically swit ched t o t he Solo bus so t hat it
displays t he signal level going int o t he channel fader
( or out of t he fader if t he SOLO MODE swit ch is in
t he AFL posit ion) . This includes any boost added by
t he equalizer, which can be signicant .
The SR, 1402-VLZ PRO, 1604-VLZ PRO,
1642-VLZ PRO and Onyx 1620 and 1640
models have t wo solo modes, PFL and AFL,
select able wit h t he SOLO MODE swit ch. More about
t hese lat er, but just a reminder here t hat you must
be in t he PFL mode in or der t o use t he met er s for
set t ing t he TRIMs accur at ely.
8-Bus Meters
The 8-Bus console has a pair of MAIN met er s
t hat display t he MAIN and SOLO levels just like
t he ot her models, but t heres an addit ional gr oup of
eight met er s. Locat ed direct ly above t he Bus fader s,
t hese indicat e t he out put level of each of t he eight
subgr oups. The calibr at ion of t hese met er s follows
44
Compact Mixer Reference Guide
MIXER ANATOMY: CHAPTER 4
t he set t ing of t he out put level swit ches ( -10 dBV or
+ 4 dBu) . 0 on t hese met er s represent s t he select ed
out put level.
The reference level for 0 VU on t he MAIN/SOLO
met er s on t he 8-Bus console var ies depending on
whet her youre SOLOing a channel or monit or ing t he
out put s. When in SOLO, 0 on t he met er s represent s
0.775 volt s ( 0 dBu) , t he nominal int er nal oper at ing
level of t he console. If you have just one channel as-
signed t o t he L/R bus wit h t he fader s set so t he MAIN
met er s are reading 0, and t hen you solo t hat channel,
t he met er s will jump up by 4 dB. Dont panic, it s sup-
posed t o wor k t hat way. When not in SOLO, t he MAIN
met er s reference 0 VU t o + 4 dBu just like t he submas-
t er bus met er s.
The + 22 dBu LEDs at t he t op of t he met er s indicat e
clipping. You should keep levels adjust ed so t hat t hey
never come on.
An accessor y met er br idge is available for t he 8-Bus
console t hat allows you t o met er eit her all t he t ape
ret ur n input s or t he post -fader channel out put s ( t he
same point as t he DIRECT OUTPUT) .
When a Mackie compact mixer s met er
( all models but t he 8-Bus) reads 0 VU, t he
out put level at t he 1/4" main out put jacks
is 0 dBu ( 0.775 V) and + 6 dBu at t he XLR jacks. For
t his reason, your mixer s met er and t he met er on a re-
cor der connect ed t o t he MAIN out put s may not agree.
Your recor der pr obably has a nominal input level of
-10 dBV or + 4 dBu, which is t he volt age level required
t o make it s met er s read 0. Theres not hing wr ong wit h
eit her unit . You have t o under st and what t he met er s
are t elling you. Tr ust t hem, but t r ust your ear s t oo.
Dont become a met er slave and t r y t o x somet hing
t hat sounds ne but looks a couple of dB off on t he
met er s. Things can get even more confounding when
you wat ch analog and digit al met er s t oget her. Theres
more info on met er ing in t he Tips sect ion.
Subgroup Faders
As you might expect , t hese fader s cont r ol t he levels
of t he signals sent t o t he SUB Out put s. When a sub-
gr oup fader is t ur ned up, any channel assigned t o t hat
subgr oup t hat is not mut ed and doesnt have it s fader
pulled complet ely down will appear at t he SUB OUT
cont r olled by t hat fader.
The SR and 8-Bus ser ies consoles are equipped wit h
Pre-Fader INSERT jacks in t he submast er pat h, al-
lowing you t o inser t an effect s pr ocessor, compressor,
or equalizer in line wit h t he subgr oup and cont r ol t he
pr ocessed signal wit h t he subgr oup fader.
On consoles wit h double bussing, t hat subgr oup
fader cont r ols t he level of all out put s for it s associ-
at ed bus.
Assigning Subgroups to the Main Mix
One popular use of t he subgr oup fader s is as mas-
t er s for a gr oup of channels on t heir way t o t he MAIN
MIX. Let s say youve got a hor n sect ion hogging seven
channels and youre gong t o want t o fade t he hor ns
at a different point or r at e t han t he rest of t he band
or just shut t heir mics off when t heyre not playing.
You dont want t o use seven hands or seven nger s,
so youve un-assigned all t he hor n channels fr om t he
main L-R bus and assigned t hem t o Subgr oups 1-2,
panning t hem t he way you like t hem.
Subgr oup-t o-main assignment s are a lit t le different
on t he different models, but even t hough you assign
subgr oups t o t he MAIN mix, t heyre st ill available as
separ at e out put s should you want t o use t hem for
recor ding.
ASSIGN to MAIN MIX
Heres t he subgr oup sec-
t ion fr om a 1604-VLZ PRO.
The 1642, CFX ser ies, and
Onyx 1640 are similar. The
LEFT and RIGHT but t ons
above t he subgr oup fader s
assign t he fader out put t o
t he MAIN Left and MAIN
Right out put s respect ively.
If youre not
clear on t he con-
cept of subgr oup
busses and how t o use t he
PAN pot s t o assign channel
signals t o busses, review t he
Bus ASSIGN sect ion of t his book. The PAN pot s and
BUS ASSIGN swit ches are keys t o under st anding t his
impor t ant concept .
If you have a st ereo submix ( as in t he above hor n
sect ion example) , assigning SUB 1 and SUB 2 t o t he
Left and Right Main buses respect ively preser ves t he
left -r ight posit ioning t hat youve est ablished wit h t he
channel PAN pot s.
Pressing bot h t he LEFT and RIGHT but t ons on t he
same subgr oup assigns t he subgr oup t o bot h t he Left
and Right Main out put s equally, put t ing t he subgr oup
mix smack in t he cent er of t he st ereo eld. If youre
doing a mono mix ( a small club PA for example) you
could simply assign ever yt hing in a submix t o a single
subgr oup and save a fader.
RIGHT
1 2 3 4
LEFT
RIGHT
LEFT
RIGHT
LEFT
RIGHT
LEFT
ASSIGN TO MAIN MIX
dB
30
20
10
OO
40
50
5
5
U
60
10
45
Compact Mixer Reference Guide
MIXER ANATOMY: CHAPTER 4
For example, assign all t he backgr ound vocals t o
Sub 3 by pressing t he 3-4 ASSIGN but t ons on each
backgr ound vocal channel and panning all of t hose
channels t o t he left . Pressing t he LEFT and RIGHT
Assign t o MAIN MIX but t ons above t he SUB 3 fader
will put t he backgr ound vocals int o bot h channels of
t he mix equally and allow you t o cont r ol t he over all
backgr ound vocal level wit h t he SUB 3 fader.
When you assign a subgr oup t o bot h LEFT and
RIGHT Main busses as in t his example, a few dB of
at t enuat ion is aut omat ically added t o keep t he ap-
parent loudness const ant , just like our PAN pot s do.
8-Bus Subgroup Assign MONO L+R
The 8-Bus console has a var iat ion on
t his t heme. In addit ion t o t he L( eft )
and R( ight ) MIX assignment but t ons
direct ly above t he Subgr oup fader s,
t heres one labeled ASSIGN MONO
L+ R.
The MONO L+ R swit ch wor ks in
conjunct ion wit h t he L and R as-
signment but t ons and funct ions only
when t he L or R but t on below it is also
pressed. In t he illust r at ion, pressing L
MIX and L+ R above it assigns t he SUB
7 signal equally t o t he L and R MAIN
busses, put t ing it s signal in t he cent er.
Not ice t hat t he odd
numbered busses have
only a L MIX assign but t on,
while even numbered busses have only a R MIX but -
t on. St ereo subgr oups wor k in pair s, like t he ASSIGN
but t ons in t he channel st r ip. Odd numbered sub-
gr oups of a pair are assignable t o t he LEFT and even
numbered subgr oups are assignable t o t he RIGHT.
You cant direct ly assign an odd numbered subgr oup
t o t he RIGHT Main out put
For more exibilit y in panning of mono submixes
on t he 8-Bus console, pat ch a subgr oup out put int o
a vacant channel, assign t he channel t o L-R, and use
t he channels PAN pot t o ing t hat dr um kit ar ound
t he r oom.
Subgroup PAN and L/R ASSIGN (SR series
only)
The SR ser ies consoles pr ovide more exibilit y in
r out ing t he subgr oup out put s by replacing t he LEFT
and RIGHT but t ons wit h a single ASSIGN but t on and
an associat ed PAN pot .
