1402-vlz pro owner's manual - grateful dead · 1402-vlz pro 14-channel mic/line mixer...

1402-VLZ PRO14-CHANNELMIC/LINE MIXEROWNER’S MANUAL

L

MONO

L

MONO

L

MONO

L

MONO

LINE IN 7–8

R R R R

LINE IN 9–10 LINE IN 11–12 LINE IN 13–14

BALOR

UNBAL

BALOR

UNBAL

BALOR

UNBAL

BALOR

UNBAL

LINE IN 3 LINE IN 4

L

R

1

2

1

2

RIGHT

AUX SENDSTEREO AUX RETURN MAIN OUT

LOW CUT75 Hz

18dB/OCT

LOW CUT75 Hz

18dB/OCT

BALOR

UNBAL

BALOR

UNBAL

LINE IN 5LOW CUT

75 Hz18dB/OCT

BALOR

UNBAL

LINE IN 6LOW CUT

75 Hz18dB/OCT

BALOR

UNBAL

LINE IN 1 LINE IN 2

MIC 1 MIC 2 MIC 3 MIC 4 LEFT/MONO BAL/UNBAL

LOW CUT75 Hz

18dB/OCT

LOW CUT75 Hz

18dB/OCT

BALOR

UNBAL

BALOR

UNBAL

ALL BAL/UNBALMIC 5 MIC 6

U

+15-15

U

+15-15

U

+12-12

HI12kHz

MID2.5kHz

LOW80Hz

EQ

U

+15-15

U

+15-15

U

+12-12

HI12kHz

MID2.5kHz

LOW80Hz

EQ

U

+15-15

U

+15-15

U

+12-12

HI12kHz

MID2.5kHz

LOW80Hz

EQ

U

+15-15

U

+15-15

U

+12-12

HI12kHz

MID2.5kHz

LOW80Hz

EQ

U

+15-15

U

+15-15

U

+12-12

HI12kHz

MID2.5kHz

LOW80Hz

EQ

U

+15-15

U

+15-15

U

+12-12

HI12kHz

MID2.5kHz

LOW80Hz

EQ

U

+15-15

U

+15-15

U

+12-12

HI12kHz

MID2.5kHz

LOW80Hz

EQ

U

+15-15

U

+15-15

U

+12-12

HI12kHz

MID2.5kHz

LOW80Hz

EQ

U

+15-15

U

+15-15

U

+12-12

HI12kHz

MID2.5kHz

LOW80Hz

EQ

U

+15-15

U

+15-15

U

+12-12

HI12kHz

MID2.5kHz

LOW80Hz

EQ

AUX1

2

MON/EFX

1MON/EFX

1MON/EFX

1MON/EFX

1MON/EFX

1MON/EFX

1MON/EFX

1MON/EFX

EFX

AUX

2EFX

AUX

2EFX

AUX

2EFX

1MON/EFX

AUX

2EFX

1MON/EFX

AUX

2EFX

AUX

2EFX

AUX

2EFX

AUX

2EFX

AUX

2EFX

TRIM TRIM TRIM TRIMTRIM TRIM

PAN

L R

PAN

L R

PAN

L R

PAN

L R

PAN

L R

PAN

L R

PAN

L R

PAN

L R

PAN

L R

PAN

L R

SOLOSOLOSOLOSOLOSOLOSOLOSOLOSOLOSOLOSOLO

MUTEMUTEMUTE7–8 9–10 11–12 13–14MUTE

4MUTE

3MUTE

2MUTE

1MUTE

ALT 3–4ALT 3–4ALT 3–4ALT 3–4ALT 3–4ALT 3–4ALT 3–4ALT 3–4

5MUTE

6MUTE

LEVEL+4-10 -10 -10 -10

LEVEL+4

LEVEL+4

LEVEL+4

TRIM

dB

30

20

10

OO

4050

5

5

U

60

10

30

20

OO

405060

30

20

OO

405060

dB

30

20

10

OO

4050

5

5

U

60

10

dB

30

20

10

OO

4050

5

5

U

60

10

dB

30

20

10

OO

4050

5

5

U

60

10

dB

30

20

10

OO

4050

5

5

U

60

10

dB

30

20

10

OO

4050

5

5

U

60

10

dB

30

20

10

OO

4050

5

5

U

60

10

dB

30

20

10

OO

4050

5

5

U

60

10

dB

30

20

10

OO

4050

5

5

U

60

10

dB

30

20

10

OO

4050

5

5

U

60

10

ALT 3–4 ALT 3–4

TAPEINPUT

TAPEOUTPUT

L

R

MIC GAIN

+15dB -45dB

-10dBV

0 60

MIC GAIN

+15dB -45dB

-10dBV

60

MIC GAIN

+15dB -45dB

-10dBV

0 60

MIC GAIN

+15dB -45dB

-10dBV

00 60

MIC GAIN

+15dB -45dB

-10dBV

0 60

MIC GAIN

+15dB -45dB

-10dBV

0

U U U U U U

60

U

OO +15

U

OO +15

U

OO +15

U

OO +15

U

OO +15

U

OO +15

U

OO +15

U

OO +15

U

OO +15

U

OO +15

U

OO +15

U

OO +15

U

OO +15

U

OO +15

U

OO +15

U

OO +15

U

OO +15

U

OO +15

U

OO +15

U

OO +15

dB10

5

5

U

10

dB10

5

5

U

10

U

OO+10

U

UOO+20

OO+20

PHONES

28

10

7

4

2

0

2

4

7

10

20

30

LEVELSET

LEFT RIGHT

MAIN MIX

SOLOMODE

LEVEL SET (PFL)NORMAL (AFL)

C-R/SOURCE

POWERPHANTOM

RUDESOLOLIGHT

AUX 1SELECT

EFX TOMONITOR

AUX 1 MASTER

AUXRETURN

1

2PRE

POST

MAIN MIXCTL ROOM /SUBMIX

NORMALLED

0dB=0dBu

ALT 3–4

TAPE

ASSIGNTO MAIN MIX

XDR MIC PRE XDR MIC PRE XDR MIC PRE XDR MIC PRE XDR MIC PRE XDR MIC PRE

1402-VLZPRO14-CHANNEL MIC/LINE MIXER

WITH PREMIUM XDRTM MIC PREAMPLIFIERS

)

DIRECT OUT WITH SIGNAL INTERRUPTION TO MASTER

INSERT ALL THE WAY IN TOTHE "SECOND CLICK"

MONO PLUG

TIP OUT TO EFFECTS DEVICERING RETURN FROM EFFECTS

STEREO PLUG

FOR USE AS AN EFFECTS LOOP(TIP = SEND, RING = RETURN)

SERIAL NUMBER MANUFACTURING DATE

RISK OF ELECTRIC SHOCKDO NOT OPEN

REPLACE WITH THE SAME TYPE FUSE AND RATING.DISCONNECT SUPPLY CORD BEFORE CHANGING FUSE

UTILISE UN FUSIBLE DE RECHANGE DE MÊME TYPE.DEBRANCHER AVANT DE REMPLACER LE FUSIBLE

WARNING: TO REDUCE THE RISK OF FIRE OR ELECTRIC SHOCK, DO NOT EXPOSE THIS EQUIPMENT TO RAIN OR MOISTURE. DO NOT REMOVE COVER. NO USER SERVICEABLE PARTS INSIDE. REFER SERVICING TO QUALIFIED PERSONNEL.

CAUTION

AVIS: RISQUE DE CHOC ELECTRIQUE — NE PAS OUVRIR

R L

CONTROLROOM

MIC+4

BAL/UNBAL

MAINOUTPUTLEVEL

456 3R/4 L/3 2 1

CHANNEL INSERTBAL/UNBAL

ALT OUTPUT

( PRE-FADER / PRE EQ TIP SEND / RING RETURN )

MAINLEFT

MAINRIGHT

POWERON

PHANTOMON

120 VAC 50/60 Hz 25W500mA/250V SLO-BLO

TO REDUCE THE RISK OFFIRE REPLACE WITH SAME

TYPE FUSE AND RATING

CAUTION:

BALANCED BALANCED

CONCEIVED, DESIGNED, AND MANUFACTURED BY MACKIE DESIGNS INC • WOODINVILLE • WA • USA • MADE IN USA • FABRIQUE AU USA • COPYRIGHT ©1998 •THE FOLLOWING ARE TRADEMARKS OR REGISTERED TRADEMARKS OF MACKIE DESIGN INC.: "MACKIE", "VLZ", "XDR", AND THE "RUNNING MAN" FIGURE • PATENT PENDING

XDRTM EXTENDED DYNAMIC RANGE MIC PREAMPLIFIERS ARE PROPRIETARY TO MACKIE DESIGNS, INC.



CAUTION AVISRISK OF ELECTRIC SHOCK

DO NOT OPENRISQUE DE CHOC ELECTRIQUE

NE PAS OUVRIR

CAUTION: TO REDUCE THE RISK OF ELECTRIC SHOCKDO NOT REMOVE COVER (OR BACK)

NO USER-SERVICEABLE PARTS INSIDEREFER SERVICING TO QUALIFIED PERSONNEL

ATTENTION: POUR EVITER LES RISQUES DE CHOCELECTRIQUE, NE PAS ENLEVER LE COUVERCLE. AUCUN

ENTRETIEN DE PIECES INTERIEURES PAR L'USAGER. CONFIERL'ENTRETIEN AU PERSONNEL QUALIFIE.

AVIS: POUR EVITER LES RISQUES D'INCENDIE OUD'ELECTROCUTION, N'EXPOSEZ PAS CET ARTICLE

A LA PLUIE OU A L'HUMIDITE

The lightning flash with arrowhead symbol within an equilateral triangle is intended to alert the user to the presence of uninsulated"dangerous voltage" within the product's enclosure, that may be of sufficient magnitude to constitute a risk of electric shock to persons. Le symbole éclair avec point de flèche à l'intérieur d'un triangle équilatéral est utilisé pour alerter l'utilisateur de la présence à l'intérieur du coffret de "voltage dangereux" non isolé d'ampleur suffisante pour constituer un risque d'éléctrocution.

The exclamation point within an equilateral triangle is intended to alert the user of the presence of important operating and maintenance (servicing) instructions in the literature accompanying the appliance. Le point d'exclamation à l'intérieur d'un triangle équilatéral est employé pour alerter les utilisateurs de la présence d'instructions importantes pour le fonctionnement et l'entretien (service) dans le livret d'instruction accompagnant l'appareil.

SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS1. Read Instructions — All the safety and operationinstructions should be read before this Mackie product isoperated.

2. Retain Instructions — The safety and operatinginstructions should be kept for future reference.

3. Heed Warnings — All warnings on this Mackie product andin these operating instructions should be followed.

4. Follow Instructions — All operating and other instructionsshould be followed.

5. Water and Moisture — This Mackie product should not beused near water – for example, near a bathtub, washbowl,kitchen sink, laundry tub, in a wet basement, near aswimming pool, swamp or salivating St. Bernard dog, etc.

6. Heat — This Mackie product should be situated awayfrom heat sources such as radiators, or other devices whichproduce heat.

7. Power Sources — This Mackie product should beconnected to a power supply only of the type described inthese operation instructions or as marked on this Mackieproduct.

8. Power Cord Protection — Power supply cords should berouted so that they are not likely to be walked upon orpinched by items placed upon or against them, payingparticular attention to cords at plugs, convenience receptacles,and the point where they exit this Mackie product.

9. Object and Liquid Entry — Care should be taken so thatobjects do not fall into and liquids are not spilled into theinside of this Mackie product.

10. Damage Requiring Service — This Mackie productshould be serviced only by qualified service personnel when:

A. The power-supply cord or the plug has beendamaged; or

B. Objects have fallen, or liquid has spilled intothis Mackie product; or

C. This Mackie product has been exposed to rain;or

D. This Mackie product does not appear to operatenormally or exhibits a marked change inperformance; or

E. This Mackie product has been dropped, or itschassis damaged.

11. Servicing — The user should not attempt to service thisMackie product beyond those means described in thisoperating manual. All other servicing should be referred to theMackie Service Department.

12. To prevent electric shock, do not use this polarized plugwith an extension cord, receptacle or other outlet unless theblades can be fully inserted to prevent blade exposure.

Pour préevenir les chocs électriques ne pas utiliser cette fichepolariseé avec un prolongateur, un prise de courant ou uneautre sortie de courant, sauf si les lames peuvent être inséréesà fond sans laisser aucune pariie à découvert.

13. Grounding or Polarization — Precautions should betaken so that the grounding or polarization means of thisMackie product is not defeated.

14. This apparatus does not exceed the Class A/Class B(whichever is applicable) limits for radio noise emissions fromdigital apparatus as set out in the radio interferenceregulations of the Canadian Department of Communications.

ATTENTION —Le présent appareil numérique n’émet pas debruits radioélectriques dépassant las limites applicables auxappareils numériques de class A/de class B (selon le cas)prescrites dans le règlement sur le brouillage radioélectriqueédicté par les ministere des communications du Canada.

15. To prevent hazard or damage, ensure that onlymicrophone cables and microphones designed to IEC 268-15Aare connected.

WARNING — To reduce the risk of fire or electric shock, donot expose this appliance to rain or moisture.

3

We realize that you must be dying to try outyour new Mackie 1402-VLZ PRO. Or you might beone of those people that never read manuals.Either way, all we ask is that you read this pageNOW, and the rest can wait until you’re good andready. But do read it — you’ll be glad you did.

READ THIS PAGE!!!

LEVEL-SETTING PROCEDUREMessage to seasoned pros: do not set lev-

els using the old “Turn the trim up until theclip light comes on, then back off a hair”trick. When a Mackie Designs mixer cliplight comes on, you really are about to clip.We worked and slaved to come up with abetter system, one that provides low noiseand high headroom.

Adjusting input levels (Channels 1–6only)

On the first six channels, it’s not evennecessary to hear what you’re doing to setoptimal levels. But if you’d like to: Plugheadphones into the PHONES jack, then setthe CTL ROOM/SUBMIX fader about onequarter of the way up.

The following steps must be performedone channel at a time:1. Turn the TRIM, AUX SEND and FADER

controls fully down.

2. Set the EQ knobs at the center detent.3. Connect the signal source to the input.4. Engage (push in) the SOLO switch.5. Engage the AFL/PFL switch in the

master section. A green LEVEL SETlight will congratulate you.

6. Play something into the selected input.This could be an instrument, a singingor speaking voice, or a line input such asa CD player or tape recorder output. Besure that the volume of the input is thesame as it would be during normal use.If it isn’t, you might have to readjustthese levels during the middle of the set.

7. Adjust the channel’s TRIM control sothat the display on the LED metersstays around “0” and never goes higherthan “+7.”

8. If you’d like to apply some EQ, do so nowand return to step 7.

9. Disengage that channel’s SOLO switch.10. Repeat for each of Channels 1–6.

Other Nuggets of WisdomFor optimum sonic performance, the chan-

nel and MAIN MIX FADERS should be set nearthe “U” (unity gain) markings.

Always turn the MAIN MIX and CTLROOM/SUBMIX faders down before makingconnections to and from your 1402-VLZ PRO.

If you shut down your equipment, turn offyour amplifier(s) first. When powering up,turn on your amplifier(s) last.

Save the shipping box! You may need itsomeday, and you don’t want to have to pay foranother one.

INSTANT MIXINGHere’s how to get going

right away, assuming youown a microphone and akeyboard:

1. Plug your microphone into Channel 1’sMIC IN.

2. Turn on the 1402-VLZ PRO.

3. Perform the Level Setting Procedure .4. Connect cords from the MAIN OUTPUTS

(XLR, 1⁄4" or RCA, your choice) to youramplifier.

