Mackie FR Series M-1400i Owner'S Manual Download Page 1

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M•1400i

OWNER’S MANUAL

AND WARRANTY REGISTRATION

–3

–6

–9

–2

–3

–6

–9

–2

SIG

1.23v (+4dBu)

SENSITIVITY

GAIN

/dB

PROTECT

COLD

HOT

SHORT

TEMP STATUS

INTERNAL STATUS

OFF

POWER

1.23v (+4dBu)

SENSITIVITY

GAIN

/dB

PROFESSIONAL

POWER

AMPLIFIER

FULL S

YMM

L DI

FFER

IGH

CUR

T DE

CHANNEL

SPEAKER OUTPUTS

–

63Hz

125Hz

CONSTANT DIRECTIV

ITY

HORN EQ

/AIR EQ

CONSTANT DIRECTIV

ITY

HORN EQ

/AIR EQ

INPUT

THRU

INPUT

AMP MODE

FREQUENCY

4.5 k

6k Hz

2k Hz

MONO

LIMITER

(CH1 & CH2)

OFF

FULL RANGE

SUB

WOOFER

LOW CUT

FILTER

LOW CUT

FILTER

OUTPUT APPLICATION

BALANCED

UNBALANCED

BALANCED

UNBALANCED

AIR EQ

/ BRIDGE

/ MONO

170 Hz

OFF

4.5k Hz

6k Hz

2k Hz

AIR EQ

–

170 Hz

100 Hz

OFF

STAGE

MONITOR

100 Hz

STAGE

MONITOR

OFF

TYPICAL

OFF

TYPICAL

TYPICAL 35 Hz

STEREO TYPICAL

AIR EQ

120 VAC 60 Hz

1500 WATTS

(MONO BRIDGE)

1400 W

4 OHM LOAD MIN.

700 W

TS CH

2 OHM LOAD MIN.

CONCEIVED, DESIGNED, AND MANUFACTURED BY MACKIE DESIGNS INC • WO

ODINVILLE • WA • 98072 • USA • MADE IN USA • FABRIQUE AU USA •

PATENTS PENDING

1997 • THE FOLLOWING ARE TRADEMARKS AND/OR REGISTERED TRADEMARKS OF MACKIE DESIGN INC.: "MACKIE", FR SERIES, AND THE "RUNNING M

AN" FIGURE

MONO

BRIDGE

SERIAL NUMBER

MANUF

CTURING D

RISK O

ELECTRIC SH

REPLACE WITH THE SAME TYPE FUSE AND RA

TING.

DISCONNECT SUPPL

Y CORD BEFORE CHANGING FUSE

UTILISE UN FUSIBLE DE RECHANGE DE MÊME TY

PE.

DEBRANCHER A

VANT DE REMPLACER LE FUSIBLE

REDUCE THE RISK OF FIRE OR ELECTRIC SHOCK, DO NOT

POSE THIS EQUIPMENT TO RAIN OR MOISTURE. DO NOT REMOVE COVER.

NO USER SERVICEABLE PARTS INSIDE. REFER SERVICING T

O QUALIFIED PERSONNEL.

CAUTION

RISQUE DE CHOC ELECTRIQUE — NE P

AS OUVRIR

HIGH-CURRENT POWER AMPLIFIER

™

Summary of Contents for FR Series M-1400i

Page 1: ...GE MONITOR 100 Hz STAGE MONITOR OFF TYPICAL ON OFF TYPICAL TYPICAL 35 Hz TYPICAL 35 Hz STEREO TYPICAL STEREO TYPICAL AIR EQ AIR EQ CH 1 120 VAC 60 Hz 1500 WATTS MONO BRIDGE 1400 WATTS 4 OHM LOAD MIN 700 WATTS CH 2 OHM LOAD MIN CONCEIVED DESIGNED AND MANUFACTURED BY MACKIE DESIGNS INC WOODINVILLE WA 98072 USA MADE IN USA FABRIQUE AU USA PATENTS PENDING COPYRIGHT 1997 THE FOLLOWING ARE TRADEMARKS AN...

Page 2: ...cing should be referred to the Mackie Service Department 13 To prevent electric shock do not use this polarized plug with an extension cord receptacle or other outlet unless the blades can be fully inserted to prevent blade exposure Pour préevenir les chocs électriques ne pas utiliser cette fiche polariseé avec un prolongateur un prise de courant ou une autre sortie de courant sauf si les lames pe...