Pressing t he L/R
ASSIGN swit ch
above a subgr oup
fader assigns t he
fader t o t he PAN
pot above it . The
out put s of t he
PAN pot go t o t he
L-R MAIN mix,
allowing you t o
pan a whole sub-
gr ouped sect ion t o
t he desired posi-
t ion in t he mix.
If you have
sever al channels of keyboar ds and you want t hem all
t o appear, for example, a bit left of cent er in t he st e-
reo mix, assign all t he keyboar ds t o SUB 1 ( ASSIGN
1-2, PAN fully left ) , t hen engage t he L/R ASSIGN
swit ch for Subgr oup 1 and set it s PAN pot t o about 10
oclock.
If you have a subgr oup t hat you want t o spread
acr oss t he st ereo eld in your mix ( for example, a
lar ge choir or st r ing sect ion) assign t he input s t o a
pair of subgr oups, pan accor dingly, and t hen assign
t hat pair of subgr oups t o t he MAIN out put s, wit h t he
SUB pan pot s on t he odd numbered SUB t ur ned fully
left and on t he even numbered gr oup t ur ned fully
r ight . If t he st ereo eld is t oo wide, you can nar r ow
it by t ur ning t he pan pot s on t he SUBs t owar d t he
cent er.
Theres no law t hat says a st ereo submix
or inst r ument must be exact ly cent ered
bet ween t he left and r ight channels. If
you want t o mix t he st r ing sect ion in st ereo but left
of cent er where t heyd be in an or chest r a, set t he
SUB pan pot s for t he st r ing channels at , say, 7 oclock
and 11 oclock.
Subgroup SOLO
The 8-Bus and SR consoles are equipped wit h
SOLO but t ons for t he subgr oups t o allow you t o hear
t he subgr oup signal in t he headphones and cont r ol
r oom out put s as well as check it s level on t he met er s.
On t he SR ser ies, t he Subgr oup SOLO is nor mally
pre-fader. If you want t o solo a subgr oup post -fader,
you must have t he SOLO MODE but t on pressed ( IN-
PLACE AFL) and have t he subgr oups L/R ASSIGN
swit ch engaged. This will allow you audit ion t he
subgr oup as it appear s in t he mix.
dB
30
20
5
10
OO
5
10
40
50
80
U
dB
30
20
5
10
OO
5
10
40
50
80
U
SOLO SOLO
MONO
L+R
L R
MONO
L+R
7 8
ASSIGN ASSIGN
MIX
dB
30
20
10
OO
40
50
5
5
U
60
10
dB
30
20
10
OO
40
50
5
5
U
60
10
dB
30
20
10
OO
40
50
5
5
U
60
10
dB
30
20
10
OO
40
50
5
5
U
60
10
L R L R L R L R
L/R ASSIGN L/R ASSIGN L/R ASSIGN L/R ASSIGN
SUB SUB SUB SUB
1 2 3 4
PAN PAN PAN PAN
46
Compact Mixer Reference Guide
MIXER ANATOMY: CHAPTER 4
On t he 8-Bus console, t he SOLO but t on above t he
subgr oup fader sends t he post -fader subgr oup signal
t o t he solo bus. If you have not pressed a subgr oups
MONO L+ R swit ch, SOLO sends t he odd-numbered
subgr oups t o t he left speaker and t he even-numbered
subgr oups t o t he r ight , whet her or not t he L or R but -
t ons have been pressed. But if youve pressed MONO
L+ R, t he subgr oup SOLO will appear in bot h speak-
er s, r ight smack in t he middle.
SOLO Lights and Knobs
As youve pr obably sur mised by now, SOLO can be a
ver y useful funct ion. It s handy for checking t he pres-
ence and qualit y of individual input s ( and out put s
on some models) when set t ing up, recor ding, and
mixing.
Heres a reminder t hat you can press as
many SOLO but t ons as you want . All t he
select ed channels will be mixed on t he
Solo bus and come out t he headphone and cont r ol
r oom out put s. So, you can have a duet or a t r io as
well as a solo. This is handy if you have a sect ion
playing and want t o check t heir balance.
SOLO is int ended for more t han just
soloing. It s THE way t o set levels for
best noise and headr oom per for mance.
Youre pr obably t ired of reading it by now, but heres
just one more reminder about t he Level-Set t ing
Pr ocedure.
There are a few ext r a goodies in t he Solo sect ion
of some of t he Mackie consoles t hat affect how SOLO
funct ions, so st and by.
RUDE SOLO LED
This is a Mackie t r ademar k. Ever y one of our mix-
er s ( wit h except ion of t he PPM ser ies, which has no
Solo funct ions at all) has a RUDE SOLO light . It s
t he biggest , br ight est , reddest light on t he mixer and
it ashes when ANY SOLO but t on is pressed. ( OK,
so it s green on t he Onyx ser ies, but it s st ill big and
it st ill ashes.) If you cant hear anyt hing because
youve accident ally pressed a SOLO but t on on a chan-
nel, t his light will r udely remind you t o look over t he
but t ons and light s t o nd t he pr oblem.
LEVEL SET LED
To quot e St ep 4 of t he Level-
Set t ing Pr ocedure: . . . Some of
our mixer s have a SOLO MODE
swit ch in t he out put sect ion. If
applicable, select t he LEVEL SET
( PFL) mode - t he LEVEL SET
LED will light .
The LEVEL SET LED comes
on when t he SOLO MODE swit ch
is in t he PFL/Level Set posit ion
and a SOLO but t on is pressed.
The ar r ow connect ing t he RUDE
SOLO, LEVEL SET, and 0 VU LED
( your t ar get for level set t ing) will
remind you of t he associat ion. The ar r ow t ying t he
LEVEL SET LED t o t he 0 VU LED is t here t o remind
you of t he Level-Set t ing Pr ocedure t ar get level.
You must have t he PFL/LEVEL SET mode select ed
in or der t o accur at ely read and set t he channel signal
level. If you t r y t o set t he TRIM level in AFL Mode,
t he met er will follow t he fader, and t hat s not t he
level you want t o set . So, what s t his PFL/AFL busi-
ness? Read on.
SOLO MODE (PFL/AFL)
Pre-Fader-List en ( PFL) and Aft er-Fader-List en
( AFL) are old Br it ish st udio t er ms t hat came over
on t he Mayower and st uck ar ound. When we ( in
t he US) say Solo, we usually mean PFL hear ing
t he signal before it hit s t he fader and pan pot . In
ot her cir cles, Solo means AFL, not only aft er t he
fader, but aft er t he pan pot , t oo. This allows you t o
hear bot h t he relat ive level and posit ion in t he st ereo
eld. Because AFL comes aft er t he pan pot , it s oft en
called solo-in-place t o dist inguish it fr om just plain
old solo.
For set up, t r oubleshoot ing, and cueing in a live
mix ( psssst . . . dont for get TRIM set t ing, t oo) , PFL
is t he way t o go. You can hear t he signal when nobody
else can. You can solo a channel wit h it s fader down
and hear what ll come up in t he mix when you push
up t hat fader.
For mixing, it s somet imes helpful t o hear t he sig-
nal as it appear s in t he mix t hat s where you might
use AFL.
The SOLO MODE swit ch in t he Mast er
sect ion of some Mackie mixer s select s
whet her t he SOLO but t ons funct ion
as PFL or AFL. On mixer s wit hout t his
SOLO
MODE
(AFL)
LEVEL SET
NORMAL
(PFL)
OOMAX
RUDE SOLO LIGHT
LEVEL
SET
0 dB=0 dBu
LEFT RIGHT
28
10
7
4
2
0
2
4
7
10
20
30
47
Compact Mixer Reference Guide
MIXER ANATOMY: CHAPTER 4
swit ch ( 1202, CFX, Onyx 1220) , solos are pre-fader.
On t he 8-Bus, t heyre post -fader, but t heres a modi-
cat ion t o change t hem t o post -fader. ( See t he 8-Bus
owner s manual) .
Which mode is nor mal? That s a funct ion of t he
mixer s pr imar y applicat ion and what avor coffee
Greg had on t he mor ning he picked t he labels for t he
swit ches.
On t he SR and Onyx ser ies mixer s, which are
slant ed t owar d sound reinfor cement applicat ions,
t he nor mal ( but t on up) mode is PFL, and pressing
t he Solo MODE but t on swit ches t o AFL. On t he ot her
models, t he nor mal ( but t on up) mode is AFL, and
you must press t he but t on for PFL SOLO and Level
Set t ing. On some mixer s, we even remind you by
labeling t he PFL Solo Mode LEVEL SET.