5. Hook up speakers to the amp and turn it on.6. Turn up the 1402-VLZ PRO’s Channel 1

FADER to the “U” marking and the MAINMIX fader one quarter of the way up.

7. Sing like a canary!8. Plug your keyboard into stereo channel 7–8.9. Slide that channel’s FADER to the “U”

marking.10. Play like a madman and sing like a

canary! It’s your first mix!

Part No. 820-033-01 Rev. A1 04/99©1999 Mackie Designs Inc., All Rights Reserved. Printed in the U.S.A.

Please write your serial number here forfuture reference (i.e. insurance claims,tech support, return authorization, etc.):

Purchased at:

Date of purchase:

4

L

MONO

L

MONO

L

MONO

L

MONO

LINE IN 7–8

R R R R


BALOR

UNBAL

BALOR

UNBAL

BALOR

UNBAL

BALOR

UNBAL

LINE IN 3 LINE IN 4

L

R

1

2

1

2

RIGHT


LOW CUT75 Hz

18dB/OCT

LOW CUT75 Hz

18dB/OCT

BALOR

UNBAL

BALOR

UNBAL

LINE IN 5LOW CUT

75 Hz18dB/OCT

BALOR

UNBAL

LINE IN 6LOW CUT

75 Hz18dB/OCT

BALOR

UNBAL

LINE IN 1 LINE IN 2


LOW CUT75 Hz

18dB/OCT

LOW CUT75 Hz

18dB/OCT

BALOR

UNBAL

BALOR

UNBAL


U

+15-15

U

+15-15

U

+12-12

HI12kHz

MID2.5kHz

LOW80Hz

EQ

U

+15-15

U

+15-15

U

+12-12

HI12kHz

MID2.5kHz

LOW80Hz

EQ

U

+15-15

U

+15-15

U

+12-12

HI12kHz

MID2.5kHz

LOW80Hz

EQ

U

+15-15

U

+15-15

U

+12-12

HI12kHz

MID2.5kHz

LOW80Hz

EQ

U

+15-15

U

+15-15

U

+12-12

HI12kHz

MID2.5kHz

LOW80Hz

EQ

U

+15-15

U

+15-15

U

+12-12

HI12kHz

MID2.5kHz

LOW80Hz

EQ

U

+15-15

U

+15-15

U

+12-12

HI12kHz

MID2.5kHz

LOW80Hz

EQ

U

+15-15

U

+15-15

U

+12-12

HI12kHz

MID2.5kHz

LOW80Hz

EQ

U

+15-15

U

+15-15

U

+12-12

HI12kHz

MID2.5kHz

LOW80Hz

EQ

U

+15-15

U

+15-15

U

+12-12

HI12kHz

MID2.5kHz

LOW80Hz

EQ

AUX1

2

MON/EFX

1MON/EFX

1MON/EFX

1MON/EFX

1MON/EFX

1MON/EFX

1MON/EFX

1MON/EFX

EFX

AUX

2EFX

AUX

2EFX

AUX

2EFX

1MON/EFX

AUX

2EFX

1MON/EFX

AUX

2EFX

AUX

2EFX

AUX

2EFX

AUX

2EFX

AUX

2EFX


PAN

L R

PAN

L R

PAN

L R

PAN

L R

PAN

L R

PAN

L R

PAN

L R

PAN

L R

PAN

L R

PAN

L R

SOLOSOLOSOLOSOLOSOLOSOLOSOLOSOLOSOLOSOLO

MUTEMUTEMUTE7–8 9–10 11–12 13–14MUTE

4MUTE

3MUTE

2MUTE

1MUTE

ALT 3–4ALT 3–4ALT 3–4ALT 3–4ALT 3–4ALT 3–4ALT 3–4ALT 3–4

5MUTE

6MUTE

LEVEL+4-10 -10 -10 -10

LEVEL+4

LEVEL+4

LEVEL+4

TRIM

dB

30

20

10

OO

4050

5

5

U

60

10

30

20

OO

405060

30

20

OO

405060

dB

30

20

10

OO

4050

5

5

U

60

10

dB

30

20

10

OO

4050

5

5

U

60

10

dB

30

20

10

OO

4050

5

5

U

60

10

dB

30

20

10

OO

4050

5

5

U

60

10

dB

30

20

10

OO

4050

5

5

U

60

10

dB

30

20

10

OO

4050

5

5

U

60

10

dB

30

20

10

OO

4050

5

5

U

60

10

dB

30

20

10

OO

4050

5

5

U

60

10

dB

30

20

10

OO

4050

5

5

U

60

10

ALT 3–4 ALT 3–4

TAPEINPUT

TAPEOUTPUT

L

R

MIC GAIN

+15dB -45dB

-10dBV

0 60

MIC GAIN

+15dB -45dB

-10dBV

0 60

MIC GAIN

+15dB -45dB

-10dBV

0 60

MIC GAIN

+15dB -45dB

-10dBV

0 60

MIC GAIN

+15dB -45dB

-10dBV

0 60

MIC GAIN

+15dB -45dB

-10dBV

0 60

U

OO +15

U

OO +15

U

OO +15

U

OO +15

U

OO +15

U

OO +15

U

OO +15

U

OO +15

U

OO +15

U

OO +15

U

OO +15

U

OO +15

U

OO +15

U

OO +15

U

OO +15

U

OO +15

U

OO +15

U

OO +15

U

OO +15

U

OO +15

dB10

5

5

U

10

dB10

5

5

U

10

U

OO+10

U

UOO+20

OO+20

PHONES

28

10

7

4

2

0

2

4

7

10

20

30

LEVELSET

LEFT RIGHT

MAIN MIX

SOLOMODE


C-R/SOURCE

POWERPHANTOM

RUDESOLOLIGHT

AUX 1SELECT

EFX TOMONITOR

AUX 1 MASTER

AUXRETURN

1

2PRE

POST


NORMALLED

0dB=0dBu

ALT 3–4

TAPE

ASSIGNTO MAIN MIX




U U U U U UPATCHBAY

CHANNEL STRIPS OUTPUT SECTION

Thank you for choosing a Mackie Designsprofessional compact mixer. The 1402-VLZ PROis equipped with our new precision-engineeredXDRTM Extended Dynamic Range premiumstudio-grade mic preamp featuring:

• Full gain range from 0 to 60dB• +22 dBu line signal handling capability• 130 dB dynamic range• Distortion less than 0.005%, 20Hz to 20kHz• Bullet-proof RF rejection using DC pulse

transformer circuitry• Made in Woodinville, Washington, USANow that you have your 1402-VLZ PRO, find

out how to get the most from it. That’s wherethis manual comes in.

HOW TO USE THIS MANUALSince many of you folks will want to hook up

your 1402-VLZ PRO immediately, the first pagesyou will encounter after the table of contentsare the everpopular hookup diagrams. Theseshow typical mixer setups for Record/Mixdown,Video, Disc Jockey and Stereo PA. After thissection is a detailed tour of the entire mixer.

Every feature of the 1402-VLZ PRO is described“geographically;” in other words, in order of whereit is physically placed on the mixer’s top or rearpanel. These descriptions are divided into the firstthree manual chapters, just as your mixer isorganized into three distinct zones:1. PATCHBAY: Along the top and back.2. CHANNEL STRIP: The ten channel strips

on the left.3. OUTPUT SECTION: The section on the right.

Throughout these chapters you’ll find illus-trations, with each feature numbered. If you’recurious about a feature, simply locate it on theappropriate illustration, notice the number at-tached to it, and find that number in thenearby paragraphs.

You’ll also find cross-references to thesenumbered features within a paragraph. Forinstance, if you see “To wire your owncables: ,” simply find that number in themanual and you’ve found your answer.

Finally, you’ll notice feature numbers likethis: . These numbers direct you to relevantinformation.

This icon marks informa-tion that is criticallyimportant or unique to the1402-VLZ PRO. For yourown good, read them and

remember them. They will be on the final test.And the final test score will go down on yourPermanent Record.

This icon will lead youto in-depth explanations offeatures and practical tips.While not mandatory, theyusually have some valuablenuggets of information.

THE GLOSSARY: A HAVEN OFNON-TECHINESS FOR THE NEOPHYTE

Appendix is a fairly comprehensivedictionary of pro-audio terms. If terms like “clip-ping,” “noise floor,” or “unbalanced” leave youblank, flip to this glossary for a quick explanation.

A PLUG FOR THE CONNECTORS SECTIONAppendix is a section on connectors:

XLR connectors, balanced connectors, unbal-anced connectors and special hybridconnectors.

ARCANE MYSTERIES ILLUMINATEDAppendix discusses some of the down ’n’

dirty practical realities of microphones, fixedinstallations, grounding, and balanced versusunbalanced lines. It’s a goldmine for the neo-phyte and even the seasoned pro might learn athing or two.

INTRODUCTION

5

LEVEL-SETTING PROCEDURE ............................ 3HOOKUP DIAGRAMS ....................................... 6PATCHBAY DESCRIPTION ............................... 10

MIC INPUTS ............................................ 10PHANTOM POWER .................................. 10

LINE INPUTS ........................................... 11LOW CUT ................................................ 11TRIM ...................................................... 11+4 / –10 ................................................ 11 STEREO LINE INPUTS ............................... 12 EFFECTS: SERIAL OR PARALLEL? ............... 12INSERT ................................................... 13

AUX RETURNS ........................................ 13 TAPE IN .................................................. 14XLR MAIN OUTPUTS ............................... 14

MAIN OUTPUT LEVEL ............................... 15 1⁄4" MAIN OUTPUTS ................................ 15 TAPE OUTPUT ......................................... 15 PHONES ................................................. 16 ALT 3/4 ................................................. 16 CONTROL ROOM ..................................... 16 AUX SEND 1 & 2 ..................................... 16 POWER CONNECTION .............................. 17 FUSE ....................................................... 17 POWER SWITCH ...................................... 17 PHANTOM SWITCH ................................. 17

CHANNEL STRIP DESCRIPTION ....................... 18 “U” LIKE UNITY GAIN ............................. 18 FADER .................................................... 18 SOLO ...................................................... 18 MUTE/ALT 3–4 ....................................... 18 PAN ....................................................... 19CONSTANT LOUDNESS ! ! ! ....................... 19

3-BAND EQ ............................................. 19 AUX SEND .............................................. 20

OUTPUT SECTION DESCRIPTION ..................... 21MAIN MIX .............................................. 21VLZ2 MIX ARCHITECTURE ........................ 21SOURCE MATRIX ..................................... 21CONTROL ROOM / SUBMIX .................... 22SOLO MODE: AFL / PFL ........................... 22RUDE SOLO LED ...................................... 22ASSIGN TO MAIN MIX ............................. 23METERS .................................................. 23AUX TALK ............................................... 24AUX 1 SELECT ......................................... 24AUX 1 MASTER ....................................... 24AUX RETURNS ........................................ 24EFX TO MONITOR ................................... 25JACK NORMALLING ................................. 25

MODIFICATIONS ............................................ 261402-VLZ PRO BLOCK DIAGRAM .................... 30GAIN STRUCTURE DIAGRAM .......................... 32SPECIFICATIONS ............................................ 33SERVICE INFO ............................................... 34APPENDIX A: Glossary .................................. 35APPENDIX B: Connections .............................. 44APPENDIX C: Balanced Lines, Phantom Powering,

Grounding and Other Arcane Mysteries .................. 47

CONTENTS

6

HOOKUP DIAGRAMS

1402-VLZ PRO 4-Track Record / 2-Track Mix

5

6

4

14

13

12

11

10

9

6

5

4

3 3

2

1

2

1 1

1

2

L

R

L

R

L

R

CHAN

NEL

INSE

RTS

AUX

RETU

RNS

ALT

3/4

OUT

PHONESOUT

INPUTSL

MONO

R

R

R

R

L MONO

L MONO

L MONO

AUX

OUT

L

7

1

2

8

CHANNEL

R

L R

IN-TAPE-OUTM

AIN

OUT

CNTRL ROOMOUTPUTS

MAI

NOU

T

L

R

out

in

out

in

Mono in / stereo outReverb

Digital Delay

out(play)

in(record)

Keyboard or other line-level input

4-track Recorder

in (record)out (play)

in

inout

out

IMPORTANT:ALL Channel Insertplugs are insertedto the SECOND click.

Mono Processorout

in

Guitar Effects

2-track Mixdown Deck2-track Mixdown Deck

Power Amplifier

Stereo Compressor

CH

1CH

2

FULL SYMMETRY DUAL DIFFERENTIAL HIGH CURRENT DESIGN

Studio Monitors

OL

PWR

HIGH RESOLUTIONSTUDIO MONITOR

ON

OFF

OL

PWR


ON

OFF

7

1402-VLZ PRO Video Setup

Compressor

Multi Effect Processor

in

in

L

R

L

R

L

R

L

LR

R

L

R

V/O Mic

Audio out

Audio out

Audio out out

out

Video Deck #3

Master Video Deck

Video Deck #2

Video Deck #1

Mackie Designs: Video Setupscene #1 _ 23:94:10 Time Base

Note: Aux Return #2 can be used as anextra stereo input

Multi - VCR Video Switcherwith time code Interface(optional)


out

in

5

6

4

14

13

12

11

10

9

6

5

4

3 3

2

1

2

1 1

1

2

L

R

L

R

L

R

CHAN

NEL

INSE

RTS

AUX

RETU

RNS

ALT

3/4

OUT

PHONESOUT

INPUTS

L MONO

R

R

R

R

L MONO

L MONO

L MONO

AUX

OUT

L

7

1

2

8

CHANNEL

R

L R

IN-TAPE-OUT

MAI

NOU

T

CNTRL ROOMOUTPUTS

MAI

NOU

T

L

R

Time code DAT

CD Player

SMPT

E Co

ntro

l

Power Amplifier

CH

1CH

2


Studio Monitors

OL

PWR


ON

OFF

OL

PWR


ON

OFF

8

1402-VLZ PRO Disc Jockey Setup

org

red

red

out(play)

in(record)

Stereo Compressor

Stereo Compressor


Left PA Speaker Right PA Speaker

2-track Deck

Triggered Lights

Stereo EQ

*Note: Aux Return #2 can be used as an extra stereo input

People dancing on the floor

4

3

1

1

2

L

R

L

R

L

R

CHAN

NEL

INSE

RTS

AUX

RETU

RNS

ALT

3/4

OUT

PHONESOUT

INPUTS

L MONO

R

R

R

R

L MONO

L MONO

L MONO

AUX

OUT

L

1

2

CHANNEL

R

L R

IN-TAPE-OUT

MAI

NOU

T

CNTRL ROOMOUTPUTS

MAI

NOU

T

L

R

CD Player

CD Player

Sampler

Turntable

Phono Preamps

out

in

out

in

out

in

out

in

out

out

out

out

out

in

in

in

L

R

L

R

L

R

RIAA

RIAA

5

6

4

14

13

12

11

10

9

5

6

4

3 3

2

1

2

1 1

7

8

Power Amplifier

CH

1CH

2


9

1402-VLZ PRO Stereo PA

org

org

red

red


Stereo Guitar Effects

out(play)

in(record)

Drum Machine

Stereo Compressor

Mono Compressor

Vocal Mics


Power Amp Stage Monitors

Left PA Speaker Right PA Speaker

2-track Deck

Stereo EQ

This setup can be easily reconfigured to become a Mono PA setup.

A. Stereo sources should feed the left mono side of channel input only.

B. Pan each channel hard left.C. Connect Mono PA system to

Left main output.

