Rane MP26, Руководство оператора

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MP26
CLUB MIXER
How-to Properly Set Mixer Levels
Correctly setting DJ mixer level controls is one of the most
important contributors to creating an excellent sounding system.
Once you master the fundamental principles you'll know how
to get the best possible audio quality from your Rane DJ mixer.
To ensure proper level setting, Rane DJ mixers are designed with
a professional audio metering syste much like you’d find in a
studio grade mixing console. If you’re familiar with pro-audio
mixing consoles, Rane DJ mixer metering will be a no-brainer,
but if this is your first introduction to professional audio meter-
ing it may be a bit different from what you’re accustomed.
DJ mixers have a lot of level controls (wouldn’t be much of
a mixer without them). Knowing the proper setting for each
control is a bit confusing, especially when adding a software
program to your system. Luckily, audio software and DJ mix-
ers include similar controls. Both include individual gain/trim
controls, level meters for each channel, and a master output level
control.
Follow the golden rule and keep your level meters out of the red.
Think of a level meter as a traffic light. Green means you’re ok to
proceed, yellow means caution and red means stop. Your goal is
to turn the gain controls up so that your level meters are peak-
ing in the high yellow- almost to red but not quite. When level
meters hit red, you run the risk of clipping or simply distorting
the heck out of the audio. In case you’re wondering, both sound
terrible.
When using a software program it’s important to adjust your
level controls properly within the program before tweaking the
level controls on your mixer. Once the level meters within the
software are adjusted properly (i.e., no red), you’re ready to adjust
the level controls on your mixer.
Using Rane mixer metering
Rane mixers use Quasi-Peak meters with peak hold. What the
heck is quasi-peak you ask? Quasi means, having a likeness to or
resembling something, so quasi-peak refers to the peak-like me-
ter function of the Rane meter. The fast responding quasi-peak
value (lower portion of the meter) shows you what signal is doing
real-time, relative to the dynamic range of the mixer. Audio
transients can be relatively fast, making it easy to miss brief over-
load events, so the meters are designed to hold the maximum
value for at least half a second (top portion of the meter).
Like other peak hold meters, the ones found on Rane DJ mixers
will appear to have gaps between the average level and the peak
levels. This can throw DJs off at first, thinking the meters are
malfunctioning, but this is not the case. The LED floating above
the rest represents the peak level of the audio and the LEDs
below the peak represent the quasi-peak audio level.
The basic idea behind using peak hold meters is identical to
using peak meters; keep the top meter out of the red. Using the
PGM gain controls on your mixer, adjust the level so that your
meters barely hit the red and then back the level down until out
of the red. Repeat this process for each PGM channel.