SOLO LEVEL
It s handy t o have a separ at e level cont r ol for t he
SOLO signal so you can hear t he soloed channel at a
comfor t able level wit hout changing t he over all moni-
t or level. Most Mackie mixer s have a SOLO Level
cont r ol locat ed near t he Solo MODE swit ch. This ad-
just s t he level of t he solo signal fed t o t he phones and
cont r ol r oom out put s, but it doesnt change t he level
going t o t he met er. You wouldnt want t hat anyway
since you want t o read t he act ual signal level.
SUB and AUX SOLO LEDs
The SR ser ies consoles have a couple of ext r a
SOLO LEDs along wit h t he RUDE SOLO light t o help
you locat e a st r ay SOLO but t on. Theyre locat ed
just below t he Solo MODE swit ch. The AUX LED
blinks whenever t he SOLO swit ch for any AUX SEND
MASTER or GLOBAL AUX RETURN SOLO is engaged.
The SUB LED blinks whenever a subgr oup solo is
engaged.
AUX Send Masters
The AUXiliar y sect ion is a mixer wit hin t he mixer
( sever al of t hem, act ually) and t he AUX Send Mast er
cont r ols are t he mast er s for t hose mixer s. This is one
of t hose areas where youll nd subst ant ial differ-
ences among models as t o how many cont r ols are
pr ovided.
Not all models have a Mast er
for ever y AUX bus. That s an
Onyx AUX Send Mast er sect ion
on t he left and a 1604-VLZ PRO
sect ion on t he r ight .
Sends wit hout Mast er con-
t r ols ( AUX 3-6 on t he 1604)
send t he AUX mix t o t heir re-
spect ive AUX OUT jacks at Unit y Gain, re-
lying on t he individual channel AUX send
levels and t he input level adjust ment of
t he effect device or monit or amplier receiving t he
AUX signal for over all level adjust ment . The manual,
t he block diagr am, or your mixer s cont r ol panel is
t he place t o look t o see just what your mixer has.
Youll pr obably want a mast er level knob handy
t o adjust t he over all volume of AUX mixes used for
st age monit or s or st udio headphone cues. If your
mixer doesnt have a Mast er for ever y AUX Send,
reser ve t hose unit y gain AUXs for effect s t hat dont
need level t weaking once t heyre set .
J ust a reminder AUX Send signals can be t apped
off eit her before or aft er t he channel fader, as
select ed by t he PRE/POST swit ches or det er mined
by cont r ols t hat are per manent ly assigned pre- or
post -fader. As a r ule of t humb, PRE-fader sends are
used for monit or feeds, POST-fader sends are used
for effect s.
Youll not e t hat on t he Onyx Aux Send Mast er sec-
t ion, each individual send has a Pre/Post swit ch as
well as a Solo but t on, so t he ent ire Aux Send gr oup
is select ed pre- or post -fader wit h a single swit ch.
On our ot her ser ies of mixer s, Pre/Post select ion
( for t hose sends where it s offered) is in t he channel
st r ip, so Aux 1 can be pre-fader on one channel and
post -fader on anot her.
The SR and 8-Bus consoles also have individual
Mast er level cont r ols and SOLO swit ches for each
AUX bus. The Unit y Gain set t ing is st r aight up, wit h
up t o 15 dB of boost available. Of cour se t hey go all
t he way off. ( Our knobs go t o zer o Mike River s,
ret ired Mackie t ech wr it er.)
5
MON
SUBASSIGN
AUX
SENDS R
SOLO
PRE
POST
SOLO
PRE
POST
SOLO
PRE
POST
SOLO
PRE
POST
SOLO
PRE
POST
SOLO
PRE
POST
4
MON
3
MON
2
MON
1
MON
6
MON
OO +15
OO +15
OO +15
OO +15
OO +15
OO +15
AUX
SEND
1
2
SOLO
SOLO
1
2
U
OO+10
U
OO+10
48
Compact Mixer Reference Guide
MIXER ANATOMY: CHAPTER 4
The 1202-VLZ PRO has a Mast er only for AUX 1, but
t heres a swit ch below it t hat select s whet her AUX 1
is pre- or post -fader. For a st age monit or, select PRE
and youll have a handy knob t o t ur n when t he lead
singer cups his hand t o his ear, fr owns, and point s
down at t he monit or speaker ( t he univer sal signal for
I cant hear myself. TURN IT UP!!!!) .
Ot her VLZ PRO mixer s have Mast er s for AUX 1 and
2 which can be swit ched PRE or POST at t he channel
st r ip.
CFX and PPM AUX Masters
The CFX and PPM ser ies mixer s wit h t heir built -in
EMAC effect s pr ocessor, t reat t he AUX Mast er s a bit
different ly. Like t he SR and 8-Bus, t heres a Mast er
for each AUX bus, but t hey dont look quit e t he same
on t he panel as t he ot her mixer s.
On t he CFX ser ies, Mast er s for
AUX 1, AUX 2 and EFX 1( EXT) are
gr ouped next t o t he Gr aphic Equalizer.
These cont r ol t he level of t heir respec-
t ive OUT jacks.
Since t he EFX 2 ( INT) bus is int er-
nally nor malled t o t he EMAC pr oces-
sor, it s Mast er, labeled EFX 2 SEND, is
locat ed along wit h t he EMAC cont r ols.
If youre using an out boar d effect s pr ocessor or us-
ing t he EFX SEND 2 out put for an addit ional monit or
feed, t he EFX 2 cont r ol will adjust it s level.
On t he PPM ser ies,
t he Mast er for t he
EFX bus is locat ed
in t he EMAC sect ion
and is labeled EFX
DRIVE LEVEL.
Nor mally t his con-
t r ols t he mast er level
t o t he EMAC pr oces-
sor ( t he EFX Clip light next t o it will t ell you when
youre dr iving it t oo hot ) , but if you plug an out boar d
pr ocessor int o t he EFX SEND jack, t he level t o t hat
pr ocessor will be cont r olled by EFX DRIVE.
The MONITOR MASTER
for t he PPM ser ies is locat ed
bet ween t he upper gr aphic
equalizer and met er. Nor-
mally it cont r ols t he level t o
t he int er nal power amplier
t hat s assigned t o t he moni-
t or s, but it also adjust s t he
level at t he MONITOR LINE
OUT jack so it can cont r ol t he
level going an ext er nal monit or amplier.
AUX Master SOLO
Some models have SOLO swit ches for t he AUX
mast er s. The 1604 and 1642-VLZ PRO have SOLOs
for AUX 1 and 2 only, while t he 8-Bus, SR ser ies and
Onyx 1640 have SOLOs for all t he Auxiliar y sends.
When using t he AUXs t o feed st age monit or s, soloing
t hem in t he headphones is a good way t o check t he
mix t o t he monit or speaker s.
The AUX SOLOs are pre-fader ( OK, so t he r ot ar y
knob isnt exact ly a fader ) on all but t he 8-Bus and
t he Onyx, where t heyre post -fader. Since t he 8-Bus
and Onyx were designed wit h recor ding applicat ions
in mind, t he post solo will be most useful for check-
ing t he level going t o an out boar d effect s pr ocessor.
As st udio effect s are oft en inst alled in a r ack out of
easy reach and view of t he engineer, it s handy t o be
able t o check t heir input level r ight fr om t he console.
Calibr at e t he set t ing of t he input level cont r ol on t he
pr ocessor so t hat t hat 0 VU on t he pr ocessor s met er
( or ar ound 16 if it s a digit al pr ocessor wit h 0 dB
at t he t op of t he met er scale) cor responds t o 0 VU
on t he console met er and you can always check your
pr ocessor send level r ight fr om t he console.
Since t he SR is designed wit h live sound in mind,
t he pre-fader solos allow you t o check a monit or mix
before you t ur n it up in t he musicians ear s.
There are a few ext r a reminder s in addit ion t o t he
RUDE SOLO light , t o help you gure out just what
t he heck youve soloed. On t he VLZ and Onyx, t heres
an LED next t o each AUX SOLO but t on. On t he SR,
t heres an AUX SOLO light near t he SOLO LEVEL
cont r ol, and on t he 8-Bus, youll nd a single Solo
LED below t he gr oup of AUX SEND Mast er s.
AUX RETURNs
All Mackie Auxiliar y Ret ur ns come in pair s since
most effect s devices and auxiliar y line-level sour ces
have st ereo out put s ( t he PPM ser ies is t he except ion
st ay t uned) .
