User manual MACKIE 1604-VLZ3

[. . . ] 1604-VLZ3 16-Channel Mic/Line Mixer OWNER'S MANUAL 1604-VLZ3 Important Safety Instructions 1. Donotblockanyventilationopenings. Installinaccordancewiththe manufacturer'sinstructions. Donotinstallnearanyheatsourcessuchasradiators, heatregisters, stoves, orotherapparatus(includingamplifiers)thatproduceheat. Donotdefeatthesafetypurposeofthepolarizedorgrounding-type plug. Apolarizedplughastwobladeswithonewiderthantheother. [. . . ] Use air-conditioned rooms whenever 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 full-travel excursions once a week or so, and that will help scare the crud away. Do not use spray cleaners, rather use compressed air, or a vacuum with brush attachment. Owner's Manual 1 1604-VLZ3 27. SOLO This lovable switch allows you to check signals in your phones or control room without having to assign them to the L-R, 1-2 or 3-4 mixes. You can solo as many channels as you like. SOLO does not interrupt any of the other channels, buses or outputs -- that's called nondestructive solo. Using the MODE [44] switch, the 1604-VLZ3's solo system comes in two flavors: NORMAL (AFL) (sometimes called SIP, or solo-in-place) and LEVEL SET (PFL) (sometimes called PFL, or prefader-listen). The MODE switch is described in tender loving detail on page 21. LEVEL SET (PFL) taps the channel signal before the fader. If you have a channel's fader set way below "U" (unity gain), SOLO won't know that and will send a unity gain signal to the control room, headphones, and meter display. That may result in a startling level boost at these outputs, depending on the position of the SOLO [46] level knob. In a nutshell, soloed channels are sent to the SOURCE [42] mix, that ultimately feeds your control room, headphones and meter display. Whenever SOLO is engaged, all source selections (MAIN MIX, 1­2, 3­4, and TAPE) are defeated, to allow the soloed channel to do just that -- SOLO! 29. OL (MUTE) LED Another LED that does two completely different things!First, the "OL" part: "OL" means overload, or clip. Clipping can happen to any mixer -- it's the point where the signal's voltage tries to exceed the supply voltages that power the circuitry. The 1604-VLZ3's OL LED will come on just before clipping, so if you see it, take immediate action: Perform the Level-Setting Procedure on page 3. If that doesn't help, check for excessive use of EQ boost or fader gain. Like the ­20 LED, it will tend to flicker in time with that channel's signal. Assuming your levels are set correctly, the OL LED will never come on as a result of clipping. So, to liven things up, this LED will glow steadily when that channel's MUTE [30] switch is engaged. [. . . ] If you need to combine several outputs into one input, you must use a mixer, not a mult or a "Y. " Direct out with signal interruption to master. Insert all the way in to the second "click. " STEREO PLUG Channel Insert jack For use as an effects loop. (TIP = SEND to effect, RING = RETURN from effect. ) Figure F Mackie Stereo Inputs and Returns: Mono, Stereo, Whatever Stereo line inputs and stereo returns are a fine example of the Mackie philosophy (which we just made up) of Maximum Flexibility with Minimum Headache. The inputs and returns will automatically be mono or stereo, depending upon how you use the jacks. [. . . ]