Mono EQ

Bass Preamp5

6

4

14

13

12

11

10

9

6

4

5

4

5

1 33

2

11

2

1

2

L

R

L

R

L

R

AUX

RETU

RNS

PHONESOUT

INPUTS

L MONO

R

R

R

R

L MONO

L MONO

L MONO

AUX

OUT

L

7

1

2

8

CHANNEL

R

L R

IN-TAPE-OUT

MAI

NOU

T

CNTRL ROOMOUTPUTS

MAI

NOU

T

L

R

outin

outin

out

out

out

out

in

in

in

in

CHAN

NEL

INSE

RTS

ALT

3/4

OUT

CH

1CH

2


Power Amplifier

CH

1CH

2


10

L

MONO

L

MONO

L

MONO

L

MONO

LINE IN 7–8

R R R R


BALOR

UNBAL

BALOR

UNBAL

BALOR

UNBAL

BALOR

UNBAL

LINE IN 3 LINE IN 4

L

R

1

2

1

2

RIGHT


LOW CUT75 Hz

18dB/OCT

LOW CUT75 Hz

18dB/OCT

BALOR

UNBAL

BALOR

UNBAL

LINE IN 5LOW CUT

75 Hz18dB/OCT

BALOR

UNBAL

LINE IN 6LOW CUT

75 Hz18dB/OCT

BALOR

UNBAL

LINE IN 1 LINE IN 2


LOW CUT75 Hz

18dB/OCT

LOW CUT75 Hz

18dB/OCT

BALOR

UNBAL

BALOR

UNBAL



LEVEL+4-10 -10 -10 -10

LEVEL+4

LEVEL+4

LEVEL+4

TRIM

TAPEINPUT

TAPEOUTPUT

L

R

MIC GAIN

+15dB -45dB

-10dBV

0 60

MIC GAIN

+15dB -45dB

-10dBV

0 60

MIC GAIN

+15dB -45dB

-10dBV

0 60

MIC GAIN

+15dB -45dB

-10dBV

0 60

MIC GAIN

+15dB -45dB

-10dBV

0 60

MIC GAIN

+15dB -45dB

-10dBV

0 60


U U U U U U

1402-VLZ PRO PATCHBAY DESCRIPTIONAt the risk of stating the obvious, this is

where you plug everything in: microphones,line-level instruments and effects, head-phones, and the ultimate destination for yoursound: a tape recorder, PA system, etc.

MIC INPUTS (Channels 1–6)We use phantom-powered, balanced micro-

phone inputs just like the big studiomega-consoles, for exactly the same reason:This kind of circuit is excellent at rejectinghum and noise. You can plug in almost anykind of mic that has a standard XLR-type malemic connector. To learn how signals arerouted from these inputs: . If you wire yourown, connect them like this:

2

2

3 1

1

SHIELD

COLD

HOT

SHIELD

COLD

HOT

3

SHIELD

COLDHOT

3

2

1

Pin 1 = Ground or shieldPin 2 = Positive (+ or hot)Pin 3 = Negative (– or cold)

Professional ribbon, dynamic and condensermics will all sound excellent through these in-puts. The 1402-VLZ PRO’s mic inputs willhandle any kind of mic level you can toss atthem, without overloading. Be sure to performthe Level Setting Procedure: .

PHANTOM POWERMost modern professional condenser mics

are equipped for Phantom Power, which letsthe mixer send low-current DC voltage to themic’s electronics through the same wires thatcarry audio. (Semi-pro condenser mics oftenhave batteries to accomplish the same thing.)“Phantom” owes its name to an ability to be“unseen” by dynamic mics (Shure SM57/SM58,for instance), which don’t need external powerand aren’t affected by it anyway.

The 1402-VLZ PRO’s phantom power is glo-bally controlled by the PHANTOM switch onthe rear panel .

Never plug single-ended(unbalanced) micro-phones or instrumentsinto the MIC IN jacks if thePHANTOM power is on.

Do not plug instrument outputs into theMIC IN jacks with PHANTOM power on unlessyou know for certain it is safe to do so.

11

it out makes the low stuff you do want muchmore crisp and tasty. Not only that, but LOWCUT can help reduce the possibility of feed-back in live situations and it helps to conservethe amplifier power.

Another way to consider LOW CUT’s func-tion is that it actually adds flexibility duringlive performances. With the addition of LOWCUT, you can safely use LOW equalization onvocals . Many times, bass shelving EQ canreally benefit voices. Trouble is, adding LOWEQ also boosts stage rumble,mic handling clunks andbreath pops. LOW CUT re-moves all those problems soyou can add low EQ withoutlosing a woofer.

Here’s what the combina-tion of LOW EQ and LOWCUT looks like in terms offrequency curves.

TRIM (Channels 1–6)If you haven’t already, please read the Level

Setting Procedure .TRIM adjusts the input sensitivity of the mic

and line inputs connected to Channels 1through 6. This allows signals from the outsideworld to be adjusted to optimal internal oper-ating levels.

If the signal originates through the XLRjack, there will be 0dB of gain with the knobfully down, ramping to 60dB of gain fully up.

Through the 1⁄4" input, there is 15dB of at-tenuation fully down and 45dB of gain fully up,with a “U” (unity gain) mark at 10:00.

This 15dB of attenuation can be very handywhen you are inserting a signal that is very hot,or when you want to add a lot of EQ gain, orboth. Without this “virtual pad,” a scenario likethat might lead to channel clipping.

+4 / –10 (Channels 7–14)This switch adjusts the input sensitivity of

the line inputs on channels 7–14. If the soundsource is a “–10” device, engage this switch. Ifyou are unsure, leave the switch up and per-form the Level Setting Procedure ,substituting this switch for the TRIM knob andthen setting the switch to the appropriate gainsetting.

LINE INPUTS (Channels 1–6)These six line inputs share circuitry (but

not phantom power) with the mic preamps,and can be driven by balanced or unbalancedsources at almost any level. You can use theseinputs for virtually any signal you’ll comeacross, from instrument levels as low as –40dBto operating levels of –10dBV to +4dBu, sincethere is 40dB more gain available than onChannels 7–14. To learn how signals arerouted from these inputs: .

To connect balanced lines to these inputs,use a 1⁄4" Tip-Ring-Sleeve (TRS) plug, the typefound on stereo headphones:

Tip = Positive (+ or hot)Ring = Negative (– or cold)Sleeve = Shield or ground

To connect unbalanced lines to these in-puts, use a 1⁄4" mono (TS) phone plug orstandard instrument cable:

SLEEVE

TIP

TIPSLEEVE

TIP

SLEEVE

SLEEVE

TIPSLEEVE

TIP

RING

RING

TIP

SLEEVERING

Tip = SignalSleeve = Ground

Line inputs 1–6 are a good place to connectolder instruments that need more gain. Youcan correct weak levels by adjusting the corre-sponding channel’s TRIM control .

LOW CUT (Channels 1–6)The LOW CUT switch, often referred to as a

High Pass Filter (all depends on how you lookat it), cuts bass frequencies below 75Hz at arate of 18dB per octave.

We recommendthat you use LOWCUT on every micro-phone applicationexcept kick drum,bass guitar, bassysynth patches, or re-cordings of

earthquakes. These aside, there isn’t muchdown there that you want to hear, and filtering

20Hz 100Hz 1kHz 10kHz 20kHz

–15

–10

–5

0

+5

+10

+15

Low Cut


–15

–10

–5

0

+5

+10

+15

Low Cut with Low EQ

12

L

MONO

L

MONO

L

MONO

L

MONO

LINE IN 7–8

R R R R


BALOR

UNBAL

BALOR

UNBAL

BALOR

UNBAL

BALOR

UNBAL

LINE IN 3 LINE IN 4

L

R

1

2

1

2

RIGHT


LOW CUT75 Hz

18dB/OCT

LOW CUT75 Hz

18dB/OCT

BALOR

UNBAL

BALOR

UNBAL

LINE IN 5LOW CUT

75 Hz18dB/OCT

BALOR

UNBAL

LINE IN 6LOW CUT

75 Hz18dB/OCT

BALOR

UNBAL

LINE IN 1 LINE IN 2


LOW CUT75 Hz

18dB/OCT

LOW CUT75 Hz

18dB/OCT

BALOR

UNBAL

BALOR

UNBAL



LEVEL+4-10 -10 -10 -10

LEVEL+4

LEVEL+4

LEVEL+4

TRIM

TAPEINPUT

TAPEOUTPUT

L

R

MIC GAIN

+15dB -45dB

-10dBV

0 60

MIC GAIN

+15dB -45dB

-10dBV

0 60

MIC GAIN

+15dB -45dB

-10dBV

0 60

MIC GAIN

+15dB -45dB

-10dBV

0 60

MIC GAIN

+15dB -45dB

-10dBV

0 60

MIC GAIN

+15dB -45dB

-10dBV

0 60


U U U U U U

STEREO LINE INPUTS (Channels 7–8,9–10, 11–12 and 13–14)

These fully balanced inputs are designed forstereo or mono, balanced or unbalanced sig-nals, from –10dBV to +4dBu. They can be usedwith just about any professional or semi-pro in-strument, effect or tape player. To learn howsignals are routed from these inputs: . Towire your own cables: .

In the stereo audio world, an odd-numberedchannel usually receives the “left signal.” Forexample, you would feed the 1402-VLZ PRO’sline inputs 7–8 a stereo signal by inserting thedevice’s left output plug into the Channel 7jack, and its right output plug into the Chan-nel 8 jack.

When connecting a mono device (just onecord), always use the Left (MONO) input andplug nothing into the Right input — this waythe signal will appear on both sides. This trickis called “jack normalling” .

EFFECTS: SERIAL ORPARALLEL?

The next two sections tossthe terms “serial” and “paral-lel” around like hacky sacks.

Here’s what we mean by them.“Serial” means that the entire signal is

routed through the effects device. Examples:compressor/limiters, graphic equalizers. Line-level sources can be patched through a serialeffects device before or after the mixer or,more conveniently, through the channel insertjacks located on the rear of the mixer (INSERTSEND/RETURN) .

“Parallel” means that a portion of the signalin the mixer is tapped off to the device (AUXSEND), processed and returned to the mixer(AUX RETURN) to be mixed with the original“dry” signal. This way, multiple channels can allmake use of the same effects device. Examples:reverb, digital delay. (See diagrams below.)

Dry SignalSerial Device

(e.g. Compressor) ProcessedSignal

Insert Send Insert ReturnSerial

Parallel

Dry Signal(s) Dry Signal(s)

Parallel Device(e.g. Reverb)

Aux Send Aux Return

Wet Signal

Channel PathMix Stage

Output Section

ProcessedSignal

Signal Processor

Signal Processor

13

)


ING.FUSE




456 3 2 1

CHANNEL INSERT( PRE-FADER / PRE EQ TIP SEND / RING RETURN )

OODINVILLE • WA • USA • MADE IN USA • FABRIQUE AU USA • COPYRIGHT ©1998 •GN INC.: "MACKIE", "VLZ", "XDR", AND THE "RUNNING MAN" FIGURE • PATENT PENDING


INSERT (Channels 1–6)These jacks, on the back of the 1402-VLZ

PRO, are where you connect serial effects suchas compressors, equalizers, de-essers, or filters

. Since most people don’t have more than afew of these gadgets, we’ve included inserts forjust the first six channels. If you want to use thiskind of processing on Channels 7–14, simplypatch through the processor before you pluginto the 1402-VLZ PRO.

The INSERT points are after the TRIM andLOW CUT controls, but before the channel’sEQ and FADER controls. The send (tip) islow-impedance (120 ohms), capable ofdriving any device. The return (ring) is high-impedance (over 2.5k ohms) and can bedriven by almost any device.

INSERT cables must be wired thusly:

“tip”

this plug connects to one of the mixer’s Channel Insert jacks. “ring”

tipring

sleeve

SEND to processor

RETURN from processor

(TRS plug)

Tip = Send (output to effects device)Ring = Return (input from effects device)Sleeve = Common ground (connect shield to

all three sleeves)Besides being used for inserting external

devices, these jacks can also be used as chan-nel direct outputs; post-TRIM, post-LOW CUT,and pre EQ. Check out the 4-track hookup dia-gram . Here’s three ways you can use theINSERT jacks:

Direct out with no signal interruption to master.Insert only to first “click.”

Channel Insert jack

Channel Insert jack

Channel Insert jack

Direct out with signal interruption to master.Insert all the way in to the second “click.”

For use as an effects loop.(TIP = SEND to effect, RING = RETURN from effect)

MONO PLUG

MONO PLUG

STEREO PLUG

AUX RETURNSThis is where you connect the outputs of

your parallel effects devices (or extra audiosources). These balanced inputs are similar tothe stereo line inputs without EQ, AuxSends, Pan, Mute, and Solo. The circuits willhandle stereo or mono, balanced or unbal-anced signals, either instrument level, –10dBVor +4dBu. They can be used with just aboutany pro or semi-pro effects device on the mar-ket. To learn how signals are routed fromthese inputs, see .

One Device: If you havejust one parallel effectsdevice, use AUX RETURN1 and leave AUXRETURN 2 unplugged.

That way, the unused AUX RETURN 2LEVEL control can be used to feed AUXRETURN 1 to your stage monitors, viathe EFX TO MONITOR switch .

Mono Device: If you have an effects de-vice with a mono output (1 cord), plug thatinto AUX RETURN 1 LEFT and leave AUXRETURN 1 RIGHT unplugged. That way thesignal will be sent to both sides, magicallyappearing in the center as a mono signal.This won’t work with AUX RETURN 2 —you’ll need a Y-cord to feed the L/R bus. Inshort, AUX RETURN 1 uses jack normalling.AUX RETURN 2 does not use jack normalling.

14

L

MONO

L

MONO

L

MONO

L

MONO

LINE IN 7–8

R R R R


BALOR

UNBAL

BALOR

UNBAL

BALOR

UNBAL

BALOR

UNBAL

LINE IN 3 LINE IN 4

L

R

1

2

1

2

RIGHT


LOW CUT75 Hz

18dB/OCT

LOW CUT75 Hz

18dB/OCT

BALOR

UNBAL

BALOR

UNBAL

LINE IN 5LOW CUT

75 Hz18dB/OCT

BALOR

UNBAL

LINE IN 6LOW CUT

75 Hz18dB/OCT

BALOR

UNBAL

LINE IN 1 LINE IN 2


LOW CUT75 Hz

18dB/OCT

LOW CUT75 Hz

18dB/OCT

BALOR

UNBAL

BALOR

UNBAL



LEVEL+4-10 -10 -10 -10

LEVEL+4

LEVEL+4

LEVEL+4

TRIM

TAPEINPUT

TAPEOUTPUT

L

R

MIC GAIN

+15dB -45dB

-10dBV

0 60

MIC GAIN

+15dB -45dB

-10dBV

0 60

MIC GAIN

+15dB -45dB

-10dBV

0 60

MIC GAIN

+15dB -45dB

-10dBV

0 60

MIC GAIN

+15dB -45dB

-10dBV

0 60

MIC GAIN

+15dB -45dB

-10dBV

0 60


U U U U U U

TAPE INThese RCA jacks are designed to work with

semi-pro as well as pro recorders. To compen-sate for typically low levels, signals coming inhere will be automatically boosted by 6dB.

Connect your tape recorder’s outputs here,using standard hi-fi (RCA) cables. To learn howsignals are routed from these inputs, see .

TIPSLEEVETIPSLEEVE

Use these jacks for convenient tape play-back of your mixes. You’ll be able to review amix, and then rewind and try another pass,without repatching or disturbing the mixerlevels. You can also use these jacks with a por-table tape or CD player to feed music to a PAsystem between sets.