1
(EXT)
U
+15 OO
U
+15 OO
U
+15 OO
1
2
AUX
EFX
MASTER SEND
EFX BYPASS
EFX DRIVE
LEVEL
12 0
NORMAL
EFX
CLIP
CUSTOM 32-BIT PRECISION
DIGITAL STEREO EFFECTS PROCESSING
EFX WIDE
30
CLIP
5
5
0
10
15
20
LEVEL
MONITOR
MASTER
EFX TO
MON
U
OO+10
U
+12dB OO
CLIP
U
+15 OO
U
+15 OO
U
+15 OO
U
+15 OO
EFX 2 (INT) RETURN MASTERS
EFX 2
SEND
TO MAIN MIX
EFFECTS TO MONITOR
AUX 1 AUX 2
49
Compact Mixer Reference Guide
MIXER ANATOMY: CHAPTER 4
Signals fr om t he AUX input s are ret ur ned t hr ough
level cont r ols t o t he MAIN bus where t heyre mixed
wit h t he channel signals. On some models, Aux
Ret ur ns can be r out ed t o subgr oup busses. There are
also some neat t r icks for adding effect s t o monit or s
at t he press of a but t on.
AUX RETURN Level Controls
Each pair of st ereo AUX RETURNs is cont r olled
wit h a single knob. Wit h all Mackie mixer s, unless
you have anot her but t on pressed ( which well get t o
real soon) , signals passing t hr ough t hese cont r ols
will pr oceed direct ly t o t he MAIN MIX bus.
When using t he AUX RETURNS as input s fr om a
par allel-connect ed effect s pr ocessor dr iven fr om an
AUX Out put , t he RETURN Level cont r ols can gener-
ally remain at t heir Unit y Gain ( cent er ) posit ion.
Youll usually get t he r ight level int o t he mix wit h t he
effect s pr ocessor s out put level set for what ever t hat
manufact urer calls unit y gain. Mackie AUX RETURN
cont r ols can pr ovide up t o 20 dB of gain t o accommo-
dat e effect s wit h lower out put levels ( such as t hose
designed t o wor k in line wit h elect r ic guit ar s) and of
cour se, you can t ur n t he level of t he effect down by
going below t he Unit y gain point .
Yes, you can use a favor it e st omp box as an effect
wit h your Mackie mixer. Youll pr obably need t o back
down t he level of t he AUX MASTER t hat s feeding
it , since unit s wit h low level out put s are gener ally
designed t o wor k wit h lower-level input s.
The nominal out put level of effect s
pr ocessor s cover s a pret t y wide r ange,
depending on t heir int ended applicat ion
and er a of manufact ure. Old effect s pr ocessor s can
be pret t y cool! Some of t hem can be pret t y dar ned
noisy, t hough. Wit h pr oper gain management you can
minimize t he amount of noise creeping int o your mix
fr om t hese devices.
Using Noisy Effect Units
While t his deviat es fr om t he Level-Set t ing Pr oce-
dure t hat we keep pushing, somet imes your ear s can
be a bet t er guide t han t he met er s. If your effect is t oo
noisy at Unit y ret ur n gain, t r y t his:
Fir st get a pret t y good mix going wit hout t he ef-
fect . If t he effect unit has an Out put Level cont r ol,
t ur n it up about full. Wit h t he mult it r ack recor der
st opped ( or t he band, if youre wor king live) , r aise
t he AUX RETURN level unt il you just st ar t t o hear
noise fr om t he effect , t hen back it down just a t ouch.
Now, wit h t he music playing, r aise t he SEND level t o
t he effect unt il you hear as much of t he effect as you
want in t he mix. Be careful not t o over dr ive it . List en
for dist or t ion.
PPM Series AUX RETURN Level Controls
The PPM ser ies mixer s have AUX RETURN level
cont r ols t oo, but like t he Sends, t heyre not quit e so
obvious t heir names have been changed t o pr ot ect
t he innocent . Nor mally t he EMAC pr ocessor is t he
sour ce for t he effect ret ur n input , so t he EFX TO
MAIN and EFX TO MONITOR cont r ols ser ve as t he
AUX RETURN Level cont r ols t o t he main and monit or
busses.
Mono PPM mixer s have only a single EFFECTS RE-
TURN jack. The st ereo models have t wo, but unlike
t he ot her Mackie mixer s, t hey arent nor malled t o ac-
commodat e a mono sour ce. EFFECTS LEFT RETURN
goes t o t he LEFT MAIN bus and RIGHT RETURN
goes t o t he RIGHT MAIN bus. Plugging int o t he
RETURN jacks disconnect s t he out put of t he EMAC
pr ocessor, but t he level cont r ols are st ill act ive.
When using a mono effect s pr ocessor, in or der t o
send it s out put t o bot h channels, youll need a Y-Ca-
ble t o split it s out put t o t he t wo jacks. Dont confuse
t his wit h t he Inser t cable we descr ibed previously,
which also has one plug on one end and t wo plugs on
t he ot her but is wired different ly.
On t he PPM mixer s, t he EFX TO MAIN is t he AUX
Ret ur n level cont r ol. The EFX TO MONITOR cont r ol
sends a mono sum of t he left and r ight ret ur ns t o t he
Monit or bus.
It s possible t o use an ext er nal pr oces-
sor and t he EMAC at t he same t ime. If t he
out boar d pr ocessor will be used only on
a single channel, it can of cour se be pat ched in line
t hr ough t he channel INSERT jacks, but t hat s t oo
simple. You already know t hat .
The EFFECTS SEND out put is a TRS jack wired
just like t he INSERT jacks, so you can use it t o pat ch
a ser ial connect ed pr ocessor in line ahead of t he
EMAC unit . The out boar d pr ocessor will receive t he
EFX mix, and it s pr ocessed out put will become t he
input t o t he EMAC.
Anot her way t o skin t his cat is t o t ake t he par al-
lel r out e. Plug a TS plug halfway int o t he EFFECTS
SEND jack ( t o t he r st click) and you now have t he
Effect s bus out put , which you can connect t o t he out -
boar d pr ocessor while st ill leaving t he nor mal feed t o
t he EMAC int act . Br ing t he out put s of t he out boar d
effect s pr ocessor int o t he mix t hr ough a pair of mono
50
Compact Mixer Reference Guide
MIXER ANATOMY: CHAPTER 4
or st ereo line-level channel input s and you can blend
in t he desired amount of t he out boar d effect .
Remember t hat t he EFX cont r ol on t he channel t o
which youre ret ur ning t he effect s pr ocessor is st ill
act ive, so you can act ually send t he pr ocessor s out -
put back int o t he pr ocessor. This oft en result s in an
undesir able feedback loop, but at t imes, par t icular ly
wit h delays, it can be cool. Dont be afr aid t o exper i-
ment but only at t imes when t he audience wont
hear your bad mist akes.
Dont plug an out boar d effect s pr oces-
sor s out put int o t he EFFECTS RETURN
jacks if you also want t o use t he EMAC.
Doing t his will disconnect t he EMAC out put fr om t he
mix.
While you wont have much cont r ol, if youre r un-
ning a st ereo PPM in t he mono/monit or mode it s
possible t o plug a mono effect out put int o one of t he
Effect s Ret ur n jacks and have bot h one channel of
t he EMAC and t he out boar d effect going t o t he main
mix. J ust in case you were wonder ing.
CFX AUX RETURN Level Controls
On t he CFX ser ies mixer s, youll nd EFX 1 RE-
TURN just t o t he left of t he met er. It wor ks just like a
nor mal AUX RETURN Level cont r ol, wit h t he Ret ur n
signal going t o t he Main mix bus.
The CFX mixer s are similar t o t he PPM ser ies, wit h
t he built -in EMAC pr ocessor nor mally connect ed t o
t he EFX 2 send, and t he pr ocessed signal ret ur n-
ing t o t he main and monit or busses t hr ough t he
EFX TO MAIN and EFX TO MONITOR ( AUX 1 and
AUX 2) cont r ols.
Plugging int o t he EFX 2 RETURN jacks discon-
nect s EMAC pr ocessor out put signal and replaces it
wit h what ever youve connect ed t o t hose RETURN
jacks. The EFX TO MAIN MIX cont r ol on t he EMAC
panel becomes t he Ret ur n Level for t he EFX 2
signals. EFX TO MONITOR cont r ols send t he ret ur n
signal t o t he AUX 1 and AUX 2 busses.
Like t he PPM ( and unlike t he ot her compact
mixer s) , t he STEREO EFX RETURN jacks arent
nor malled t o accommodat e a mono ret ur n signal.
Theyre st r ict ly st ereo. If you want t o connect a mono
sour ce t o t he EFX RETURNS, youll need a Y-cable t o
split it s out put t o t he t wo jacks.