Page 3: ... loads at high volume levels You may wonder why a power amp even needs an owner s manual After all you just plug in a few cables and power it up Well it s almost that simple There s just a few things that we d like you to be aware of and we ll dis cuss those right away please see the Quick Start on the next page Then go ahead and read the entire manual The M 1400i amplifier has a wealth of useful ...

Page 4: ...ART I got ants in my pants and I got to dance INSTALLATION You can mount the M 1400i amp in any stan dard rack system see orplace it horizontally on a floor or table The heavier internal components are located towards the front of the chassis to make it easier to hold the amp by its front handles IMPORTANT The M 1400i amp draws its ventilation air in from the front and outthroughthesidepanels It n...

Page 5: ...g except speakers unless you have an outboard box specifically designed to handle speaker level signals Before making connections to an amp or reconfiguring an amp s routing turn the amp s level GAIN controls down turn the power off make the changes turn the power back on and then turn the level controls back up If you shut down your equipment turn off the amplifiers first When powering up turn on...

Page 6: ...ads who like to use a calculator and read specifications You ll find it all here APPLICATION DIAGRAMS Mackie s gang of illustrators have created easy to understand diagrams of popular studio and live sound setups Your setup will probably be different in some way but these diagrams will help you see the big picture so you can add your own finishing touches FEATURE DESCRIPTIONS MIND BOGGLING DETAILS...

Page 7: ...ING 23 THERMAL CONSIDERATIONS 23 AC POWER CONSIDERATIONS 23 INPUT WIRING 24 OUTPUT WIRING 24 70V DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS 25 APPENDIX A Service Info 26 TROUBLESHOOTING 26 REPAIR 27 APPENDIX B Glossary 28 APPENDIX C Connectors 33 APPENDIX D Arcane Mysteries Illuminated 35 Balanced Lines 35 Do s and Don ts of Fixed Installations 35 Grounding 36 Optimizing Sound System Levels 36 Biamplified and Triamplif...

Page 8: ...ER OUTPUTS 63Hz 125Hz CONSTANT DIRECTIVITY HORN EQ AIR EQ CONSTANT DIRECTIVITY HORN EQ AIR EQ INPUT THRU THRU INPUT AMP MODE FREQUENCY 4 5 k Hz ON 6k Hz 2k Hz MONO BRIDGE LIMITER CH1 CH2 OFF FULL RANGE SUB WOOFER LOW CUT FILTER LOW CUT FILTER OUTPUT APPLICATION BALANCED OR UNBALANCED BALANCED OR UNBALANCED ON BRIDGE MONO 170 Hz OFF 4 5k Hz 6k Hz 2k Hz 170 Hz 100 Hz OFF STAGE MONITOR 100 Hz STAGE M...

Page 9: ...NSOLE MONITOR OUT FROM MIXING CONSOLE MAIN OUT STAGE MONITOR 100Hz LIMITER ON CD OFF CD OFF M 1400i EIGHT MONITOR SPEAKERS CHANNEL 2 1 CHANNEL CH 2 SPEAKER OUTPUTS 63Hz 125Hz CONSTANT DIRECTIVITY HORN EQ AIR EQ CONSTANT DIRECTIVITY HORN EQ AIR EQ INPUT THRU THRU INPUT AMP MODE FREQUENCY 4 5 kHz ON 6k Hz 2k Hz MONO BRIDGE LIMITER CH1 CH2 OFF FULL RANGE SUB WOOFER LOW CUT FILTER LOW CUT FILTER OUTPU...

Page 10: ...TTING DEPENDS ON COMPRESSION DRIVER CD HORN COMBINATION 3 5KHz CD ON STEREO TYPICAL CD OFF CD OFF FROM ACTIVE CROSSOVER HIGH FREQUENCY L R FROM ACTIVE CROSSOVER LOW FREQUENCY L R 3 5KHz M 1400i STEREO SYSTEM WITH BRIDGED SUBWOOFER CHANNEL 2 1 CHANNEL CH 2 SPEAKER OUTPUTS 63Hz 125Hz CONSTANT DIRECTIVITY HORN EQ AIR EQ CONSTANT DIRECTIVITY HORN EQ AIR EQ INPUT THRU THRU INPUT AMP MODE FREQUENCY 4 5 ...

