Mackie 1402-VLZ PRO Owner'S Manual Download Page 19

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and

PHONES

outputs. If you want the

ALT 3–4

signals to go back into the

MAIN MIX

, engage

the

ASSIGN TO MAIN MIX

switch , and the

CONTROL ROOM/PHONES

fader becomes the

one fader to control the levels of all channels as-
signed to

ALT 3–4

Another way to do the same thing is to as-

sign the channels to the

ALT 3–4

mix, then

patch out of the

ALT OUT LEFT

and

RIGHT

back into an unused stereo channel (7–8, 9–10
or 11–12 or 13–14). If that’s your choice, don’t
ever engage the

MUTE/ALT 3–4

switch on that

stereo channel, or you’ll have every dog in the
neighborhood howling at your feedback loop.

Another benefit of the

ALT 3–4

feature is

that it can act as a “SIP” (Solo-In-Place): just
engage a channel's

MUTE/ALT 3–4

switch and

the

ALT 3–4

switch in the

SOURCE

matrix

and you’ll get that channel, all by itself, in the

CONTROL ROOM

and

PHONES

MUTE/ALT 3–4

is one of those controls that

can bewilder newcomers, so take your time and
play around with it. Once you’ve got it down,
you’ll probably think of a hundred uses for it!

PAN

PAN

adjusts the amount of channel signal

sent to the left versus the right outputs. On
mono channels (ch. 1–6 or 7–14 with connec-
tions to the

LEFT

input only) these controls act

as pan pots. On stereo channels (7–14) with
stereo connections to

LEFT

and

RIGHT

inputs,

the pan knob works like the balance control on
your home stereo.

PAN

determines the fate of the

MAIN MIX

(1–2) and

ALT 3–4

mix. With the

PAN

knob

hard left, the signal will feed either

MAIN

LEFT

(bus 1) or

ALT LEFT

(bus 3), depending

on the position of the

ALT 3–4

switch. With the

knob hard right, the signal feeds

MAIN RIGHT

(bus 2) or

ALT RIGHT

(bus 4). You’ll soon dis-

cover that maybe we should’ve called this an
MS140

-VLZ, since it really is a 4-bus mixer.

CONSTANT

LOUDNESS ! ! !

The MS1402-VLZ’s PAN

controls employ a design
called “Constant Loudness.”

It has nothing to do with living next to a freeway.
As you turn the

PAN

knob from left to right

(thereby causing the sound to move from the left
to the center to the right), the sound will appear
to remain at the same volume (or loudness).

If you have a channel panned hard left (or

right) and reading 0dB, it must dip down
about 4dB on the left (or right) when panned

center. To do otherwise (the way Brand X com-
pact mixers do) would make the sound appear
much louder when panned center.

3-BAND EQ

The MicroSeries 1402-

VLZ has 3-band
equalization at carefully
selected points —

LOW

shelving at 80Hz,

MID

peaking at 2.5kHz, and

shelving at 12kHz. “Shelving” means that

the circuitry boosts or cuts all frequencies past
the specified frequency. For example, rotating
the MS1402-VLZ’s

LOW EQ

knob 15dB to the

right boosts bass starting at 80Hz and continu-
ing down to the lowest note you never heard.
“Peaking” means that certain frequencies form
a “hill” around the center frequency — 2.5kHz
in the case of the

MID EQ

LOW EQ

This control gives you up to 15dB boost or

cut at 80Hz. The circuit is flat (no boost or
cut) at the center detent position.
This frequency represents the
punch in bass drums, bass guitar,
fat synth patches, and some really
serious male singers.

Used in conjunction with the

LOW CUT

switch , you can

boost the

LOW EQ

without inject-

ing a ton of subsonic debris into
the mix.

MID EQ

Short for “midrange,” this knob

provides 12dB of boost or cut, cen-
tered at 2.5kHz, also flat at the
center detent. Midrange

often thought of as the most dy-
namic, because the frequencies
that define any particular sound
are almost always found in this
range. You can create many inter-
esting and useful

changes by

turning this knob down as well as
up.

HI EQ

This control gives you up to

15dB boost or cut at 12kHz, and it
is also flat at the detent. Use it to
add sizzle to cymbals, and an over-
all sense of transparency or edge
to keyboards, vocals, guitar and
bacon frying. Turn it down a little
to reduce sibilance, or to hide tape hiss.

100

10k

20k

–15

–10

–5

+10

+15

Low EQ

100

10k

20k