WARNING: PushingTAPE in the SOURCEmatrix and ASSIGN TOMAIN MIX can create afeedback path between

TAPE IN and TAPE OUT. Make sure yourtape deck is not in record, record-pause orinput monitor mode when you engage theseswitches, or make sure the CTL ROOM /SUBMIX fader is fully down (off).

Pin 1 = GroundPin 2 = Positive (+ or hot)Pin 3 = Negative (– or cold)

Outputs? The 1402-VLZ PRO has plenty of’em: XLR MAIN, 1⁄4" MAIN, TAPE, PHONES,CONTROL ROOM and AUX SENDS. Let’stake a peek.

XLR MAIN OUTPUTSThese low-impedance outputs are fully bal-

anced and capable of driving +4dBu lines withup to 28dB of headroom. This output is 6dBhotter than other outputs. To learn how sig-nals are routed to these outputs: .

To use these outputs, wire the XLR (bal-anced only) connectors like this:

2

2

3 1

1

SHIELD

COLD

HOT

SHIELD

COLD

HOT

3

SHIELD

COLDHOT

3

2

1

15

MAIN OUTPUT LEVELEngaging this switch pads the balanced

XLR MAIN OUTPUTS by 30dB, so you can feedthe microphone input of, say, another mixer.Perfect for sending a submix to another miclevel input in boardroom or conference roomapplications.

You can safely plug this output into an inputthat provides 48V phantom power.

1⁄4" MAIN OUTPUTSThese 1⁄4" jacks are balanced outputs ca-

pable of delivering 22dBu into a 600 ohmbalanced or unbalanced load. (Okay, we admitit, that was a pretty technical sentence. Seethe Glossary and Connections appendices ifyou want to decode it.)

To learn how signals are routed to these 1⁄4"outputs: .

To use these outputs to drive balanced in-puts, connect 1⁄4" TRS (Tip-Ring-Sleeve)phone plugs like this:

For most music recording and PA applica-tions, unbalanced lines are perfectlyacceptable. To use these outputs to drive un-balanced inputs, connect 1⁄4" TS (Tip-Sleeve)phone plugs like this:

Tip = + (hot)Sleeve = Ground

TAPE OUTPUTThese unbalanced RCA connections tap the

MAIN OUTPUTS to make simultaneous record-ing and PA work more convenient. Connectthese to your recorder’s inputs. To learn howsignals are routed to these outputs: .

MONO OUT: If you want to feed a monosignal to your tape deck or other device, simplyuse an RCA Y-cord to combine these outputs(Radio Shack® #274-511, for instance). Do notattempt this with any other outputs on the1402-VLZ PRO.



MONO PLUG


STEREO PLUG


R L

CONTROLROOM

MIC+4

BAL/UNBAL

MAINOUTPUTLEVEL

MAINLEFT

MAINRIGHT

POWERON

PHANTOMON




CAUTION:

BALANCED BALANCED

CONCEIVED, DESIGNED, AND MANUFTHE FOLLOWING ARE TRADEMARKS OR REG



Tip = + (hot)Ring = – (cold)Sleeve = Ground

SLEEVE

TIPSLEEVE

TIP

RING

RING

TIP

SLEEVERING

SLEEVE

TIP

TIPSLEEVE

TIP

SLEEVE

TIPSLEEVETIPSLEEVE

16

L

MONO

L

MONO

L

MONO

L

MONO

LINE IN 7–8

R R R R


BALOR

UNBAL

BALOR

UNBAL

BALOR

UNBAL

BALOR

UNBAL

LINE IN 3 LINE IN 4

L

R

1

2

1

2

RIGHT


LOW CUT75 Hz

18dB/OCT

LOW CUT75 Hz

18dB/OCT

BALOR

UNBAL

BALOR

UNBAL

LINE IN 5LOW CUT

75 Hz18dB/OCT

BALOR

UNBAL

LINE IN 6LOW CUT

75 Hz18dB/OCT

BALOR

UNBAL

LINE IN 1 LINE IN 2


LOW CUT75 Hz

18dB/OCT

LOW CUT75 Hz

18dB/OCT

BALOR

UNBAL

BALOR

UNBAL



LEVEL+4-10 -10 -10 -10

LEVEL+4

LEVEL+4

LEVEL+4

TRIM

TAPEINPUT

TAPEOUTPUT

L

R

MIC GAIN

+15dB -45dB

-10dBV

0 60

MIC GAIN

+15dB -45dB

-10dBV

0 60

MIC GAIN

+15dB -45dB

-10dBV

0 60

MIC GAIN

+15dB -45dB

-10dBV

0 60

MIC GAIN

+15dB -45dB

-10dBV

0 60

MIC GAIN

+15dB -45dB

-10dBV

0 60


U U U U U U

ALT 3/4These 1⁄4" jacks are balanced outputs ca-

pable of delivering 22dBu into a balanced orunbalanced load. To learn how signals arerouted to these outputs: . To wire your owncables: .

CONTROL ROOMThese 1⁄4" jacks are balanced outputs ca-

pable of delivering 22dBu into a 600 ohmbalanced or unbalanced load. To learn howsignals are routed to these outputs: . Towire your own cables: .

AUX SEND 1&2These 1⁄4" jacks are also balanced outputs

capable of delivering 22dBu into a 600 ohmbalanced or unbalanced load. To learn howsignals are routed to these outputs: . To wireyour own cables: .

PHONESThe 1402-VLZ PRO’s stereo PHONES jack

will drive any standard headphone to very loudlevels. Walkperson-type phones can also beused with an appropriate adapter. To learnhow signals are routed to these outputs: . Ifyou’re wiring your own cable for the PHONESoutput, follow standard conventions:

SLEEVE

LEFTSLEEVE

LEFT

RIGHT

RIGHT

TIP

SLEEVERING

Tip = Left channelRing = Right channelSleeve = Common ground

WARNING: When we saythe headphone amp isloud, we’re not kidding.It can cause permanentear damage. Even inter-

mediate levels may be painfully loud withsome earphones. BE CAREFUL!

Always turn the CTL ROOM/SUBMIX faderall the way down before connecting head-phones. Keep it down until you’ve put thephones on. Then turn it up slowly. Why? “Engi-neers who fry their ears find themselves withshort careers.”

17

POWER CONNECTIONJust in case you lose the cord provided with

the 1402-VLZ PRO, its power jack accepts astandard 3-prong IEC cord like those found onmost professional recorders, musical instru-ments, and computers.

At the other end of our cord is — get this— a plug! Not a black cube or, as we’re fond ofcalling them, a “wall wart.” We did this forsome very good reasons:

The 1402-VLZ PRO has sophisticated powerrequirements that a wall wart cannot provide.Wall warts are inconvenient, fragile, radiatehuge hum fields, hog extra jacks on yourpower strip and get in the way. If you lose awall wart, you’re in trouble, but if you lose the1402-VLZ PRO’s power cord, you can get a newone at any electronics, music, or computerstore. You can even buy them at Radio Shack®

(part # 287-1257). Can you tell that we hatewall warts?

Plug the 1402-VLZ PRO into any standardgrounded AC outlet or into a power strip ofproper voltage.

WARNING: Disconnect-ing the plug’s groundpin can be dangerous.Please don’t do it.

FUSEThe 1402-VLZ PRO is fused for your (and its

own) protection. If you suspect a blown fuse,disconnect the cord, pull the fuse drawer out(located just below the cord receptacle) andreplace the fuse with a 500mA (0.5 amps) SLOBLO, 5x20mm, available at electronics storesor your dealer (or a 250mA SLO BLO 5x20mmif your 1402-VLZ PRO is a 220V–240V unit).

If two fuses blow in a row, something isvery wrong. Please call our toll-free number(or the distributor in your country) and findout what to do.

POWER SWITCHIf this one isn’t self-explanatory, we give up.

You can leave this switch on all the time; the1402-VLZ PRO is conservatively designed, soheat buildup isn’t a problem even in 24-hour-a-day operation. There’s nothing that will burn outor get used up. Or, just plug everything into agood quality power strip for one-button turn-on.

You may notice thatthe 1402-VLZ PRO feelsquite warm in the upper-right corner. This isperfectly normal.

(Perfectly normal. Is that redundant?)In the output section there is a POWER

LED. If the power is on, so is the LED.

PHANTOM SWITCHThe Phantom Power Switch controls the

phantom power supply for condenser micro-phones plugged into channels 1-6 mic inputsas discussed at the start of this section .When turned on (or off), the phantom powercircuitry takes a few moments for voltage toramp up (or down). This is also perfectly nor-mal. For an even closer look, refer toAppendix C.

In the output section, next to the POWERLED, is the PHANTOM LED. If the phantompower is on, so is the LED.

)



MONO PLUG


STEREO PLUG



RISK OF ELECTRIC SHOCKDO NOT OPEN

REPLACE WITH THE SAME TYPE FUSE AND RATING.DISCONNECT SUPPLY CORD BEFORE CHANGING FUSE



CAUTION


R L

CONTROLROOM

MIC+4

BAL/UNBAL

MAINOUTPUTLEVEL

456 3R/4 L/3 2 1

CHANNEL INSERTBAL/UNBAL

ALT OUTPUT

( PRE-FADER / PRE EQ TIP SEND / RING RETURN )

MAINLEFT

MAINRIGHT

POWERON

PHANTOMON




CAUTION:

BALANCED BALANCED

CONCEIVED, DESIGNED, AND MANUFACTURED BY MACKIE DESIGNS INC • WOODINVILLE • WA • USA • MADE IN USA • FABRIQUE AU USA • COPYRIGHT ©1998 •THE FOLLOWING ARE TRADEMARKS OR REGISTERED TRADEMARKS OF MACKIE DESIGN INC.: "MACKIE", "VLZ", "XDR", AND THE "RUNNING MAN" FIGURE • PATENT PENDING




18

U

+15-15

U

+15-15

U

+12-12

HI12kHz

MID2.5kHz

LOW80Hz

EQ

AUX1

2

MON/EFX

EFX

PAN

L R

SOLO

1MUTEALT 3–4

dB

30

20

10

OO

4050

5

5

U

60

10

U

OO +15

U

OO +15

CHANNEL STRIP DESCRIPTION

The ten channel strips look alike, andfunction identically. The only difference isthat the six on the left are for individual micsor mono instruments and have more gainavailable, while the next four are for eitherstereo or mono line-level sources. (Each ofthe stereo channel strips is actually two com-plete circuits. The controls are linkedtogether to preserve stereo.) We’ll start at thebottom and work our way up…

“U” LIKE UNITY GAINMackie mixers have a “U”

symbol on almost every levelcontrol. This “U” stands for

“unity gain,” meaning no change in signal level.Once you have adjusted the input signal to line-level , you can set every control at “U” and yoursignals will travel through the mixer at optimallevels. What’s more, all the labels on our levelcontrols are measured in decibels (dB), so you’llknow what you’re doing level-wise if you chooseto change a control’s settings.

You won’t have to check it here and check itthere, as you would with some other mixers. Infact, some don’t even have any reference to ac-tual dB levels at all! Ever seen those “0–10”fader markings? We call these AUMs (ArbitraryUnits of Measurement), and they mean noth-ing in the real world. You were smart — youbought a Mackie.

FADERThe FADER controls the channel’s level…

from off to unity gain at the “U” marking, onup to 10dB of additional gain. Channels 1–6use mono controls, and channels 7–14 usestereo controls.

SOLOThis lovable switch allows you to hear signals

through your headphones or control room without having to route them to the MAIN orALT 3–4 mixes. Folks use solo in live work topreview channels before they are let into themix, or to just check out what a particular chan-nel is up to anytime during a session. You cansolo as many channels at a time as you like.

Solo is also the key player in the LevelSetting Procedure .

Your 1402-VLZ PRO has “Dual-Mode Solo.”A switch in the master section determines

which mode you’ll be hearing. With theswitch up, you’ll get “AFL” (After Fader Lis-ten), which is post-FADER and post-PAN,making it ideal for mixdown soloing. With theswitch down, you’re in “PFL” (pre-fader lis-ten) mode. This is the required mode for theLevel Setting Procedure .

Soloed channels are sent to the SOURCEmix , which ultimately feeds your CONTROLROOM, PHONES and METERS. WheneverSOLO is engaged, all SOURCE selections(MAIN MIX, ALT 3–4 and TAPE) are defeated,to allow the soloed signal to do just that — solo!

MUTE/ALT 3–4The dual-purpose MUTE/ALT 3-4 switch is a

Mackie signature. When Greg was designingour first product, he had to include a muteswitch for each channel. Mute switches do justwhat they sound like they do. They turn off thesignal by “routing” it into oblivion. “Gee, what awaste,” Greg reasoned. “Why not have themute button route the signal somewhere elseuseful…like a separate stereo bus?” SoMUTE/ALT 3-4 really serves two functions —muting (often used during a mixdown or liveshow), and signal routing (for multi-track andlive work) where it acts as an extra stereo bus.

To use this as a MUTE switch, all you have todo is not use the ALT 3–4 outputs. Then, when-ever you assign a channel to these unusedoutputs, you’ll also be disconnecting it from theMAIN MIX, effectively muting the channel.

To use this as an ALT 3–4 switch, all youhave to do is connect the ALT 3–4 outputs towhatever destination you desire. Two popularexamples:

When doing multitrack recording, use theALT 3–4 outputs to feed your multitrack. Withmost decks, you can mult the ALT 3–4 outputs,using Y-cords or mults, to feed multiple tracks.So, take ALT OUT LEFT and send it to tracks 1,3, 5 and 7, and ALT OUT RIGHT and send it totracks 2, 4, 6 and 8. Now, tracks that are inRecord or Input modes will hear the ALT 3–4signals, and tracks in Playback or Safe modeswill ignore them.

When doing live sound or mixdown, it’s oftenhandy to control the level of several channelswith one knob. That’s called Subgrouping. Sim-ply assign these channels to the ALT 3–4 mix,engage ALT 3–4 in the SOURCE matrix, and thesignals will appear at the CONTROL ROOM

19

and PHONES outputs. If you want the ALT 3–4signals to go back into the MAIN MIX, engagethe ASSIGN TO MAIN MIX switch , and theCTL ROOM/SUBMIX fader becomes the onefader 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, thenpatch out of the ALT OUT LEFT and RIGHTback into an unused stereo channel (7–8, 9–10or 11–12 or 13–14). If that’s your choice, don’tever engage the MUTE/ALT 3–4 switch on thatstereo channel, or you’ll have every dog in theneighborhood howling at your feedback loop.

Another benefit of the ALT 3–4 feature isthat it can act as a “AFL” (After Fader Listen):just engage a channel's MUTE/ALT 3–4 switchand the ALT 3–4 switch in the SOURCE matrix

and you’ll get that channel, all by itself, inthe CONTROL ROOM and PHONES.

MUTE/ALT 3–4 is one of those controls thatcan bewilder newcomers, so take your time andplay around with it. Once you’ve got it down,you’ll probably think of a hundred uses for it!

PANPAN adjusts the amount of channel signal

sent to the left versus the right outputs. Onmono channels (ch. 1–6 or 7–14 with connec-tions to the LEFT input only) these controls actas pan pots. On stereo channels (7–14) withstereo connections to LEFT and RIGHT inputs,the pan knob works like the balance control onyour home stereo.

PAN determines the fate of the MAIN MIX(1–2) and ALT 3–4 mix. With the PAN knobhard left, the signal will feed either MAINLEFT (bus 1) or ALT LEFT (bus 3), dependingon the position of the ALT 3–4 switch. With theknob 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 an1404-VLZ2, since it really is a 4-bus mixer.

CONSTANTLOUDNESS ! ! !