Page 11: ...ixer to control listening levels as you work Or play Constant Gain vs Constant Sensitivity There are two viewpoints or philosophies regarding the gain structure of power amplifi ers constant gain and constant sensitivity Constant gain means that regardless of the output power of the amplifier the gain from in put to output remains the same By the way this refers to the full gain of the amplifier w...

Page 12: ... a fact of physics that as the gain of the amplifier increases the circuit noise is amplified and increases too By main taining a constant gain the noise spec for an 800W amplifier can look as good as the noise spec for a 100W amplifier The downside to this is that you have to crank up your mixer level feeding the input of the amplifier losing headroom and possibly increasing the noise level from ...

Page 13: ... cabling is OK then reduce the number of cabi nets driven by the amplifier Note When using the amplifier in BRIDGE mode one or both SHORT LEDs may light under shorted or low impedance conditions Regardless of whether one or both LEDs light it s an indication of a problem that requires further investigation ON OFF POWER PROFESSIONAL POWER AMPLIFIER SIG SIG short for signal present is the lowest ste...

Page 14: ...ROTECT mode Remember As the load gets heavier its value in ohms goes down For instance a 2 ohm speaker load is twice as heavy as a 4 ohm load Please see Do The Math Ohms Loads and Such in Appendix E to learn about speaker loads As the internal temperature of the amplifier rises the fan kicks into high speed This occurs at 60 C 140 F More air moves through the constant temperature gradient cooling ...

Page 15: ...s on their sides then insert your stripped wires stripped about 3 8 back into the holes and retighten the posts finger tight is fine please don t reef on them with a wrench Be careful that no runaway strands touch the chassis or other terminals The red posts are labeled which means positive The black posts are labeled for negative You probably know the importance of getting these terms correct if ...

Page 16: ...e If you re still not sure here is a simple test take a 1 5V flashlight battery and connect the positive terminal of the battery to the positive in put of the speaker and connect the negative terminal of the battery to the negative in put of the speaker Observe the motion of the speaker cone It should move out when voltage is applied and return to rest when voltage is removed Make sure all the spe...

Page 17: ...NITOR OFF TYPICAL ON OFF TYPICAL TYPICAL 35 Hz TYPICAL 35 Hz STEREO TYPICAL STEREO TYPICAL AIR EQ AIR EQ NG FIGURE 2 2 3 1 1 SHIELD COLD HOT SHIELD COLD HOT 3 SHIELD COLD HOT 3 2 1 SLEEVE SHIELD TIP SLEEVE TIP HOT RING COLD RING TIP SLEEVE RING TIP SLEEVE TIP SLEEVE SLEEVE SHIELD TIP HOT RING COLD You can connect an unbalanced XLR cable to the M 1400i although this would be un usual as unusual as ...

Page 18: ...cycles per second like 40Hz 300Hz The 40Hz refers to the low frequency point usu ally but not always where the speaker s output drops by 3 dB and will roll off com pletely as the frequency goes down There is no point in sending a woofer any frequencies it can t reproduce you can t hear it and worse yet it s a waste of amplifier power that can be betterusedreproducingfrequenciesyoucanhear 10Hz 1Hz ...

Page 19: ...UNBALANCED BALANCED OR UNBALANCED AIR EQ ON BRIDGE MONO 170 Hz OFF 4 5k Hz 6k Hz 2k Hz AIR EQ 170 Hz 100 Hz OFF STAGE MONITOR 100 Hz STAGE MONITOR OFF TYPICAL ON OFF TYPICAL TYPICAL 35 Hz TYPICAL 35 Hz STEREO TYPICAL STEREO TYPICAL AIR EQ AIR EQ NG FIGURE More on Constant Directivity Horns Back in the early 70s radial horns were the common mechanism for reproducing high frequencies Radial horns ha...

Page 20: ... SUBWOOFER foraspecial subwoofersurprise To use all the M 1400i s power to drive one speaker cabinet using BRIDGE mode you ll have to do four things 1 Turn off the power to the M 1400i 2 Set the AMP MODE switch to BRIDGE 3 Connect the positive side of the speaker cable to the Channel 1 red binding post 4 Connect the negative side of the speaker cable to the Channel 2 red binding post 5 Okay make t...

