Owner's Manual
21
32. AUX SEND 1 and 2
These controls allow you to set up two independent
mixes, typically for running stage monitors or external
effects processors.
The controls are off when turned fully down, deliver
unity gain at the center, and can provide up to 15 dB
of gain turned fully up. Chances are that you will never
need this extra gain, but it’s nice to know it’s there if
you do.
Aux Send 1 and 2 [12] are line-level outputs, and
are used if you want to connect external processors,
powered stage monitors, or external power amps with
passive stage monitors. Aux Return 1 and 2 [13] are
line-level inputs, typically used to return the output
from external processors back to the main mix.
Carefully adjust how much of each channel appears
in your aux mixes. For example, if you are running stage
monitors, and someone wants "more me, and less them,"
adjust these carefully.
The aux sends can either be pre or post fader, depend-
ing on the position of the aux pre/post switches [46].
For stage monitor work, use pre, so the stage monitors
do not increase in volume when the channel level is
adjusted. For external processors, use post. In this way,
the feed to external processors will vary with the chan-
nel level, keeping them in the same ratio (wet/dry).
33. PAN
For mono channels 1 and 2, this control allows you to
adjust how much of the channel signal goes to the left
main mix, and how much goes to the right main mix.
It has no effect on the aux, as these are mono. In the
center position, the mono channel is split equally to the
left and right.
Pan also affects the channel output to the Alt 3–4 mix
if a channel mute switch is engaged.
For channels 3 to 8, pan acts in a similar way to a
home stereo balance control (panning left turns down
the right channel, and panning right turns down the left
channel).
If you have a stereo source and the mixer's stereo in-
puts are already taken, connect the source's left output
into channel 1, and the right into channel 2. Pan the
channel 1 fully left, and channel 2 fully right, then the
source will appear in the main mix in full stereo.
The pan control employs a design called “Constant
Loudness.” If you have a channel panned hard left (or
right) and then pan to the center, the signal is attenu-
ated about 3 dB to maintain the same apparent loud-
ness. Otherwise, it would make the sound appear much
louder when panned center.
This is not to be confused with pan, the famous steel
drums of the tropical island paradise of Woodinville.
34. MUTE switch and ALT 3–4
The dual-purpose mute/alt 3-4 switch is a Mackie
signature. When Greg was designing our first product,
he had to include a mute switch for each channel. Mute
switches do just what they sound like they do. They turn
off the signal by “routing” it into oblivion. “Gee, what
a waste,” he reasoned. “Why not have the mute button
route the signal somewhere else useful, like a separate
stereo bus?”
So mute/alt 3-4 really serves two functions—muting
(often used during mixdown or live shows), and signal
routing (for multitrack and live work) where it acts as
an extra stereo bus.
To use this as a mute switch, all you have to do is not
use the alt 3-4 outputs [7]. Then, whenever you assign a
channel to these unused outputs, you’ll also be discon-
necting it from the main mix, effectively muting the
channel. The mute switch also disconnects the channel
from the post-fader aux send bus. The channel’s signal
is still present on the pre-fader aux send bus, so muting
a channel does not affect your stage monitors.
To use this as an alt 3-4 switch, all you have to do is
connect the alt 3-4 outputs to whatever destination you
desire. Here are two popular examples:
When doing multitrack recording, you can use the
alt 3-4 outputs as a stereo or dual-mono feed to your
multitrack.
When doing live sound or mixdown, it’s often handy
to control the level of several channels with one knob.
That’s called subgrouping. Simply assign these channels
to the alt 3-4 mix, engage alt 3-4 in the control room/
phones source matrix [39], and the signals will appear
at the control room [6] and phones [17] outputs. If you
want the alt 3-4 signals to go back into the main mix, en-
gage the assign to main mix switch [40] and the control
room knob [41] controls the levels of all the channels
assigned to alt 3-4.
Another way to do the same thing is to assign the
channels to the alt 3-4 mix, then patch out of the alt
3-4 out (left/3 and right/4) back into an unused stereo
channel (5-6, or 7-8). 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 an “afl” (after fader listen). 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 headphones.