Unlike t he PPM, t he RETURN 2 jacks arent wired
as inser t s, so you cant pat ch a pr ocessor in line wit h
t he EMAC out put s, nor can you use t he EFX SEND
2 as a direct out put fr om t he EFX 2 mix. If you want
t o use a second pr ocessor along wit h t he EMAC, you
must do it t hr ough t he EFX 1 connect ions.
The EFX BYPASS swit ch and foot swit ch will kill
t he out put of t he EMAC, but not t he out put of a pr o-
cessor plugged int o t he EFX RETURN 2 jacks.
EFFECTS TO MONITORS
Were about t o get int o a ver y cool
feat ure here, but in or der t o keep fr om
get t ing confused, you need t o under st and
somet hing t hat s not int uit ive. It would seem logical
t hat AUX SEND 1 and AUX RETURN 1 go hand in
hand send out a signal on 1, and br ing it s ret ur n
back on 1, r ight ? Well, in realit y t heres no logical or
elect r ical connect ion bet ween t he t wo. Theyre just
names, like t wo people named Fred.
You can connect t he out put of an effect s pr ocessor
t o any RETURN, regar dless of which SEND is feeding
t he pr ocessor. It s easier t o dig t his if you remember
t hat a Ret ur n signal can come fr om any line-level
sour ce ( like a CD player or a dr um machine) , not
just a rever b unit fed fr om a SEND on t he mixer.
VLZ PRO, Onyx, and SR Mixers
If you want t o put some rever b or delay in t he
st age monit or s or headphones, t his knobs for you.
Heres t he 1604-VLZ PRO AUX RETURN sect ion as an
example:
The TO AUX SEND 1 and
2 cont r ols are like AUX 1
and AUX 2 Send cont r ols on
t he main channel st r ip. The
difference is t hat inst ead
of t apping a signal off t he
channel input , t hey get
t heir signal fr om t he AUX
RETURN 1 and 2 jacks.
Typically, youd feed a
rever b unit fr om a post -fader send ( 3-6) . By connect -
ing t he rever b out put s t o RETURN 1, you can add
rever b t o t he main mix using t he AUX RETURN 1
Level cont r ol, plus add t he same rever b t o a monit or
fed fr om t he AUX SEND 1 jack. Same for RETURN 2
going t o SEND 2. Heres a simplied block diagr am
of t he signal ow:
STEREO AUX RETURN
EFFECTS TO
MONITORS
TOAUX
SEND2
TOAUX
SEND1
1
2
1
2
3
4
C-R / PHNS
ONLY
RETURNS
SOLO
MAINMIX
TOSUBS
ASSIGNOPTIONS
12
34
U
OO+20
U
OO+20
U
OO+15
U
OO+15
U
OO+20
U
OO+20

CHANNELINPUT

AUX1
RETURN1
MAIN
BUS
REVERB
IN OUT

FADER
AUX3
SEND3
RETURN3
RETURNTOAUX1
AUX
BUS
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Compact Mixer Reference Guide
MIXER ANATOMY: CHAPTER 4
The EFFECTS TO MONITORS cont r ols are fed
ahead of t he AUX RETURN cont r ols, so if t he singer
in t he st udio want s t o dr own his ego in rever b but t he
pr oducer in t he cont r ol r oom want s t o hear how well
hes ar t iculat ing t he wor ds, you can send just a t ad of
rever b t o t he cont r ol r oom mix and give t he singer as
much rever b as he want s.
The Onyx mixer s, depending on t he model, have
different var iat ions on t his t heme. The 1640 can send
Aux Ret ur ns 1 and 2 t o Aux Sends 5 and 6 respec-
t ively. The 1620 sends Aux Ret ur n 3 t o Aux Send 1,
and t he 1220 can send Aux Ret ur n 2 t o Aux Send 1. It
can get confusing, so dont t r y t his for t he r st t ime
on a gig.
Since t he RETURNs are st ereo but t he SENDS are
mono, t he left and r ight ret ur ns are summed t o mono
before hit t ing t he EFFECTS TO MONITORS cont r ols.
Some chor us and ange effect s achieve
a wide st ereo spaciousness by t hr owing
one channel complet ely out of phase fr om
t he ot her channel. This can sound cool in st ereo,
but when t he t wo channels are added t oget her and
become a mono sour ce, t he effect can pr act ically
disappear because one channel will near ly cancel
t he ot her. If youre hear ing a nice r ich and spacious
chor us in t he st ereo mix and t he per son on t he ot her
end of t he monit or chain isnt hear ing it , t hat s likely
what s happening. ( Of cour se you hooked t hings up
r ight !) One solut ion is t o use only a single out put
fr om t he chor us unit as t he effect ret ur n. It wont
have t he luscious st ereo wash, but ever yone will hear
it . Anot her solut ion is t o select a different pat ch t hat
wor ks in mono.
You can creat e a feedback loop if you
use AUX SEND 1 t o an effect s pr ocessor
t hat you ret ur n t o AUX RETURN 1, and
t hen send t hat t o t he monit or. It s best t o t r y t o avoid
t his connect ion. Ret ur n t he effect s pr ocessor you
want t o share wit h t he monit or t o RETURN 2 and
youll be safe.
CFX and PPM Mixers
The CFX and PPM mixer s also have t he abilit y t o
send an effect t o t he monit or s. On t hese mixer s, t he
EFX TO MONITOR cont r ols are fed fr om t he EMAC
or an out boar d pr ocessor plugged int o t he EFX RE-
TURN 2 ( EFFECT RETURN on t he PPM) jacks. The
t wo EFX TO MONITOR cont r ols on t he CFX send t he
same effect ( fr om t he EMAC or t he RETURN 2 jacks)
t o AUX 1 and AUX 2 t hr ough independent cont r ols so
you can give t he singer a lot of rever b and t he dr um-
mer just a lit t le. The PPM has a single EFX TO MON
cont r ol.
Other AUX RETURN Routings
Since subgr oup busses can car r y t heir own in-
dependent mixes, doesnt it make sense t hat t hose
mixes should have access t o effect s, t oo? How about
sending an effect ret ur n t o only t he headphones or
cont r ol r oom monit or wit hout adding it t o t he MAIN
mix? Can do.
Assign Options Main Mix/To Subs
(1604 and 1642 -VLZ PRO, Onyx 1640)
Dont make t he mist ake of reading t his but t on as
Main mix t o subs. We lear ned t hat lesson and on
t he Onyx, labeled t he but t on simply SEND TO. While
t here may be an occasion t o send t he main mix t o t he
SUB OUTs, t hat s not what t his swit ch does it t ells
RETURN 3 where t o go. It s t wo posit ions are MAIN
MIX ( up) and TO SUBS ( down) . Make more sense?
Wit h t his swit ch up, AUX RETURN 3 behaves like
all t he ot her RETURNs it deliver s a st ereo signal,
cont r olled by it s Level knob, t o t he MAIN mix. When
you engage t his swit ch, RETURN 3 is removed fr om
t he MAIN busses and goes t o t he subgr oups, eit her
1-2 or 3-4, depending on whet her t he but t on is up or
down.
Wit h t his swit ch in t he MAIN MIX ( up) posit ion,
t he 1-2/3-4 swit ch does absolut ely not hing. It s only
funct ional in t he TO SUBS ( down) .
Let s say you have a dr um submix on subgr oups 1-2
t hat s assigned t o t he MAIN mix. You have a rever b
for t he dr ums ret ur ning t o t he mixer on RETURN 3.
You could get t he dr um rever b int o t he mix simply
by let t ing RETURN 3 go direct ly t o t he MAIN mix
( MAIN MIX/TO SUBS swit ch up) , but t heres a bet t er
way. Inst ead, swit ch Ret ur n 3 TO SUBS and set t he
1-2 / 3-4 swit ch up. Now t he rever b ret ur n will be
blended int o t he dr um mix on SUBS 1-2. As you r ide
t he SUB 1-2 fader s, t he rever b level will follow.
Why would we want t o do it t his way? Because if
you had simply sent t he rever b direct ly t o t he MAIN
mix and did a dr um fadeout using t he SUB fader s,
t he rever b wouldnt know anyt hing about t hat fade
and would just go on sending wet dr ums t o t he mix
as long as t he dr ums were playing. While t hat might
be a cool effect somet imes, nor mally it s not what you
want . And t hat s why we t hrew in t hose swit ches.
52
Compact Mixer Reference Guide
MIXER ANATOMY: CHAPTER 4
ASSIGN TO SUB (SR consoles)
On t he SR ser ies, we named t his pesky swit ch AS-
SIGN TO SUBS. It s companion swit ch is labeled SUB,
wit h posit ions 1-2 ( up) and 3-4 ( down) . These t wo
swit ches ser ve t he same funct ion as t hose descr ibed
in t he previous par agr aph only t hey wor k on RE-
TURN 4 r at her t han 3. Same t r ain, different t ime.