Page 21: ...AMP MODE switch is set to STEREO MONO or BRIDGE it will sum the inputs when the OUTPUT APPLICATION switch is set to SUBWOOFER Here s how to configure it 1 Turn the M 1400i s POWER off 2 Set the OUTPUT APPLICATION switch to SUBWOOFER 3 Select a rolloff point via the FREQUENCY switch At 125Hz you ll get the low sub harmonics on up to the audible bass range At 63Hz you ll get just the lowest frequenc...

Page 22: ...e INPUT of the amplifier and monitor the SPEAKER OUTPUT with the voltmeter or o scope 2 Adjust the signal generator level so you measure 1V rms output at 1kHz You should turn down the GAIN knobs on the amplifier about halfway 3 Change the frequency of the signal genera tor to 63Hz or 125Hz whichever you re using as your subwoofer crossover fre quency You may need to use a frequency counter for acc...

Page 23: ...cooled and brings air in through the front and out through the sides Make sure that cool air is available at the front of the amplifier and that there is room on each side for the warm air to exit from the am plifier and dissipate If rack mounted make sure there is room for the warm air to circulate around the side and out through the rear of the rack In a typical rack there will be a space of 1 t...

Page 24: ... power the audio equipment from the other leg This will help minimize noise from the lights coupling into the audio particularly if SCRs are used When setting up for a show oftentimes you are plugging into an AC power distribution sys tem you know nothing about You may even be faced with 2 wire outlets that are missing the third safety ground pin It s a good idea to have a three wire AC outlet tes...

Page 25: ...36 Thus a 2 5W tap becomes 3 4W a 5W tap becomes 6 8W and a 10 W tap becomes 13 6W CAUTION A characteristic of many tapped transformers is that they saturate at very low frequencies which causes their impedance to decrease approaching the DC resistance of the copper wire This can result in overloading the amplifierifthesignalcontainslotsoflowfrequen cies When using an M 1400i amplifier in a 70V di...

Page 26: ...e connections You may have your positive and negative connections reversed at one end of one speaker cable WARRANTY SERVICE Details concerning Warranty Service are spelled out on the Warranty Card included with your amplifier if it s missing let us know and we ll rush one to you If you think your amplifier has a problem please do everything you can to confirm it be fore calling for service includi...

Page 27: ...n Appendix D REPAIR Service for the M 1400i amplifier is avail able only from one of our authorized domestic service stations or at the factory located in sunny Woodinville Washington Service for amplifiers living outside the United States can be obtained through local dealers or distribu tors If your amplifier needs service follow these instructions 1 Review the preceding troubleshooting suggesti...

Page 28: ...many of the audio and electronic terms used in discussions of sound mixing and recording Many of the terms have other meanings or nu ances or very rigorous technical definitions which we have sidestepped here because we figure you already have a lot on your mind If you d like to get more information you can call Mix Bookshelf at 1 800 233 9604 We recom mend the following titles The Audio Dictionar...

Page 29: ...al path as a result of an external magnetic field In audio systems this is usually manifested as a 60Hz or 120Hz hum or buzz The source of this noise can be from a ground loop or from the signal wire coming too close to a strong magnetic field such as a transformer or high current linecord EQ curve A graph of the response of an equalizer with frequency on the x horizontal axis and am plitude level...

Page 30: ...ses to keep equipment chassis and controls at zero voltage and to provide a safe path for errant currents This is called a safety ground Maintaining a good safety ground is always essential to prevent electrical shock Follow manufacturer s suggestions and good electrical practices to ensure a safely grounded system Never remove or disable the grounding pin on the power cord In computer and audio e...

Page 31: ...kers or monitor headphones or in the ear monitors are those speakers used by the per formers to hear themselves Monitor speakers are also called foldback speakers In recording the monitor speakers are those used by the production staff to listen to the recording as it progresses In zoology the monitor lizard is the lizard that observes the production staff as the recording progresses Keep the liza...

Page 32: ... taken to simply mean two channels sweep EQ An equalizer that allows you to sweep or continuously vary the affected frequency of one or more sections TRS Acronym for Tip Ring Sleeve a scheme for connecting three conductors through a single plug or jack 1 4 phone plugs and jacks and 1 8 mini phone plugs and jacks are commonly wired TRS Since the plug or jack can carry two signals and a common groun...