The 1402-VLZ PRO’s PANcontrols employ a designcalled “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 leftto the center to the right), the sound will appearto remain at the same volume (or loudness).

If you have a channel panned hard left (orright) and reading 0dB, it must dip downabout 4dB on the left (or right) when panned

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

3-BAND EQThe 1402-VLZ PRO has

3-band equalization atcarefully selected points— LOW shelving at 80Hz,

MID peaking at 2.5kHz, and HI shelving at12kHz. “Shelving” means that the circuitryboosts or cuts all frequencies past thespecified frequency. For example, rotating the1402-VLZ PRO’s LOW EQ knob 15dB to theright boosts bass starting at 80Hz and continu-ing down to the lowest note you never heard.“Peaking” means that certain frequencies forma “hill” around the center frequency — 2.5kHzin the case of the MID EQ.

LOW EQ

This control gives you up to 15dB boost orcut at 80Hz. The circuit is flat (no boost orcut) at the center detent position.This frequency represents thepunch in bass drums, bass guitar,fat synth patches, and some reallyserious male singers.

Used in conjunction with theLOW CUT switch , you canboost the LOW EQ without inject-ing a ton of subsonic debris intothe mix.

MID EQ

Short for “midrange,” this knobprovides 12dB of boost or cut, cen-tered at 2.5kHz, also flat at thecenter detent. Midrange EQ isoften thought of as the most dy-namic, because the frequenciesthat define any particular soundare almost always found in thisrange. You can create many inter-esting and useful EQ changes byturning this knob down as well asup.

HI EQ

This control gives you up to15dB boost or cut at 12kHz, and itis also flat at the detent. Use it toadd sizzle to cymbals, and an over-all sense of transparency or edgeto keyboards, vocals, guitar andbacon frying. Turn it down a littleto reduce sibilance, or to hide tape hiss.


–15

–10

–5

0

+5

+10

+15

Low EQ


–15

–10

–5

0

+5

+10

+15

Low EQ with Low Cut


–15

–10

–5

0

+5

+10

+15


–15

–10

–5

0

+5

+10

+15

Hi EQ

Mid EQ

20

AUX 1 in POST-mode and AUX 2 arepost-LOW CUT, post-EQ and post-FADER. Thatis, the sends obey the settings of these controls.AUX 1 in PRE mode follows the EQ and LOWCUT settings only. PAN and FADER have no ef-fect on the PRE send (see diagram below).

All AUX send levels range from off throughunity (with their channel gain controls at thecenter detent position) on up to 15dB of extragain (when turned fully clockwise). Chancesare you’ll never need this extra gain, but it’snice to know it’s there if you do.

Channel 7–14 AUX pots control the monosum of the channel’s stereo signals for eachAUX send. For instance, Channel 7 (left) and8 (right) mix together to feed that channel’sAUX send knobs.

We recommend going into a stereo reverb inmono and returning in stereo. We have foundthat most “stereo” reverbs’ second input just tiesup an extra AUX send and adds nothing to thesound. There are exceptions, so feel free to try itboth ways. If your effects device is true stereoall the way through, use AUX 1 to feed its LEFTinput and AUX 2 to feed the RIGHT input.

“Pre vs. Post”Signal Flow Diagram

Moderation during EQ

With EQ, you can also screw things up roy-ally. We’ve designed a lot of boost and cut intoeach equalizer circuit, because we knoweveryone will occasionally need that. But if youmax the EQs on every channel, you’ll get mixmush. Equalize subtly and use the left sides ofthe knobs (cut), as well as the right (boost).Very few gold-record-album engineers ever usemore than about 3dB of EQ. If you need morethan that, there’s usually a better way to get it,such as placing a mic differently (or using adifferent kind of mic entirely).

AUX SENDThese tap a portion of each channel signal

out to another source for parallel effects pro-cessing or stage monitoring. AUX send levelsare controlled by the channel’s AUX 1 and AUX2 knobs and by the AUX 1 MASTER .

These are more than just effects and moni-tor sends. They can be used to generateseparate mixes for recording or “mix-minuses”for broadcast. By using AUX 1 in the PREmode , these mix levels can be obtained in-dependently of the channel’s GAIN control.

TRIM INSERTLOW CUT EQ

FADER PANMUTE / ALT

AUX SEND 2 KNOB

"POST" SIGNAL

"PRE" SIGNAL

AUX SEND 1 KNOB

"POST" SIGNAL OBEYSMUTE STATUS

INPUT

AUX SEND 1 PRE/POST SWITCH(IN MASTER SECTION)

TO AUX SEND 2 OUTPUT

TO AUX SEND 1 OUTPUT

U

+15-15

U

+15-15

U

+12-12

HI12kHz

MID2.5kHz

LOW80Hz

EQ

AUX1

2

MON/EFX

EFX

PAN

L R

SOLO

1MUTEALT 3–4

dB

30

20

10

OO

4050

5

5

U

60

10

U

OO +15

U

OO +15

21

30

20

OO

405060

30

20

OO

405060

dB10

5

5

U

10

dB10

5

5

U

10

U

OO+10U

U

OO+20

OO+20

28

10

7

4

2

0

2

4

7

10

20

30

LEVELSET

LEFT RIGHT

MAIN MIX

SOLOMODE


C-R/SOURCE

POWERPHANTOM

RUDESOLOLIGHT

AUX 1SELECT

EFX TOMONITOR

AUX 1 MASTER

AUXRETURN

1

2PRE

POST


NORMALLED

0dB=0dBu

ALT 3–4

TAPE

ASSIGNTO MAIN MIX

Still with us? Good for you. Here come thetricky parts, where the mixing is really done.

MAIN MIXAs the name implies, this fader controls the

levels of signals sent to the MAIN OUTPUTS:XLR , 1⁄4" and RCA TAPE OUT . Allchannels and AUX RETURNS that are notmuted or turned fully down will wind up in theMAIN MIX.

Fully down is off, the “U” marking is unitygain, and fully up provides 10dB additionalgain. This additional gain will typically neverbe needed, but once again, it’s nice to know it’sthere. These are the faders to pull down at theend of the song when you want The GreatFade-Out.

VLZ MIXARCHITECTURE

When designing a mixingcircuit, the lowest noise and

best crosstalk specs are achieved by using VeryLow Impedance (VLZ). To implement VLZ in amixer, the power supply must be able to de-liver plenty of current to the circuitry. That’swhy those “wall wart” mixers are often noisy –they can’t power a VLZ circuit.

At Mackie, audio quality is much more im-portant than the price of wall warts. All of ourmixers employ VLZ and built-in power suppliesthat deliver more than enough current, result-ing in sonic specifications that rival consolesupwards of $50,000!

SOURCE MATRIXTypically, the engineer sends the MAIN MIX

to an audience (if live) or a mixdown deck (ifrecording). But what if the engineer needs tohear something other than the MAIN MIX?With the 1402-VLZ PRO, the engineer has sev-eral choices of what to listen to. This is one ofthose tricky parts, so buckle up.

Via the SOURCE switches, you can chooseto listen to any combination of MAIN MIX, ALT3-4 and TAPE. By now, you probably knowwhat the MAIN MIX is. ALT 3-4 is that addi-tional stereo mix bus. TAPE is the stereo signalcoming in from the TAPE IN RCA jacks .

Selections made in the SOURCE matrix de-liver stereo signals to the CONTROL ROOM,PHONES and METERS. With no switches en-gaged, there will be no signal at these outputsand no meter indication.

The exception to that is the SOLO function. Regardless of the SOURCE matrix selec-

tion, engaging a channel’s SOLO switch willreplace that selection with the SOLO signal,also sent to the CONTROL ROOM, PHONESand METERS. This is what makes the LevelSetting Procedure so easy to do.

WARNING: Pushing inboth the TAPE button (inthe SOURCE matrix) andASSIGN TO MAIN MIXcan create a feedback

path between TAPE IN and TAPE OUT.Make sure your tape deck is not in record,record-pause or input monitor mode whenyou engage these switches, or make surethe CONTROL ROOM / PHONES fader isfully down (off).

OUTPUT SECTION DESCRIPTION

22

30

20

OO

405060

30

20

OO

405060

dB10

5

5

U

10

dB10

5

5

U

10

U

OO+10U

U

OO+20

OO+20

28

10

7

4

2

0

2

4

7

10

20

30

LEVELSET

LEFT RIGHT

MAIN MIX

SOLOMODE


C-R/SOURCE

POWERPHANTOM

RUDESOLOLIGHT

AUX 1SELECT

EFX TOMONITOR

AUX 1 MASTER

AUXRETURN

1

2PRE

POST


NORMALLED

0dB=0dBu

ALT 3–4

TAPE

ASSIGNTO MAIN MIX

Now you know how to select the signals youwant to send to the engineer’s control room orphones. From there, these signals all passthrough the same level control:

CTL ROOM / SUBMIXThis fader controls the levels of both the ste-

reo CONTROL ROOM OUTPUTS andPHONES OUTPUTS . The control range isfrom off through unity gain at the “U” marking,with 10dB of extra gain fully up.

When MAIN MIX is your SOURCE selec-tion, those signals will pass through two levelcontrols on the way to your control room ampand phones — the MAIN MIX fader and thisCTL ROOM / SUBMIX fader. This way, youcan send a nice healthy level to the MAINOUTPUTS (MAIN MIX fader at “U”), and aquiet level to the control room or phones(CTL ROOM / SUBMIX fader wherever youlike it).

When ALT 3-4 or TAPE is selected, or SOLOis engaged, this fader will be the only one con-trolling these levels (channel controls notwithstanding).

Whatever your selection, you can also usethe CONTROL ROOM OUTPUTS for otherapplications. It's sound quality is just as im-peccable as the MAIN MIX outputs. It can beused as additional MAIN MIX output, whichmay sound silly since there are already three,but this one has its own level control. However,should you do something like this, be sure thatyou never engage a SOLO switch, as that willinterrupt your SOURCE selection.

SOLO MODE: AFL/PFLEngaging a channel’s SOLO switch will

cause this dramatic turn of events: Any exist-ing SOURCE matrix selections will bereplaced by the SOLO signal, appearing atthe CONTROL ROOM OUTPUTS, PHONESOUTPUTS and at the METERS. The audibleSOLO levels are then controlled by the CTLROOM / SUBMIX fader. The SOLO levels ap-pearing on the METERS are not controlledby anything — you wouldn’t want that. Youwant to see the actual channel level on theMETERS regardless of how loud you’re listen-ing.

With the SOLO MODE switch in the upposition, you’re in AFL mode, meaning After-Fader Listen. You’ll hear the output of thesoloed channel — it will follow thechannel’s TRIM, EQ, FADER and PAN set-tings. It’s similar to muting all the otherchannels, but without the hassle. Use AFLmode during mixdown.

With the switch down, you’re in PFL mode,meaning Pre-Fader Listen (post EQ). Thismode is required for the Level Setting Proce-dure and is handy for quick spot-checks ofchannels, especially ones that have theirfaders turned down.

In either mode, SOLO will not be affectedby a channel’s MUTE/ALT switch position.

RUDE SOLO LIGHTThis flashing Light Emitting Diode serves

two purposes — to remind you that at leastone channel is in SOLO, and to let you knowthat you’re mixing on a Mackie. No other com-pany is so concerned about your level of SOLOawareness. If you work on a mixer that has asolo function with no indicator lights, and youhappen to forget you’re in solo, you can easilybe tricked into thinking that something iswrong with your mixer. Hence the RUDESOLO LIGHT. It’s especially handy at about3AM when no sound is coming out of yourmonitors but your multitrack is playing backlike mad.

23

Why? You want the METERS to reflect whatthe engineer is listening to, and as we’ve cov-ered, the engineer is listening either to theCONTROL ROOM outputs or the PHONESoutputs. The only difference is that while thelistening levels are controlled by the CTLROOM / SUBMIX fader, the METERS read theSOURCE mix before that control, giving youthe real facts at all times, even if you’re not lis-tening at all.

You may already be anexpert at the world of “+4”(+4dBu=1.23V) and “–10”(–10dBV=0.32V) operatinglevels. Basically, what makes

a mixer one or the other is the relative 0dB VU(or 0VU) chosen for the meters. A “+4” mixer,with a +4dBu signal pouring out the back willactually read 0VU on its meters. A “–10” mixer,with a –10dBV signal trickling out, will read,you guessed it, 0VU on its meters. So when is0VU actually 0dBu? Right now!

At the risk of creating another standard,Mackie’s compact mixers address the need ofboth crowds by calling things as they are —0dBu (0.775V) at the output shows as 0dB VUon the METERS. What could be easier? By theway, the most wonderful thing about standardsis that there are so many to choose from.

Thanks to the 1402-VLZ PRO’s wide dynamicrange, you can get a good mix with peaks flash-ing anywhere between –20 and +10dB on theMETERS. Most amplifiers clip at about +10dB,and some recorders aren’t so forgiving either.For best real-world results, try to keep yourpeaks between “0” and “+7.”

Remember, audio meters are just tools tohelp assure you that your levels are “in theballpark.” You don’t have to stare at them(unless you want to).

ASSIGN TO MAIN MIXLet’s say you’re doing a live show. Intermis-

sion is nearing and you’ll want to play asoothing CD for the crowd to prevent themfrom becoming antsy. Then you think, “But Ihave the CD player plugged into the TAPE in-puts, and that never gets to the MAINOUTPUTS!” Oh, but it does. Simply engage thisswitch and your SOURCE matrix selection,after going through the CTL ROOM / SUBMIXfader, will feed into the MAIN MIX, just as if itwere another stereo channel.

Another handy use for this switch is to en-able the ALT 3-4 mix to become a submix ofthe MAIN MIX , using the CTL ROOM /SUBMIX fader as its level control.

Side effects: (1) Engaging this switch willalso feed any soloed channels into the MAINMIX, which may be the last thing you want. (2)If you have MAIN MIX as your SOURCE matrixselection and then engage ASSIGN TO MAINMIX, the MAIN MIX lines to the SOURCE ma-trix will be interrupted, to prevent feedback.Then again, why on earth would anyone wantto assign the MAIN MIX to the MAIN MIX?

METERS – MANY DISPLAYS IN ONE!The 1402-VLZ PRO’s peak metering system

is made up of two columns of twelve LEDs. De-ceptively simple, considering the multitude ofsignals that can be monitored by it.

If nothing is selected in the SOURCE matrix and no channels are in SOLO, the METERS

will just sit there and look stupid. To put themto work, you must make a selection in theSOURCE matrix (or engage a SOLO switch).

24

AUX 1 SELECTBesides being used to work effects into your

mix, Aux Sends serve another critical role —that of delivering cue mixes to stage monitors,so musicians can hear what they’re doing. Onthe 1402-VLZ PRO, AUX SEND 1 can play ei-ther role, depending on the position of thisswitch.

With the AUX 1 SELECT switch up (disen-gaged), AUX SEND 1 will tap a channelpre-FADER and pre-MUTE/ALT 3-4, meaningthat no matter how you manipulate those con-trols as they feed the MAIN MIX, the AUXSEND will continue to belt out a constant sig-nal level. This is the preferred method forsetting up stage monitor feeds. EQ settingswill affect all AUX SENDS.

With the switch down, AUX SEND 1 be-comes an ordinary effects send — post-FADERand post-MUTE/ALT 3-4. This is a must for ef-fects sends, since you want the levels of your“wet” signals to follow the level of the “dry.”

AUX 1 MASTERThe AUX 1 MASTER provides overall level

control of AUX SEND 1, just before it’s deliv-ered to the AUX 1 OUTPUT. (AUX SEND 2 hasno such control.) This knob goes from off(turned fully down), to Unity gain at the centerdetent, with 10dB of extra gain (turned fullyup). As with some other level controls, you maynever need the additional gain, but if you everdo, you’ll be glad you bought a Mackie.