8-Bus
The 8-Bus console has some ver y exible AUX
RETURN r out ing opt ions.
RETURNS 1 and 2 can be assigned t o t he Main L/R
MIX and/or any of t he four pair s of subgr oup busses
by pressing t he but t on for t hat bus pair.
RETURNS 1 and 2 also have a BALANCE cont r ol
t hat can be used t o adjust t he posit ion of a st ereo
ret ur n in t he mix. If a st ereo effect is used for over all
ambience, t he BALANCE cont r ol will nor mally be set
t o t he cent er, dist r ibut ing it equally t o bot h busses. If
an effect is being used as an int egr al par t of a sound,
you can use t he BALANCE cont r ol t o move t he appar-
ent posit ion of t he effect ret ur n t o coincide wit h t he
panned posit ion of t he sour ce wailing sax on t he
left , sax-drenching rever b on t he left , sax rever b st ays
out of t he way of t he ar t iculat ely t inkly mandolin on
t he r ight .
RETURNS 3 and 4 can be assigned t o t he PHONES
1 or 2 out put s in addit ion t o t he L/R MIX by pressing
t he appr opr iat e ASSIGN but t on( s) . Ret ur ns 5 and 6
are just plain vanilla, going only t o t he L/R MIX.
RETURNs SOLO
You can solo t he channel input s, so it s logical t o be
able t o solo t he ret ur ns, t oo. You can on some models.
Individual Returns Solo
Each of t he RETURNs on t he 8-Bus has it s own
SOLO but t on. Pressing it sends t he RETURN signal
t o t he headphone and cont r ol r oom out put s. These
solos are post -fader, so t he solo level will change as
you adjust t he Ret ur n Level pot .
Global Returns Solo
The 1604-VLZ PRO and 1642-VLZ PRO and t he SR
ser ies mixer s have a single Ret ur ns SOLO but t on. On
t he VLZs, it s called RETURNS SOLO, while on t he
CR it s labeled GLOBAL AUX RETURNS SOLO.
All of t he ret ur n signals are summed and sent t o
t his swit ch, so when you have more t han one RE-
TURN signal, what you hear can be confusing. The ef-
fect ret ur ns solo funct ion follows t he PFL/AFL SOLO
MODE swit ch, so by select ing AFL and t ur ning t he
Ret ur n Level cont r ol down for all but t he ret ur n you
want t o hear, you can solo a single ret ur n signal.
RETURNS to CR/PHONES ONLY
Remember, t he default for all t he STEREO AUX
RETURNS is t o feed t hem direct ly int o t he MAIN
MIX. Youve lear ned about diver t ing one of t he AUX
RETURNs t o t he subgr oup busses, but t he 1604 and
1642-VLZ PRO and Onyx 1640 pr ovide anot her opt ion
for r out ing RETURN 4.
Engaging t he C-R/ PHNS ( CR/PHONES ONLY on
t he Onyx) swit ch removes AUX RETURN 4s st ereo
signal fr om t he MAIN MIX and sends it direct ly t o t he
CTL ROOM/PHONES monit or bus.
Let s say youre doing a direct -t o-st ereo recor ding
of a live per for mance, and t he dr ummer want s t o
play t o a click t r ack in t he headphones, which youve
plugged int o t he PHONES jack. If t he click t r ack
went direct ly int o t he MAIN MIX, t hen t he recor der
and audience would hear it not ver y cool. By gum,
t his is t he swit ch for you. If you connect t he met r o-
nome t o RET 4 and engage t he CR/PHONES ONLY
swit ch, t he click will only go t o t he phones or t he
Cont r ol Room monit or speaker s, not t he MAIN L/R
out put s.
Similar ly, t his swit ch can be used t o add rever b t o
t he headphone and cont r ol r oom mix when t r acking,
while st ill allowing you t o recor d dr y, and pr ocess
lat er.
CONTROL ROOM SOURCE SWITCHES
(Matrix)
Nor mally you want t o hear t he MAIN MIX in
t he cont r ol r oom, but somet imes you want t o hear
somet hing else t ape playback of t hat song you
just mixed, or a subgr oup t hat youre sending t o t he
recor der. Weve pr ovided a handy set of pushbut t ons
t o select your monit or sour ce.
PHONES
2
L/R MIX
L/R MIX 1-2 3-4 5-6 7-8
L/RMIX SOLO 1-2 3-4 5-6 7-8
PHONES
1
PHONES
2
L/R MIX
1
2
3
4
LEVEL
ASSIGN
ASSIGN
ASSIGN
ASSIGN
PHONES
1
6
+20 OO
U
+20 OO
U
+20 OO
U
+20 OO
U
L R
L R
5
+20 OO
U
+20 OO
U
SOLO
SOLO
SOLO
SOLO
SOLO
LEVEL
LEVEL
BALANCE
53
Compact Mixer Reference Guide
MIXER ANATOMY: CHAPTER 4
1604/1642-VLZ PRO CR Source Matrix
Heres t he CTRL ROOM
SOURCE sect ion fr om t he 1604-
VLZ PRO:
The four SOURCE but t ons
send t he MAIN MIX, SUBS
1-2 or 3-4, or t he TAPE IN t o
t he CONTROL ROOM OUT and
headphone jacks. Nor mally,
you monit or t he MAIN MIX, but
t here are t imes when you want
t o hear ot her sour ces.
To play back t he mix fr om a st ereo mixdown
recor der connect ed t o t he TAPE IN jacks, de-select
MAIN MIX and select TAPE. Nor mally youll hear t he
playback at t he same level as t he mix if t he TAPE IN
cont r ol is set t o it s Unit y gain posit ion. If you need t o
mat ch t he playback level t o t he mix level ( and you
should, so you arent t hr own off by t he difference in
levels) , use t he TAPE IN cont r ol.
You can also select t he SUBS t o hear what youre
sending t o t hem.
1202/1402-VLZ PRO CR Source Matrix
The 1202 and 1402-VLZ PRO
mixer s are similar, wit h ALT 3-4
replacing t he t wo SUB but t ons.
Pressing t he ALT 3-4 but t on in
t he CR/SOURCE gr oup r out es
any channels assigned t o t he
ALT 3-4 bus ( MUTE swit ch
pressed) t hr ough t he CTL
ROOM/SUBMIX fader t o t he
headphone jack and Cont r ol
Room out put . Not e t hat wit h
t his but t on ( or t he TAPE but t on
below it ) pressed, t he met er s read t he ALT/TAPE
level, not t he MAIN MIX level.
8-Bus Control Room/Studio MONITOR
Switch Matrix
In t he 8-Bus monit or sour ce
select ion mat r ix, t he TAPE IN
sour ce is labeled 2-TK ( 2-Tr ack) .
In addit ion, t heres an EXTERNAL
but t on which could come fr om a
second st ereo recor der, casset t e, or
CD player. Theres no separ at e level
cont r ol for t he 2-TK or EXTERAL
sour ces, so you may have t o re-
adjust t he CNTRL RM MONITOR Level cont r ol for
a comfor t able playback level if your recor der s dont
have playback volume cont r ols. It s r ight handy.
The MONO swit ch in t his gr oup com-
bines t he left and r ight channels of t he
select ed monit or sour ce, allowing you t o
hear your mix in mono. While t his might not seem
ver y impor t ant , t hink of how many people wake up
t o a clock r adio or hear t elevision audio in mono.
Somet imes a st ereo sour ce or effect can become
weak or dr op out of t he mix in mono due t o t he phase
relat ionships bet ween t he channels. It s a good idea
t o check any mix in mono. On t he 8-Bus, weve made
it ver y convenient .
The monit or sour ce t hat you select for t he Cont r ol
Room also goes t o t he STUDIO OUTPUT jacks, which
have t heir own level cont r ol.
Onyx CR/Phones Source Matrix
The Onyx ser ies accommodat es an
opt ional FireWire digit al int er face t o
connect t he mixer s mic preamp out put s
direct ly t o a comput er for mult it r ack
recor ding. Wit h a comput er as your
recor der, youll need t o hear playback,
just like when youre wor king wit h t ape.
Weve pr ovided a but t on in t he cont r ol
r oom sour ce select ion mat r ix t o r out e
a st ereo ret ur n fr om t he comput er
via FireWire t o t he cont r ol r oom and
headphone out put . Wit h t he opt ional
FireWire car d inst alled in t he mixer,
pressing t he FireWire but t on is t he
equivalent of select ing a TAPE input
except t he input is digit al. It s conver t ed
t o analog for monit or ing r ight in t he
mixer.