Page 33: ... ground will also be connected to the ground at the unbal anced input If there are ground loop problems this connection may be left disconnected at the balanced end XLR CONNECTORS Mackie amplifiers use 3 pin female XLR connectors on each input with pin 1 wired to the grounded earthed shield pin 2 wired to the high hot or positive polarity side of the audio signal and pin 3 wired to the low cold or...

Page 34: ...lanced input for example auto matically unbalances the input and makes all the right connections Conversely a 1 4 TRS plug inserted into a 1 4 unbalanced input automatically ties the ring low or cold to ground earth BINDING POSTS Binding posts provide a number of different methods for connecting speaker wire to the outputs of the amplifier For fixed installations you can use bare wire Figure D or ...

Page 35: ...es Balanced lines offer increased immunity to external noise specifically hum and buzz Because a balanced system is able to minimize noise it is the preferred interconnect method especially in cases where very long lengths of cable are being used A long unbalanced cable carries with it more opportunity for noise to get into a system having balanced inputs means very little noise will enter the sys...

Page 36: ...the shelf connecting cables that are available at any music store Here are some guidelines 1 Use balanced lines if at all possible They provide better immunity to induced noise and ground loops Remember that you can balancealinebyinsertingin line apieceof equipmentthathasabalancedoutput 2 Avoid using three phase power lines since they are usually used for air conditioning and other heavy power equ...

Page 37: ...the nominal level indi cation next to the control Again this should be at least 10 dB below the maximum output level of the mixer You can double check the actual output signal level if there is an output meter on the mixer On most professional equipment this nominal output level will be 4 dBm 1 23V rms into 600 ohms The output of the mixer may drive a power amplifier directly or it may go through ...

Page 38: ...d the speaker s Often the passive crossover is built into the cabinet along with the various drivers The crossover divides the high level speaker signal into frequency bands which are then directed to the appropriate driver There are some drawbacks to this method however The pas sive crossover adds reactance to the load that the amplifier sees which can affect the damp ing Power is wasted as heat ...

Page 39: ...HMS LOADS AND SUCH Remember As the load gets heavier its value in ohms goes down For instance a 2 ohm speaker load is twice as heavy as a 4 ohm load An ohm is a unit of resistance the more ohms the more resistance imped ance The more the resistance the less the power It can all seem backwards at first Just remember that a dead short means no resis tance at all or zero ohms Since you re in the biz ...

Page 40: ...t the peak AC line voltage does not sag to less than 97 of its value If driving highly reactive loads we recommend that the limiter circuit be engaged Power Bandwidth 20Hz to 70kHz 0 3 dB Frequency Response 20Hz to 40kHz 0 1 dB 10Hz to 70kHz 0 3 dB Distortion THD SMPTE IMD TIM 0 025 8Ω 0 050 4Ω 0 150 2Ω Signal to Noise Ratio 107 dB below rated power into 4 ohms Channel Separation 80 dB 1kHz Dampin...

Page 41: ... OL Overload CH 1 2 PROTECT LEDs SHORT LEDs TEMP STATUS COLD HOT LEDs Power Consumption 65 watts at idle 0 9A 550 watts with musical program fully loaded 6 7A 4 ohms per side or 8 ohms bridged 900 watts with musical program fully loaded 10 5A 2 ohms per side or 4 ohms bridged 850 watts at full power into 8 ohms 9 6A continuous sine wave 1500 watts at full power into 4 ohms 15 6A continuous sine wa...

Page 42: ...98 Mackie Designs Inc All Rights Reserved Printed in the U S A CH 1 BALANCED LINE INPUT TRS CH 1 BALANCED LINE INPUT XLR F LIMITER LIMITER ON OFF LOW CUT FILTER LOW PASS FILTER SUBWOOFER 80 VDC 90 VDC TOROIDAL POWER TRANSFORMER LAMP FUSE MACKIE DESIGNS M 1400i BLOCK DIAGRAM 022598DF FREQ CD EQ FREQ OUTPUT APPLICATION SWITCH AMP MODE SWITCH 63 Hz 125 Hz FREQ TO LIMITER ON OFF LOW CUT FILTER FREQ CD...

Page 43: ...rized Service Center and they can t find anything wrong with it you may be charged a service fee 4 If the Mackie Authorized Service Center is located in another city pack the FR Series product in its original shipping carton More information on packing can be found in the Service section of the appropriate manual 5 Contact the Mackie Authorized Service Center to arrange service or bring the FR Ser...

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Mackie FR Series M-1400i, Owner'S Manual

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