This is usually the knob you turn up whenthe lead singer glares at you, points at hisstage monitor, and sticks his thumb up in theair. (It would follow suit that if the singerstuck his thumb down, you’d turn the knobdown, but that never happens.)

AUX RETURNSThese two controls set the overall level of

effects received from STEREO AUX RETURN in-puts 1 and 2 . These controls are designed tohandle a wide range of signal levels, from off, tounity gain at the detent, with 20dB gain fullyclockwise, to compensate for low-level effects.

Typically, these knobs can just live at thecenter detent, and the effects device’s outputcontrol should be set at whatever they callUnity gain (check their manual). If that turnsout to be too loud or too quiet, adjust the ef-fects device’s outputs, not the mixer. That way,the mixer’s knobs are easy to relocate at thecenter detent.

AUX TALKFirst of all, there is no par-

ticular alliance between AUXSEND 1 (or 2) and AUXRETURN 1 (or 2). They’re

just numbers. They’re like two completestrangers, both named Fred.

Here’s the whole idea behind sends and re-turns: sends are outputs, returns are inputs.AUX SENDs tap signals off the channels, viatheir AUX knobs , mix these signals, thensend them out via the AUX SEND jacks .

These outputs are fed to the inputs of a re-verb or other device. From there, the outputs ofthis external device are fed back to the mixer’sAUX RETURN jacks . Then these signals aresent through the AUX RETURN level controls,and finally delivered to the MAIN MIX.

So, the original “dry” signals go from thechannels to the MAIN MIX and the affected“wet” signals go from the Aux Returns to theMAIN MIX, and once mixed together, the dryand wet signals combine to create a glorioussound. So, armed with this knowledge, let’svisit the Auxiliary World:

30

20

OO

405060

30

20

OO

405060

dB10

5

5

U

10

dB10

5

5

U

10

U

OO+10U

U

OO+20

OO+20

28

10

7

4

2

0

2

4

7

10

20

30

LEVELSET

LEFT RIGHT

MAIN MIX

SOLOMODE


C-R/SOURCE

POWERPHANTOM

RUDESOLOLIGHT

AUX 1SELECT

EFX TOMONITOR

AUX 1 MASTER

AUXRETURN

1

2PRE

POST


NORMALLED

0dB=0dBu

ALT 3–4

TAPE

ASSIGNTO MAIN MIX

25

Signals passing through the AUX RETURNlevel controls will proceed directly to MAINMIX , with one exception (see next para-graph). The AUX RETURNS do not haveMUTE/ALT 3-4 switches, so if you wantthese signals to get to the ALT 3-4 mix, you’llhave to patch the effects device’s outputsinto one of the stereo channels, and MUTE/ALT that channel .

EFX TO MONITORThe idea behind this great feature is simple:

If you want to add reverb or delay to the stagemonitor mixes, this is the switch for you. Theimplementation leading up to the switch is thetricky part:

With the switch up, AUX RETURN 1 and 2behave normally — they deliver their signalsinto the MAIN MIX. With the switch down,AUX RETURN 1 still behaves normally, butAUX RETURN 2’s level control will feed AUXSEND 1 instead of the MAIN MIX.

Still with us? Good. So far, with the switchdown, we have AUX RETURN 1 feeding theMAIN MIX and AUX RETURN 2 feeding AUXSEND 1. Now, suppose you only have one ef-fects device, and you want it to feed both theMAIN MIX and AUX SEND 1. That’s where“jack normalling” comes in.

JACK NORMALLINGJack normalling (not to be confused with

Jack Normalling, Chicago Cubs utility infielder,1952-61, .267 LBA) is a feature found on al-most every mixer, keyboard and effects device.These jacks have special spring-loaded pinsthat connect to the signal pins, but whensomething is plugged into the jack, that con-nection is broken.

These normalling pins can be used in allsorts of ways. The ubiquitous phrase “LEFT(MONO)” means that if you plug a signal intothe LEFT side and have nothing in the RIGHTside, that signal is also fed to the right input,

courtesy of jack normalling. As soon as youplug something in the RIGHT side, thatnormalled connection is broken.

How does all this relate to the EFX TOMONITOR switch? AUX RETURN 1’s inputsare normalled to AUX RETURN 2. If you haveone effects device, plug it into AUX RETURN 1.Plug nothing into AUX RETURN 2. Now thesignals feeding the AUX RETURN 1 inputs willalso be sent to the AUX RETURN 2 inputs.

Engage the EFX TO MONITOR switch, andnow the AUX RETURN 2 knob will become anadditional AUX SEND 1 knob for the signal atthe AUX RETURN 1 . Say that ten times!Once again, AUX RETURN 1 will behave nor-mally, as always.

Congratulations! You’ve just read about allthe features of your 1402-VLZ PRO. You’reprobably ready for a cold one. Go ahead. Therest of the manual can wait.

30

20

OO

405060

30

20

OO

405060

dB10

5

5

U

10

dB10

5

5

U

10

U

OO+10U

U

OO+20

OO+20

28

10

7

4

2

0

2

4

7

10

20

30

LEVELSET

LEFT RIGHT

MAIN MIX

SOLOMODE


C-R/SOURCE

POWERPHANTOM

RUDESOLOLIGHT

AUX 1SELECT

EFX TOMONITOR

AUX 1 MASTER

AUXRETURN

1

2PRE

POST


NORMALLED

0dB=0dBu

ALT 3–4

TAPE

ASSIGNTO MAIN MIX

26

MODIFICATIONSUL Warning

Caution! These modification instructionsare for use by qualified personnel only. Toavoid electric shock, do not perform any ser-vicing other than changing the fuse unlessyou are qualified to do so. Refer all servicingand modifying to qualified personnel.

Mackie DisclaimerAny modification of any Mackie Designs

product must be performed by a competentelectronic technician. Mackie Designs ac-cepts no responsibility for any damages orinjuries caused by any modification, regard-less of the source of the modificationinstructions or the qualifications of the tech-nician performing them. In the case of suchdamages, Mackie Designs may declarewarranty privileges void. BE CAREFUL!

A Note About JumpersWhen installing jumpers, do not run their

ends through holes in the circuit board.Rather, solder them flat against the desiredpad (the flat silver area, possibly with a hole inthe middle). Make sure the ends of these flatwires do not extend beyond the pad.

For most folks, the 1402-VLZ PRO works justfine the way it is. But for special applications,there are three signal routing changes that canbe performed easily on the 1402-VLZ PRO. Easyfor someone with soldering experience, that is.If you don’t know how to solder, find a techni-cian that can. This is NOT a good place to learn!• Modification A changes AUX SEND 2 to be

pre-fader, pre-mute instead of post-fader,post-mute.

• Mod B changes AUX SEND 1 (in postmode) and AUX SEND 2 to receive signalregardless of the channel’s MUTE/ALTswitch position, but still be post-fader(GAIN knob).

• Mod C changes the SOURCE matrix’sMAIN MIX selection to tap the stereosignal before the MAIN MIX level control(pre) instead of after (post).

Holes

Jumper

Solder

BEFORE

AFTER

27

1. PRE-FADER MOD (AUX TO MONITOR)

This modification changes AUX SEND 2 tobe pre-fader, pre-mute instead of post-fader,post-mute. (“Mute” refers to the channel’sMUTE/ALT 3–4 switch.) In order to convertthe entire mixer, it must be done on eachchannel, and is slightly more involved for thestereo channels 7–14. The work area is on theunderside of the circuit board, near the chan-nel AUX SEND knobs.1. Remove all cords, including the power

cable, from the 1402-VLZ PRO.2. Place the mixer upside-down on a dry,

non-marring surface.3. Remove the screws that attach the bottom

cover. Keep track of what screws go where.Remove the bottom cover.

4. Using a sharp “X-acto” type knife, cut theconductor at point ‘A’ (channels 1–6) orthe conductors at points ‘AL’ and ‘AR’(channels 7–14). Be careful to cut all theway through the conductor, and do not cutany nearby traces.

5. Add a jumper from point ‘B’ to the square padat point ‘A’ (channels 1–6) or from points ‘BL’to ‘AL’ and ‘BR’ to ‘AR’ (channels 7–14).

6. Repeat for all channels.7. Check your work very carefully, then put

the bottom cover back the way you foundit. You’re done!

Channels 1–6

Channels 7–14

CUTHERE

CUTHERE4CUT

HERE

5JUMPERSHERE

JUMPERSHERE

CUTHERE

4

5

CUTHERE

4 CUTHERE

4

JUMPERSHERE 5JUMPERS

HERE 5JUMPERSHERE

28

2. PRE-MUTE MOD

This modification changes AUX SEND 1 (inpost mode) and AUX SEND 2 to receive signalregardless of the channel’s MUTE/ALT 3–4switch position, but still be post-fader. In orderto convert the entire mixer, it must be done oneach channel, and is slightly more involved forthe stereo channels 7–14. The work area is onthe underside of the circuit board, near thechannel MUTE/ALT 3–4 switches.1. Remove all cords, including the power

cable, from the 1402-VLZ PRO.2. Place the mixer upside-down on a dry,

non-marring surface.3. Remove the screws that attach the bottom

cover. Keep track of what screws go where.Remove the bottom cover.

4. Using a sharp “X-acto” type knife, cut theconductor at point ‘C’ (channels 1–6) orthe conductors at points ‘CL’ and ‘CR’(channels 7–14). Be careful to cut all theway through the conductor, and do not cutany nearby traces.

5. Locate the 12 pins that comprise theunderside of each MUTE/ALT 3–4 switch.

6. Add jumpers as shown on the illustrationbelow — they’re not specifically marked onthe circuit board itself, so be careful.

7. Repeat for all channels.8. Check your work very carefully, then put

the bottom cover back the way you foundit. You’re done!

Channels 1–6

Channels 7–14

CUTHERE

4

6 6

CUTHERE

4 CUTHERE

4

JUMPERSHERE

JUMPERSHERE 6JUMPERS

HERE

CUTHERE

CUTHERE

44

66JUMPERSHERE

JUMPERSHERE

29

3. MAIN MIX SOURCE MOD

This modification changes the SOURCEmatrix’s MAIN MIX selection to tap the stereosignal before the MAIN MIX level control(pre) instead of after (post). This could beespecially handy for live work where the engi-neer wants to be able to control the MAIN MIXlevel (sent to the house system) withoutchanging the level in his headphones. Thework area is on the underside of the circuitboard, near the MAIN MIX level control.

Caution: This modification also causes themeters to indicate pre MAIN MIX levels. Theywill not longer indicate the signal level at theMAIN OUTS, but rather the signal level at thePHONES and CONTROL ROOM outputs (whenMAIN MIX SOURCE is selected).

1. Remove all cords, including the powercable, from the 1402-VLZ PRO.

2. Place the mixer upside-down on a dry, non-marring surface.

3. Remove the screws that attach the bottomcover. Keep track of what screws go where.Remove the bottom cover.

4. Using a sharp “X-acto” type knife, cut theconductor at points ‘XL’ and ‘XR’. Be carefulto cut all the way through the conductor,and do not cut any nearby traces.

5. Add a jumper from point ‘YL’ to the squarepad at point ‘XL’ and from point ‘YR’ to thesquare pad at point ‘XR’.

6. Check your work very carefully, then putthe bottom cover back the way you foundit. You’re done!

CUTHERE 4

JUMPERSHERE 5

30

1402-VLZ PRO BLOCK DIAGRAM

MID HI

80 2K5 12K

LO

MAI

N L

MAI

N R

ALT

LAL

T R

AUX

1 PRE

AUX

1 PO

STAU

X 2

POST

SOLO

/PFL

AFL

LPHANTOM POWER (GLOBAL SWITCH)

MIC IN

LINE IN

TRIM

INSERT

LOW CUT

3-BAND EQ

FADERPAN MUTE / ALT

MONO CHANNEL (1 OF 6)

21

3

STEREO CHANNEL (1 OF 4)

LINE IN L

LINE IN R

3-BAND EQ

FADER

PAN

MUTE / ALT

AUX RETURN 1

L IN

R IN

AUX RETURN 2

L IN(MONO)

R IN

GAIN

GAIN

EFX TO MONITOR

MACKIE 1402-VLZ PROSIGNAL FLOW-- INPUTS1/99

MID HI

80 2K5 12K

LO

MID HI

80 2K5 12K

LO

75HzHPF

+4 /-10

AFL

R

LOG

IC

1

2

3

4

AFL L

AFL R

POST

LOGIC

SOLO

AUX SEND 2

AUX SEND 1PRE

PFL

1

2

3

4

AFL L

AFL R

LOGIC

SOLO

PFL

POST

AUX SEND 2

AUX SEND 1PRE

31

MA

IN L

MA

IN R

ALT

LA

LT R

AUX

1 PR

EA

UX 1

POST

AUX

2 P

OST

SOLO

/PFL

LOG

IC

MAIN MIX MAIN FADERS 30dB PAD

TAPE OUT L

LINE OUT L

BAL OUT L

BAL OUT R

LINE OUT R

ALT MIX

ALT OUT L

ALT OUT R

ALT

TAPE

MAIN

SOURCE

CONTROL ROOM &PHONES FADER

METERING(0dBu = 0VU)

CONTROL ROOM LEFT

CONTROL ROOM RIGHT

PHONES OUT

AUX 1 MIX

AUX 1 PRE / POST

AUX 2 OUT

AUX 1 OUT

TAPE IN

L

RCONTROL ROOM &PHONES MIX

2

3 1

2

3 1

AUX 1 LEVEL

TAPE OUT R

22107420247102030

AFL

LA

FL R

SOLO RELAY

PFL LED

RUDESOLOLED

AFL (AFTER FADER LISTEN)/PFL (PRE-FADER LISTEN)

ASSIGN TO MAIN

AFL L

PFL

AFL R

AUX 2 MIX

MACKIE 1402-VLZ PROSIGNAL FLOW-- OUTPUTS1/99

SOLO MIX

32

GAIN STRUCTURE DIAGRAM

+22d

Bu m

ax in

15dB

loss

, TRI

M d

own

45dB

gai

n, T

RIM

up

+22d

Bu m

ax in

Unit

y ga

in

LIN

E IN

, Cha

nnel

s 7–

14

LIN

E IN

, Cha

nnel

s 1–

6

MIC

IN, C

hann

els

1–6

60d

B ga

in, T

RIM

up

0dB

gain

, TRI

M d

own

+22d

Bu m

ax in

+15d

B up

–15d

B do

wn

LOW

+12d

B up

–12d

B do

wn

MID

+15d

b up

–15d

B do

wn

HIG

H

+10d

B up

FADE

RPA

N

–4dB

cen

ter

EQM

IX

0dB

1/4"

Out

and

RCA

Tap

e O

ut

–30d

B XL

R O

UT, P

AD

enga

ged

+6dB

XLR

OUT

OUT

PUTS

CHA

NN

ELM

AIN

MIX

to ‘A

’‘A

’

to ‘A

’

to ‘A

’

to ‘D

’

MA

IN M

IX, A

LT 3

–40d

B

0dB

0dB

TAPE

IN 6

dB B

oost

‘D’

+10d

B up

OUT

PUT

0dB

SOUR

CE M

atrix

C-R/

PHO

NES

MIX

C-R/

PHO

NES

FA

DER

CON

TRO

L RO

OM

/ PH

ON

ES

C‘B

’0d

B

From

‘B’

+12d

B en

gage

d+1

0dB

up

Chan

nel A

UX S

END

AUX

MIX

Mas

ter A

UX S

END

0dB

OUT

PUT

AUX

SEN

D

INPU

T

+20d

B up

to ‘C

’0d

B

LEVE

L

AUX

RET

URN

+22d

Bu m

ax o

ut (1

/4" &

RCA

)

+28

dBu

max

out

(XLR

)

+22d

Bu m

ax o

ut

+16

dBu

max

TA

PE IN

+22d

Bu m

ax in

+22d

Bu m

ax o

ut

to ‘C

’

FADE

R

+10d

B up

+4 (d

Bu) /

–10

(dBV

)

33

SPECIFICATIONS

Mackie Designs is always striving to improve our mixers by incorporating new and improvedmaterials, components and manufacturing methods. Because we’re always trying to make thingsbetter, we reserve the right to change these specifications at any time, without notice.