None of t hese but t ons are int er locking,
so you can press more t han one at once. If
youre using t he ALT 3-4 out put s t o feed a
sound car d for recor ding on a comput er, when over-
dubbing you can combine t he sound car d playback
ret ur ned t o channels assigned t o t he MAIN mix, wit h
t he ALT 3-4 out put t hat youre recor ding. This is one
way of monit or ing what youre singing or playing,
while over dubbing t o previously recor ded t r acks. See
t he Applicat ions sect ion page 97 for det ails.
TAPEIN
SOLO
CTL ROOM/ PHONES
SUBS 34
SUBS 12
MAINMIX
CTL ROOM
SOURCE
TAPE TAPE TO
MAINMIX
MODE
(AFL)
LEVEL SET
NORMAL
(PFL)
U
OO+20
OO
OOMAX
MAX
MAIN MIX
C-R/SOURCE
ALT 34
TAPE
ASSIGN
TO MAIN MIX
MONO
2-TK
MIX-B
L/RMIX
EXTERNAL
SOURCE
MONITOR
CNTRL RM
STUDIO
O OO
OO
SUB 3-4
SUB 1-2
TAPE
CONTROL
ROOM/
PHONES
SOURCE
FIREWIRE
(OPTION)
ASSIGN TO
MAIN MIX
MAIN MIX
54
Compact Mixer Reference Guide
MIXER ANATOMY: CHAPTER 4
ASSIGN to MAIN MIX
Youll nd an ASSIGN TO MAIN MIX but t on in
t he cont r ol r oom select ion mat r ix. On mixer s t hat
have an ALT 3-4 bus, t his but t on can be used t o send
ALT 3-4 bus t o t he mix, allowing it t o funct ion as a
subgr oup.
When bot h t he ALT 3-4 and ASSIGN TO MAIN
MIX but t ons are pressed, t he CTL ROOM/SUBMIX
( CONTROL ROOM on t he Onyx) cont r ol becomes
t he mast er for channels assigned t o t he ALT 3-4 bus.
Raising t he cont r ol br ings t he submix of t hose chan-
nels int o t he MAIN mix.
Tape to Main Mix
All Mackie mixer s have st ereo TAPE INPUTS t hat
can be r out ed t o t he Main mix, but t he way t he t ape
signal get s t here and how it s level is cont r olled dif-
fer s among models.
Since were t alking about t he Cont r ol Room assign-
ment mat r ix here, let s r st t alk about t ape ret ur ns
t hat are cont r olled in t his sect ion of t he mixer. Youll
nd t his ar r angement on t he Onyx 1620 and 1220,
and 1202, 1402, and 1604-VLZ PRO. On t hose mixer s,
select ing TAPE and pressing t he ASSIGN TO MAIN
MIX but t on sends a t ape or CD connect ed t o t he
TAPE IN jacks t o t he MAIN out put s.
As wit h t he ALT 3-4 busses when assigned t o t he
main mix, t he Cont r ol Room level cont r ol adjust s
t he level of t he t ape in t he Main mix. This funct ion
is handy in a PA applicat ion for playing recor ded
music dur ing a break, or for using recor ded music in
a show.
You have t o keep your wit s about you
when assigning t he t ape ret ur ns or ALT 3-
4 bus t o t he Main mix wit h t his swit ch.
Nor mally you have t he Main mix select ed as t he
cont r ol r oom/phones sour ce, but when you use t he
cont r ol r oom mat r ix swit ches t o assign somet hing
else t o t he main mix, it removes t he main mix fr om
t he cont r ol r oom and headphone out put s even if t he
Main Mix is st ill select ed as t he CR/Phones sour ce.
Unt il you realize what s happening, t his can get you
going ar ound in cir cles checking cables.
CFX and PPM Tape In Routing
On t he CFX and PPM mixer s, t he TAPE IN can go
t o only one place t he MAIN mix. Not hing fancy
here. The TAPE input s are act ive regar dless of t he
set t ing of t he BREAK swit ch ( coming up shor t ly) .
SR and 1642 Tape In Routing
On t he SR ser ies mixer s,
t he TAPE INPUTS dont go
anywhere unt il youve as-
signed t hem. The t wo TAPE
RETURN assignment swit ches
are locat ed in t he vicinit y
of t he MAIN MIX fader. The
TAPE RETURN level cont r ol is
st ashed up in t he Aux Send/
Ret ur n sect ion, adjacent t o
t he met er s. The TAPE RE-
TURN TO PHONES/CR swit ch
sends t he t ape t o t he cont r ol
r oom and phones out put s. It s
equivalent t o t he TAPE swit ch
in t he Cont r ol Room Mat r ix
of t he VLZ mixer s. The TAPE
RETURN TO MAIN MIX swit ch
assigns t he TAPE INPUTS t o t he MAIN mix, just like
it says. This is how t o feed int er mission music t o t he
house speaker s or br ing a t ape playback int o t he mix
wit hout eat ing up a channel.
The gener al t heme here is t hat
mixer s whose design leans t owar d
recor ding applicat ions have t he
t ape ret ur ns easily r out ed t o t he
monit or sect ion, while mixer s
or ient ed t owar d live sound have a
more direct pat h fr om t he t ape re-
t ur ns t o t he main mix out put . The
1642 is sor t of a hybr id. It has a
TAPE but t on in t he Cont r ol Room
assignment mat r ix which sends
t he t ape ret ur ns t o t he headphones and cont r ol r oom
out put . In addit ion, t heres a separ at e TAPE TO
MAIN MIX but t on t hat does exact ly t hat . A TAPE IN
cont r ol adjust s t he level of t he t ape ret ur n signal t o
eit her dest inat ion ( or bot h if t hat s what you want ) .
Sing Along With DFX
The DFX ser ies of mixer s has a
unique built -in pr ocessor t hat wor ks
only on t he t ape input s. This is a vocal
eliminat or, which cancels or reduces
t he level of what ever s in t he cent er
of t he mix going int o it . It s useful ( t o
a great er or lesser ext ent , depending
on t he pr ogr am mat er ial) t o t ake t he
vocal out of a recor ding so t hat you
can sing along, kar aoke st yle. The t ape
dB
30
20
10
OO
40
50
5
5
U
60
10
OOMAX
TAPE RETURN
TO PHONES / C R
TAPE RETURN
TO MAIN MIX
LEFT/RIGHT
PHONES / C-R
LEVEL
MAIN MIX
69
71
70
SUBS 12
SUBS 34
MAINMIX
CR SOURCE
TAPE
OOMAX
SOLO
L MODE
(AFL)
LEVEL SET
NORMAL
(PFL)
CONTROL ROOM
MAX OO
MAX OO
PHONES
U
OO+20
TAPEIN
TAPE TO
MAINMIX
dB
30
20
10
40
5
5
U
10
CD/TAPE
RETURN
VOCAL
ELIMINATOR
BREAK
SWITCH
(MUTES ALL MIC CHANNELS)
dB
30
20
10
40
5
5
U
10
M U TE
55
Compact Mixer Reference Guide
MIXER ANATOMY: CHAPTER 4
ret ur n ( and weve labeled t his TAPE/CD so youll get
t he hint t hat it s not just for t ape decks) is per ma-
nent ly assigned t o t he Main mix, but it goes t hr ough
it s own fader, mut e swit ch, and, if select ed, t he Vocal
Eliminat or. The input t o t he Break swit ch also picks
up t he t ape ret ur ns so you can play recor ded music
dur ing a break.
WARNING: Assigning t he TAPE t o t he
MAIN MIX can creat e a feedback pat h
bet ween TAPE INPUT and TAPE OUTPUT.
If youre using t he t ape deck for playback only ( int er-
mission music) , t his is not a pr oblem, but wat ch out
if youre recor ding your mixes. Make sure your t ape
deck is not in recor d, recor d-pause, or input monit or
mode when you engage t his swit ch, or make sure t he
TAPE IN level knob is fully count er clockwise ( off) .
BREAK Switch
No, we dont want you t o break anyt hing, nor does
t his swit ch dial Mackies t oll-free phone number
when your mixer breaks ( t hat ll be never ) . But t he
band get s a break now and t hen, and if youre lucky
so do you, t he sound engineer. Walking away fr om t he
mixer in a cr owded club wit h live mics on st age can
be embar r assing. What if a dr unk ( called a cust omer
in polit e cir cles) walks up t o t he st age and st ar t s
singing int o a mic? Or someone st ar t s fooling wit h
t he knobs and pushes t he syst em int o feedback?
To avoid such disast er s, weve pr ovided a handy
BREAK swit ch on t he CFX, DFX, and PPM mixer s.