Main Mix Noise20Hz–20kHz bandwidth, 1/4" Main out, channels 1–6 Trim@ unity gain, channel EQs flat, all channels assigned toMain Mix, channels 1 and 3 Pan left, 2 and 4 Pan right.

Main Mix fader down, channel faders down: –100.0dBuMain Mix fader unity, channel faders down: –86.5dBu(90dB Signal-to-Noise Ratio, ref +4dBu)Main Mix fader @ unity, channel faders @ unity: –84.5dBu

Total Harmonic Distortion (THD)1kHz @ +14dBu, 20Hz–20kHz

Mic in to Main out: 0.0007%

Attenuation (Crosstalk)1kHz relative to 0dBu, 20Hz–20kHzbandwidth, Line in, 1⁄4" Main Out, Trim @ unity

Main fader down: –85dBuChannel Alt / Mute switch engaged: –84dBuChannel fader down: –83dBu

Frequency ResponseMic input to any output

20Hz to 60kHz: +0dB/–1dB20Hz to 100kHz: +0dB/–3dB

Equivalent Input Noise (EIN)Mic in to Insert Send out, max gain

150 ohm termination: –129.5dBm unweighted

Common Mode Rejection (CMR)Mic in to Insert Send out, max gain

1kHz: better than –90dB

Maximum LevelsMic in: +22dBuTape in: +16dBuAll other inputs: +22dBuMain Mix XLR out: +28dBuAll other outputs: +22dBu

ImpedancesMic in: 1.3 kilohmsChannel Insert return: 2.5 kilohmsAll other inputs: 10 kilohms or greaterTape out: 1.1 kilohmsAll other outputs: 120 ohms

EQHigh Shelving: +/–15db @ 12kHzMid Peaking: +/–12dB @ 2.5kHzLow Shelving: +/–15db @ 80Hz

Power Consumption120VAC, 50/60Hz, 25 watts

Fuse Rating120V: 500mA slo blo, 5 x 20mm220–240V: 250mA slo blo, 5 x 20mm

12.9

" (32

.8cm

)8

rack

spa

ces

14" (35.6cm)

2.9"

(7

.4cm

)

2.9" (7.4cm)

13.1"

(33

.27c

m)

WEIGHT9.5 lbs.(4.5 kg.)

34

SERVICE INFODetails concerning Warranty Service are

spelled out on the Warranty Card included withyour mixer (if it’s missing, let us know and we’llrush one to you).

If you think your 1402-VLZ PRO has a prob-lem, please do everything you can to confirm itbefore calling for service. Doing so might saveyou from the deprivation of your mixer and theassociated suffering.

Of all Mackie products returned for service(which is hardly any at all), roughly 50% arecoded “CND” — Could Not Duplicate, whichusually means the problem lay somewhere otherthan the mixer. These may sound obvious toyou, but here’s some things you can check:

TROUBLESHOOTING

Bad Channel• Is the MUTE/ALT 3–4 switch in the

correct position?• Is the fader turned up?• Try unplugging any INSERT devices

(Channels 1–6 only).• Try the same source signal in another

channel, set up exactly like thesuspect channel.

Bad Output

• Is the associated level control (if any)turned up?

• If it’s one of the Main outputs, try unplug-ging all the others. For example, if it’s the1⁄4" Left Main out, unplug the RCA and XLRLeft outputs. If the problem goes away itsnot the mixer.

• If it’s a stereo pair, try switching themaround. For example, if a left output ispresumed dead, switch the left and rightcords, at the mixer end. If the problemstays on the left it’s not the mixer.

Noise

• Turn the channel fader and AUXRETURN knobs down, one by one. If thesound disappears, it’s either that chan-nel or whatever is plugged into it, sounplug whatever that is. If the noisedisappears, it’s from your whatever.

Power

• Our favorite question: Is the POWERswitch on?

• Check the fuse .

REPAIRService for the U.S. version of the 1402-VLZ

PRO is available only from Mackie Designs, lo-cated in sunny Woodinville, Washington.(Service for mixers living outside the UnitedStates can be obtained through local dealersor distributors.) If your mixer needs service,follow these instructions:1. Review the preceding troubleshooting

suggestions. Please.2. Call Tech Support at 1-800-258-6883, 8am

to 5pm PST, to explain the problem andrequest an RA number. Have your mixer’sserial number ready. You must have aReturn Authorization number, or wemay refuse the delivery.

3. Set aside the power cord, owner’s manual,or anything else that you’ll ever want to seeagain. We are responsible for the return ofthe mixer only.

4. Pack the mixer in its original package,including endcaps and box. This is VERYIMPORTANT. When you call for the RAnumber, please let Tech Support know ifyou need a new box. Mackie is not respon-sible for any damage that occurs due tonon-factory packaging.

5. Include a legible note stating your name,shipping address (no P.O. boxes), daytimephone number, RA number and a detaileddescription of the problem, including howwe can duplicate it.

6. Write the RA number in BIG PRINT on topof the box.

7. Ship the mixer to us. We recommendUnited Parcel Service (UPS). We suggestinsurance for all forms of cartage. Ship tothis address:

Mackie DesignsSERVICE DEPARTMENT16220 Wood-Red Rd. NEWoodinville, WA 98072

8. We’ll try to fix the mixer within threebusiness days. Ask Tech Support for thelatest turn-around times when you call foryour RA number. We normally send every-thing back prepaid using UPS BLUE(Second Day Air). However, if you rushyour mixer to us by Next Day Air, we’ll shipit back to you UPS RED (Next Day Air).This paragraph does not necessarily applyto non-warranty service.

35

This Glossary contains brief definitions ofmany of the audio and electronic terms used indiscussions of sound mixing and recording. Manyof the terms have other meanings or nuances orvery rigorous technical definitions which we havesidestepped here because we figure you alreadyhave a lot on your mind. If you’d like to get moreinformation, you can call Mix Bookshelf at 1-800-233-9604. We recommend the following titles: TheAudio Dictionary, by Glenn White; Tech Terms,by Peterson & Oppenheimer; Handbook forSound Engineers, by Glen Ballou, Mackie MixerBook by Rudy Trubitt and Sound ReinforcementHandbook, by Gary Davis.AFL

An acronym for After Fade Listen, which isanother way of saying post-fader solo function.assign

In sound mixers, assign means to switch orroute a signal to a particular signal path orcombination of signal paths.attenuate

To reduce or make quieter.aux

See next entry.auxiliary

In sound mixers, supplemental equipmentor features that provide additional capabilitiesto the basic system. Examples of auxiliaryequipment include: serial processors (equaliz-ers, compressors, limiters, gates) and paralleldevices (reverberation and delay). Most mix-ers have aux send buses and aux return inputsto accommodate auxiliary equipment.balanced

In a classic balanced audio circuit, the twolegs of the circuit (+ and –) are isolated fromthe circuit ground by exactly the same imped-ance. Additionally, each leg may carry the signalat exactly the same level but with opposite po-larity with respect to ground. In some balancedcircuits, only one leg actually carries the signalbut both legs exhibit the same impedance char-acteristics with respect to ground. Balancedinput circuits can offer excellent rejection ofcommon-mode noise induced into the line andalso make proper (no ground loops) systemgrounding easier. Usually terminated with 1⁄4"TRS or XLR connectors.

bandwidthThe band of frequencies that pass through a

device with a loss of less than 3dB, expressedin Hertz or in musical octaves. Also see Q.bus

An electrical connection common to threeor more circuits. In mixer design, a bus usuallycarries signals from a number of inputs to amixing amplifier, just like a city bus carriespeople from a number of neighborhoods totheir jobs.Cannon

A manufacturer of electrical connectorswho first popularized the three-pin connectornow used universally for balanced microphoneconnections. In sound work, a Cannon connec-tor is taken to mean a Cannon XLR-3 micconnector or any compatible connector.cardioid

Means heart-shaped. In sound work, car-dioid refers to the shape of the sensitivitypattern of some directional microphones.channel

A functional path in an audio circuit: aninput channel, an output channel, a recordingchannel, the left channel and so on.channel strip

The physical representation of an audiochannel on the front panel of a mixer; usuallya long, vertical strip of controls.chorusing

An effect available in some digital delayeffects units and reverbs. Chorusing involves anumber of moving delays and pitch shifting,usually panned across a stereo field. Depend-ing on how used, it can be lovely or grotesque.clipping

A cause of severe audio distortion that isthe result of excessive gain requiring the peaksof the audio signal to rise above the capabili-ties of the amplifier circuit. Seen on anoscilloscope, the audio peaks appear clippedoff. To avoid distortion, reduce the system gainin or before the gain stage in which the clip-ping occurs. See also headroom.

APPENDIX A: GLOSSARY

36

condenserAnother term for the electronic component

generally known as a capacitor. In audio,condenser usually refers to a type of micro-phone that uses a capacitor as the soundpickup element. Condenser microphonesrequire electrical power to run internal ampli-fiers and maintain an electrical charge on thecapacitor. They are typically powered by inter-nal batteries or “phantom power” supplied byan external source, such as a mixing console.console

A term for a sound mixer, usually a large desk-like mixer.cueing

In broadcast, stage and post-productionwork, to “cue up” a sound source (a record, asound effect on a CD, a song on a tape) meansto get it ready for playback by making sure youare in the right position on the “cue,” makingsure the level and EQ are all set properly. Thisrequires a special monitoring circuit that onlythe mixing engineer hears. It does not go outon the air or to the main mixing buses. This“cueing” circuit is the same as pre-fader (PFL)solo on a Mackie mixer, and often the termsare interchangeable.dB

See decibeldBm

A unit of measurement of audio signal levelin an electrical circuit, expressed in decibelsreferenced to 1 milliwatt. The “m” in dBmstands for “milliwatt.” In a circuit with an im-pedance of 600 ohms, this reference (0dBm)corresponds to a signal voltage of 0.775 VRMS(because 0.775 V across 600 ohms equals1mw).dBu

A unit of measurement of audio signal levelin an electrical circuit, expressed in decibelsreferenced to 0.775 VRMS into any impedance.Commonly used to describe signal levelswithin a modern audio system.dBv

A unit of measurement equal to the dBu butno longer in use. It was too easy to confuse adBv with a dBV, to which it is not equivalent.

dBVA unit of measurement of audio signal level

in an electrical circuit, expressed in decibelsreferenced to 1 VRMS across any impedance.Commonly used to describe signal levels inconsumer equipment. To convert dBV to dBu,add 2.2dB.decibel (dB)

The dB is a ratio of quantities measured insimilar terms using a logarithmic scale. Manyaudio system parameters measure over such alarge range of values that the dB is used tosimplify the numbers. A ratio of1000V:1V=60dB. When one of the terms in theratio is an agreed upon standard value such as0.775V, 1V or 1mw, the ratio becomes an abso-lute value, i.e., +4dBu, –10dBV or 0dBm.delay

In sound work, delay usually refers to anelectronic circuit or effects unit whose pur-pose it is to delay the audio signal for someshort period of time. Delay can refer to oneshort repeat, a series of repeats or the complexinteractions of delay used in chorusing or re-verb. When delayed signals are mixed backwith the original sound, a great number ofaudio effects can be generated, including phas-ing and flanging, doubling, Haas-effectpositioning, slap or slapback, echo, regenera-tive echo, chorusing and hall-likereverberation. Signal time delay is central tomany audio effects units.detent

A point of slight physical resistance (a click-stop) in the travel of a knob or slide control,used in Mackie mixers to indicate unity gain.dipping

The opposite of peaking, of course. A dip isan EQ curve that looks like a valley, or a dip.Dipping with an equalizer reduces a band offrequencies. (See guacamole.)doubling

A delay effect, where the original signal ismixed with a medium (20 to 50 msec) delay.When used carefully, this effect can simulatedouble-tracking (recording a voice or instru-ment twice).dry

Usually means without reverberation, orwithout some other applied effect like delay orchorusing. Dry is not wet, i.e. totally unaffected.

37

dynamicIn sound work, dynamic refers to the class

of microphones that generate electrical signalsby the movement of a coil in a magnetic field.Dynamic microphones are rugged, relativelyinexpensive, capable of very good performanceand do not require external power.dynamic range

The range between the maximum and mini-mum sound levels that a sound system canhandle. It is usually expressed in decibels asthe difference between the level at peak clip-ping and the level of the noise floor.echo

The reflection of sound from a surface suchas a wall or a floor. Reverberation and echo areterms that can be used interchangeably, but inaudio parlance a distinction is usually made:echo is considered to be a distinct, recogniz-able repetition (or series of repetitions) of aword, note, phrase or sound, whereas rever-beration is a diffuse, continuously smoothdecay of sound. Echo and reverberation can beadded in sound mixing by sending the originalsound to an electronic (or electronic/acoustic)system that mimics natural echoes, and thensome. The added echo is returned to the blendthrough additional mixer inputs. Highly echoicrooms are called live; rooms with very littleecho are called dead. A sound source withoutadded echo is dry; one with reverb or echoadded is wet.effects devices

External signal processors used to add re-verb, delay, spatial or psychoacoustic effects toan audio signal. An effects processor may beused as an insert processor (serial) on a par-ticular input or subgroup, or it may be used viathe aux send/return system(parallel). See alsoecho, reverb.EIN

Equivalent Input Noise. Specification thathelps measure the “quietness” of a gain stage byderiving the equivalent input noise voltage nec-essary to obtain a given preamp's output noise.Typically ranges from –125 to –129.5 dBm.EQ

See equalization

EQ curveA graph of the response of an equalizer,

with frequency on the x (horizontal) axis andamplitude (level) on the y (vertical) axis.Equalizer types and effects are often named af-ter the shape of the graphed response curve,such as peak, dip, shelf, notch, knee and so on.equalization

Equalization (EQ) refers to purposefullychanging the frequency response of a circuit,sometimes to correct for previous unequal re-sponse (hence the term, equalization), andmore often to add or subtract level at certainfrequencies for sound enhancement, to removeextraneous sounds, or to create completelynew and different sounds.

Bass and treble controls on your stereo areEQ; so are the units called parametrics andgraphics and notch filters.

A lot of how we refer to equalization has todo with what a graph of the frequency re-sponse would look like. A flat response (noEQ) is a straight line; a peak looks like a hill, adip is a valley, a notch is a really skinny valley,and a shelf looks like a plateau (or a shelf).The slope is the grade of the hill on the graph.

Graphic equalizers have enough frequencyslider controls to form a graph of the EQ righton the front panel. Parametric EQs let you varyseveral EQ parameters at once. A filter is sim-ply a form of equalizer that allows certainfrequencies through unmolested while reduc-ing or eliminating other frequencies.

Aside from the level controls, EQs are prob-ably the second most powerful controls on anymixer (no, the power switch doesn’t count!).fader

Another name for an audio level control. To-day, the term refers to a straight-line slidecontrol rather than a rotary control.family of curves

A composite graph showing on one chartseveral examples of possible EQ curves for agiven equalizer or equalizer section.