CFX and DFX BREAK Switch
On t he CFX and DFX mixer s, pressing t he BREAK
swit ch disconnect s t he L/R bus fr om t he nal out put
sect ion of t he mixer and swit ches it safely t o t he
TAPE IN jacks. Pressing t he BREAK swit ch kills all
t he mics in t he MAIN, SUBWOOFER, and UTILITY
out put s. St ar t up a CD or t ape connect ed t o t he TAPE
IN jacks ( or somet imes silence is nice, t oo) and you
can t ake t hat needed pause for t he cause.
The BREAK swit ch kills all t he mics, so it s handy
for when you have t o move mics ar ound on st age. On
t he DFX-12, line input s 9 t hr ough 12 arent mut ed
by t he BREAK swit ch, so you can st ill use alt er nat e
line-level sour ces ( like a DJ s t ur nt ables) while t he
band is off st age.
Be aware t hat t he BREAK swit ch doesnt kill t he
AUX out put s, so your st age monit or s will st ill be
live. If youre going t o be out of shoot ing r ange of t he
console dur ing a break or youre doing a lot of mic
st and t humping, t ur n t he AUX MASTERS t hat feed
t he monit or s down, t oo. Be sure t o not e where t hey
were set so you can ret ur n t hem t o t he pr oper level
when t he band st ar t s t he next set . You know t he r st
t hing t hey say aft er Thank you will be More moni-
t or s, please, but you might as well st ar t where you
last left off.
The BREAK swit ch on t he CFX doesnt
kill t he signal going t o t he TAPE OUT
jacks. If youre recor ding t he show and
leave t he t ape deck r unning, youll get a nice recor d-
ing of t he noise dur ing t he break. While t his might
seem like a big wast e of t ape, if youre t hinking of
releasing a live album, blending in some club at mo-
sphere when edit ing down t he recor ding is a useful
t echnique t o make your list ener feel more t here.
PPM BREAK Switch
The BREAK swit ch on t he PPM mixer s ser ves t he
same pur pose as on t he CFX and DFX, but it wor ks a
lit t le different ly. Pressing t he BREAK but t on mut es
Channels 1-6, t he MONITOR out put , and t he EFX.
The swit ch doesnt affect t he TAPE IN or st ereo
Channels 7 and 8, so you can play int er mission music
and also leave a mic live on st age for t he MC or t he
comedian ( t he one t he club booked, you hope) .
Master Section Graphic EQ
In sound reinfor cement applicat ions, it s fair ly
common t o connect a gr aphic equalizer bet ween
t he mixer out put and t he speaker syst em so t hat t he
over all mix can be ne t uned t o t he r oom acoust ics.
The PPM, DFX and CFX mixer s pr ovide gr aphic
equalizat ion on t heir out put s.
The name Gr aphic comes fr om t he appear ance of
t he equalizer cont r ols. A gr aphic EQ is a collect ion
of sever al xed-frequency lt er s ( nine on t he PPM
and CFX, ve on t he DFX) wit h t he amount of boost
or cut at each frequency adjust ed by ver t ical slid-
er s. The knobs on t hose slider s for m a gr aph of t he
frequency response t hr ough t he equalizer.
The frequencies of t he nine-band equalizer are
spaced at int er vals of one oct ave, giving it t he name
15
15
5
10
0
5
10
15
15
5
10
0
5
10
STEREO GRAPHIC EQ
1K 500 250 63 125 16K 2K 4K 8K
56
Compact Mixer Reference Guide
MIXER ANATOMY: CHAPTER 4
Oct ave-band equalizer. The ve-band equalizer
bands cover r oughly t wo-oct ave int er vals. Bet you
didnt know you were going t o get a shor t music ap-
preciat ion lesson in a mixer manual! Ot her gr aphic
equalizer s use nar r ower band lt er s spaced at int er-
vals of one-t hir d or one-half oct aves.
Gr aphic equalizer s are oft en used t o reduce feed-
back by reducing t he gain at t he frequency at which
t he syst em is r inging. See t he Tips sect ion t o lear n
how ( and how not ) t o do t his.
CFX Graphic EQ
The gr aphic equalizer on t he CFX mixer s is st ereo
each knob cont r ols t wo lt er s. Equalizer input s
come fr om t he BREAK swit ch ( eit her t he MAIN L/R
mix or a t ape player for int er mission music) and t he
equalizer out put s go t o t he MAIN LEVEL cont r ols.
PPM Graphic EQ
The PPM mixer s, bot h t he mono and st ereo ver-
sions, have t wo gr aphic equalizer s, one for t he MAIN
out put , t he ot her for t he MONITOR out put .
The MONITOR EQUALIZER is t he last t hing in t he
signal chain pr ior t o t he MONITOR LINE OUT jack.
If youre oper at ing wit h t he POWER AMP ROUTING
swit ch pressed in, and t he Right power amplier
feeding t he monit or speaker s, t his EQ will adjust t he
frequency response in t he monit or speaker s con-
nect ed t o t he RIGHT ( st ereo PPM) or POWER AMP 2
( mono PPM) jacks. If youre using an out boar d moni-
t or amplier or powered speaker s connect ed t o t he
MONITOR LINE OUT jack, t he MONITOR EQUAL-
IZER will t weak it .
The MAIN-STEREO/MONO EQUALIZER oper at es
on t he MAIN out put s. It s t he last t hing in t he chain
before t he MIXER LINE OUT ( mono) or L and R
MIXER OUT ( st ereo) jacks. The MAIN equalizer on
t he st ereo PPM models is st ereo, so wit h t he AMP
ROUTING swit ch set t o STEREO MAINS, bot h power
amplier s will receive an equalized signal.
DFX Graphic EQ
The DFX has a st ereo gr aphic equalizer t hat
nor mally applies t he same equalizat ion t o t he left
and r ight Main out put s. If youre using t he mixer s
AUX 1 out put t o feed a st age monit or, you may want
t o equalize t he monit or in preference t o equalizing
t he main out put . Pressing t he MAIN/AUX 1 swit ch
bypasses t he equalizer in t he Main left and r ight
out put s and r out es t he AUX 1 signal t hr ough t he
equalizer. The BYPASS swit ch bypasses t he equalizer
ent irely.
AIR Equalizer (SR Only)
AIR is a high frequency peaking equalizer. It s
independent of t he main channel st r ip equalizat ion
and can be applied t o t he out put of each of t he four
subgr oups. It s cent ered ar ound 16 kHz and pr ovides
a maximum boost of 10 dB. It s boost -only, so t ur n-
ing t he AIR knob fully count er clockwise leaves t he
frequency response ( but not your beer ) at .
Not e t hat a small AIR boost gives a gent le r ise in
frequency response at t he t op end of t he vocal r ange.
If a vocal is assigned t o a submast er, AIR can give it
a lit t le, well . . air. Be careful wit h lar ge amount s of
AIR boost . It can add a cr yst alline qualit y t o cer t ain
sounds, par t icular ly synt hesizer s, but if t he synt h is
noisy, a healt hy shot of AIR will also boost t he hiss.
1 2 C H A N N E L IN T E G R A T E D LIVE SO U N D M IXE R
BYPASS EQ
MAIN
AUX 1
12
+12
0
12K 3.5K
12
+12
0
60 250 1K
20Hz 100Hz 1kHz 10kHz 100kHz
15
10
5
0
+5
+10
+15
AIR
57
Compact Mixer Reference Guide
MIXER ANATOMY: CHAPTER 4
COMPRESSOR (PPM Only)
The PPM mixer s are equipped
wit h a compressor at t he input
of each of t he t wo power ampli-
er s. The COMPRESSOR IN/OUT
swit ch is locat ed just below
t he MONITOR LINE OUT jack.
Pushing t his swit ch act ivat es
t he compressor t hat senses t he
signal level going int o t he power
amplier s and reduces high-level
signals t o reduce t he possibilit y
of dr iving t he amplier int o clip-
ping. Clipping is nast y dist or t ion
t hat not only sounds bad, but can
act ually damage your loudspeaker s.
Keeping t he compressor engaged is a good pre-
caut ion, but when it s really wor king har d it can
cont r ibut e it s own avor of dist or t ion t o your mix.
Pay at t ent ion t o what s coming out of t he speaker s,
and if you hear t he compressor in act ion, back off.
The amplier s arent going t o get any louder, so t hey
might as well play cleanly.
Compressor s can get pret t y complex ( see t he Tips
sect ion) , but t his is one is simple and unobt r usive if
it doesnt have t o wor k t oo har d.
COMPRESSOR
MONITOR
LINE
OUT
IN
OUT
58
Compact Mixer Reference Guide
MIXER ANATOMY: CHAPTER 4
Notes