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filterA simple equalizer designed to remove cer-

tain ranges of frequencies. A low-cut filter(also called a high-pass filter) reduces oreliminates frequencies below its cutoff fre-quency. There are also high-cut (low-pass)filters, bandpass filters, which cut both highand low frequencies but leave a band of fre-quencies in the middle untouched, and notchfilters, which remove a narrow band but leavethe high and low frequencies alone.flanging

A term for phasing. Before digital delay ef-fects units, phasing could be accomplished byplaying two tape machines in synchronization,then delaying one slightly by rubbing a fingeron the reel flange. Get it?FOH

An acronym for Front Of House. See houseand main house speakers.frequency

The number of times an event repeats itselfin a given period. Sound waves and the electri-cal signals that represent sound waves in anaudio circuit have repetitive patterns thatrange from a frequency of about 20 repetitionsper second to about 20,000 repetitions per sec-ond. Sound is the vibration or combination ofvibrations in this range of 20 to 20,000 repeti-tions per second, which gives us the sensationof pitch, harmonics, tone and overtones. Fre-quency is measured in units called Hertz (Hz).One Hertz is one repetition or cycle per sec-ond.gain

The measure of how much a circuit ampli-fies a signal. Gain may be stated as a ratio ofinput to output values, such as a voltage gainof 4, or a power gain of 1.5, or it can be ex-pressed in decibels, such as a line amplifierwith a gain of 10dB.gain stage

An amplification point in a signal path,either within a system or a single device.Overall system gain is distributed betweenthe various gain stages.

graphic EQA graphic equalizer uses slide pots for its

boost/cut controls, with its frequencies evenlyspaced through the audio spectrum. In a per-fect world, a line drawn through the centers ofthe control shafts would form a graph of thefrequency response curve. Get it? Or, the posi-tions of the slide pots give a graphicrepresentation of boost or cut levels across thefrequency spectrum.ground

Also called earth. Ground is defined as thepoint of zero voltage in a circuit or system, thereference point from which all other voltagesare measured. In electrical systems, groundconnections are used for safety purposes, tokeep equipment chassis and controls at zerovoltage and to provide a safe path for errantcurrents. This is called a safety ground.

Maintaining a good safety ground is alwaysessential to prevent electrical shock. Followmanufacturer’s suggestions and good electricalpractices to ensure a safely grounded system.Never remove or disable the grounding pin onthe power cord.

In computer and audio equipment, tiny cur-rents and voltages can cause noise in thecircuits and hamper operation. In addition toproviding safety, ground provisions in thesesituations serve to minimize the pickup, detec-tion and distribution of these tiny noisesignals. This type of ground is often calledtechnical ground.

Quality audio equipment is designed tomaintain a good technical ground and also op-erate safely with a good safety ground. If youhave noise in your system due to technicalgrounding problems, check your manual forwiring tips or call technical support. Never dis-able the safety ground to reduce noiseproblems.ground loop

A ground loop occurs when the technicalground within an audio system is connected tothe safety ground at more than one place. Twoor more connections will allow tiny currents toflow in the loops created, possibly inducingnoise (hum) in the audio system. If you havenoise in your system due to ground loops, checkyour manual for wiring tips or call technicalsupport. Never disable the safety ground to re-duce noise problems.

39

Haas effectA psychoacoustic effect in which the time of

arrival of a sound to the left and right ears af-fects our perception of direction. If a signal ispresented to both ears at the same time at thesame volume, it appears to be directly in frontof us. But if the signal to one ear, still at thesame volume, is delayed slightly (0 to 5 msec),the sound appears to be coming from the ear-lier (non-delayed) side.headroom

The difference between nominal operatinglevel and peak clipping in an audio system. Forexample, a mixer operating with a nominal linelevel of +4dBu and a maximum output level of+22dBu has 18dB of headroom. Plenty of roomfor surprise peaks.Hertz

The unit of measure for frequency of oscilla-tion, equal to 1 cycle per second. AbbreviatedHz. KHz is pronounced “kay-Hertz” and is anabbreviation for kilohertz, or 1000 Hertz.house

In Sound Reinforcement parlance, “house”refers to the systems (and even persons) re-sponsible for the primary sound reinforcementin a given hall, building, arena or “house.” Hencewe have the house mixer or house engineer, thehouse mix, the house mix amps, the main housespeakers and so on.Hz

See Hertz.impedance

The A.C. resistance/capacitance/inductancein an electrical circuit, measured in ohms. Inaudio circuits (and other AC circuits) the im-pedance in ohms can often be much differentfrom the circuit resistance as measured by aDC ohmmeter.

Maintaining proper circuit impedance rela-tionships is important to avoid distortion andminimize added noise. Mackie input and outputimpedances are set to work well with the vastmajority of audio equipment.input module

A holdover from the days when the only waythat real consoles were built was in modular fash-ion, one channel per module. See channel strip.knee

A knee is a sharp bend in an EQ responsecurve not unlike the sharp bend in your leg.Also used in describing dynamics processors.

levelAnother word for signal voltage, power,

strength or volume. Audio signals are some-times classified according to their level.Commonly used levels are: microphone level(–40dBu or lower), instrument level (–20 to–10dBu), and line level (–10 to +30dBu).line level

A signal whose level falls between –10dBuand +30dBu.main house speakers

The main loudspeakers for a sound rein-forcement system. These are usually thelargest and loudest loudspeakers, and are usu-ally positioned so that their sound seems tocome from the area of the main stage.mains

See main house speakers.master

A control affecting the final output of a mixer.A mixer may have several master controls, whichmay be slide faders or rotary controls.mic amp

See mic preamp.mic level

The typical level of a signal from a micro-phone. A mic level signal (usually but notalways coming from a microphone) is gener-ally below –30dBu. With a very quiet source (apin dropping?) the signal can be –70dBu orlower. It is also possible for some microphonesto deliver more signal than this, in which caseit may be referred to as a “hot” mic level. Alter-natively, you can just say, “Boy, is that loud!”mic pre

See mic preamp.mic preamp

Short for microphone preamplifier. An ampli-fier that functions to bring the very low signallevel of a microphone (approximately –50dBu)up to line level (approximately 0dBu). Micpreamps often have their own volume control,called a trim control, to properly set the gain fora particular source. Setting the mic preampgain correctly with the trim control is an es-sential step in establishing good noise andheadroom for your mix.

40

mixerAn electronic device used to combine

various audio signals into a common output.Different from a blender, which combines vari-ous fruits into a common libation.monaural

Literally, pertaining to or having the use ofonly one ear. In sound work, monaural has to dowith a signal which, for purposes of communicat-ing audio information, has been confined to asingle channel. One microphone is a monopickup; many microphones mixed to one chan-nel is a mono mix; a mono signal played throughtwo speakers is still mono, since it only carriesone channel of information. Several monauralsources, however, can be panned into a stereo(or at least two-channel, if you are going to bepicky) mix. Monaural SR is common for envi-ronments where stereo SR would provide anuneven reproduction to the listener.monitor

In sound reinforcement, monitor speakers(or monitor headphones or in-the-ear moni-tors) are those speakers used by theperformers to hear themselves. Monitor speak-ers are also called foldback speakers. Inrecording, the monitor speakers are those usedby the production staff to listen to the record-ing as it progresses. In zoology, the monitorlizard is the lizard that observes the produc-tion staff as the recording progresses. Keep thelizard out of the mixer.mono

Short for monaural.mult

Probably short for multiple. In audio work,a mult is a parallel connection in a patch bayor a connection made with patch cords tofeed an output to more than one input. A “Y”cable is a type of mult connection. Also averb, as in “Why did you mult the flanger intoevery input in the board?”noise

Whatever you don’t want to hear. Could behum, buzz or hiss; could be crosstalk or digitalhash or your neighbor’s stereo; could be whitenoise or pink noise or brown noise; or it couldbe your mother-in-law reliving the day she hadher gallstone removed.

noise floorThe residual level of noise in any system.

In a well designed mixer, the noise floor willbe a quiet hiss, which is the thermal noisegenerated by bouncing electrons in the tran-sistor junctions. The lower the noise floor andthe higher the headroom, the more usable dy-namic range a system has.pan, pan pot

Short for panoramic potentiometer. A panpot is used to position (or even move back andforth) a monaural sound source in a stereo mix-ing field by adjusting the source’s volumebetween the left and right channels. Our brainssense stereo position by hearing this differencein loudness when the sound strikes each ear,taking into account time delay, spectrum, ambi-ent reverberation and other cues.parametric EQ

A “fully” parametric EQ is an extremelypowerful equalizer that allows smooth, con-tinuous control of each of the three primaryEQ parameters (frequency, gain, and band-width) in each section independently. “Semi”parametric EQs allow control of fewer param-eters, usually frequency and gain (i.e., theyhave a fixed bandwidth, but variable centerfrequency and gain).peaking

The opposite of dipping, of course. A peak isan EQ curve that looks like a hill, or a peak.Peaking with an equalizer amplifies a band offrequencies.PFL

An acronym for Pre Fade Listen. Broadcast-ers would call it cueing. Sound folks call it beingable to solo a channel with the fader down.phantom power

A system of providing electrical power forcondenser microphones (and some electronicpickup devices) from the sound mixer. The sys-tem is called phantom because the power iscarried on standard microphone audio wiring ina way that is “invisible” to ordinary dynamic mi-crophones. Mackie mixers use standard +48volt DC power, switchable on or off. Most qualitycondenser microphones are designed to use +48VDC phantom power. Check the manufacturer’srecommendations.

Generally, phantom power is safe to use withnon-condenser microphones as well, especiallydynamic microphones. However, unbalancedmicrophones, some electronic equipment (such

41

as some wireless microphone receivers) andsome ribbon microphones can short out thephantom power and be severely damaged.Check the manufacturer’s recommendationsand be careful!phasing

A delay effect, where the original signal ismixed with a short (0 to 10 msec) delay. Thetime of the delay is slowly varied, and thecombination of the two signals results in a dra-matic moving comb-filter effect. Phasing issometimes imitated by sweeping a comb-filterEQ across a signal. A comb filter can be foundin your back pocket.phone jack

Ever see those old telephone switchboardswith hundreds of jacks and patch cords andplugs? Those are phone jacks and plugs, nowused widely with musical instruments and audioequipment. A phone jack is the female connector,and we use them in 1⁄4" two-conductor (TS) andthree-conductor (TRS) versions.phone plug

The male counterpart to the phone jack,right above.phono jack

See RCA phono jack.phono plug

See RCA phono plug.post-fader

A term used to describe an aux send(usually) that is connected so that it is af-fected by the setting of the associated channelfader. Sends connected this way are typically(but not always) used for effects. See pre-fader.pot, potentiometer

In electronics, a variable resistor that variesthe potential, or voltage. In audio, any rotaryor slide control.pre-fader

A term used to describe an aux send(usually) that is connected so that it is notaffected by the setting of the associated chan-nel fader. Sends connected this way aretypically (but not always) used for monitors(foldback). See post-fader.

proximity effectThe property of many directional micro-

phones to accentuate their bass responsewhen the source-to-mic distance is small,typically three inches or less. Singers gener-ally like this effect even more than singing inthe shower.Q

A way of stating the bandwidth of a filter orequalizer section. An EQ with a Q of .75 is broadand smooth, while a Q of 10 gives a narrow,pointed response curve. To calculate thevalue of Q, you must know the center fre-quency of the EQ section and the frequenciesat which the upper and lower skirts fall 3dBbelow the level of the center frequency. Qequals the center frequency divided by thedifference between the upper and lower –3dBfrequencies. A peaking EQ centered at 10kHzwhose –3dB points are 7.5kHz and 12.5kHzhas a Q of 2.RCA phono jack—or RCA jackor phono jack

An RCA phono jack is an inexpensive con-nector (female) introduced by RCA andoriginally used to connect phonographs to radioreceivers and phono preamplifiers. The phonojack was (and still is) widely used on consumerstereo equipment and video equipment but wasquietly fading into obscurity in the professionaland semi-professional sound world. Then phonojacks began cropping up in early project-studiomultitrack recorders, which (unfortunately)gave them a new lease on life since so manystereo recorders are fitted with them we de-cided we’d have to put a couple on our mixersfor your convenience. But make no mistake: theonly thing that the phono jack (or plug) hasgoing for it is low cost.RCA phono plug

The male counterpart to an RCA phonojack. See above.regeneration

Also called recirculation. A delay effect cre-ated by feeding the output of a delay back intoitself to cause a delay of the delay of the delay.You can do it right on the front panel of manyeffects units, or you can route the delay returnback into itself on your mixer. Can be a greatdeal of fun at parties.

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returnA return is a mixer line input dedicated to

the task of returning processed or addedsound from reverb, echo and other effects de-vices. Depending on the internal routing ofyour mixer and your own inclination, youcould use returns as additional line inputs, oryou could route your reverb outputs to ordi-nary line inputs rather than the returns.reverberation, reverb

The sound remaining in a room after thesource of sound is stopped. It’s what you hearin a large tiled room immediately after you’veclapped your hands. Reverberation and echoare terms that can be used interchangeably,but in audio parlance a distinction is usuallymade: reverberation is considered to be a dif-fuse, continuously smooth decay of sound,whereas echo is a distinct, recognizable repeti-tion of a word, note, phrase or sound.Reverberation and echo can be added in soundmixing by sending the original sound to anelectronic (or electronic/acoustic) system thatmimics natural reverberation, or worse. Theadded reverb is returned to the blend throughadditional mixer inputs. Highly reverberantrooms are called live; rooms with very little re-verberation are called dead. A sound sourcewithout added reverb is dry; one with reverb orecho added is wet.RMS

An acronym for root mean square, a conven-tional way to measure AC voltage and audiosignal voltage. Most AC voltmeters are cali-brated to read RMS volts. Other conventionsinclude average volts, peak volts and peak-to-peak volts.send

A term used to describe a secondary mixand output of the input signals, typically usedfor foldback monitors, headphone monitors oreffects devices. Mackie mixers call it an AuxSend.shelving

A term used to describe the shape of anequalizer’s frequency response. A shelvingequalizer’s response begins to rise (or fall) atsome frequency and continues to fall (or rise)

until it reaches the shelf frequency, at whichpoint the response curve flattens out and re-mains flat to the limits of audibility. If you wereto graph the response, it would look like a shelf.Or more like a shelf than a hiking boot. The EQcontrols on your stereo are usually shelvingequalizers. See also peaking and dipping.slap, slapback

A single-delay echo without any repeats.Also see echo.solo

Italian for alone. In audio mixers, a solo cir-cuit allows the engineer to listen to individualchannels, buses or other circuits singly or incombination with other soloed signals.SR

An acronym for Sound Reinforcement,which refers to a system of amplifying acousticand electronic sounds from a performance orspeech so that a large audience can hearclearly. Or, in popular music, so that a large au-dience can be excited, stunned or evenpartially deafened by the tremendous amplifi-cation. Means essentially the same thing as PA(Public Address).stereo

Believe it or not, stereo comes from a Greekword that means solid. We use stereo orstereophony to describe the illusion of a con-tinuous, spacious soundfield that is seeminglyspread around the listener by two or more re-lated audio signals. In practice, stereo often istaken to simply mean two channesl.sweep EQ

An equalizer that allows you to “sweep” orcontinuously vary the frequency of one ormore sections.symmetrically balanced

See balanced.tinnitus

The ringing in the ears that is producedwith prolonged exposure to high volumes. Asound in the ears, such as buzzing, ringing, orwhistling, caused by volume knob abuse!

43

trimIn audio mixers, the gain adjustment for the

first amplification stage of the mixer. The trimcontrol helps the mixer cope with the widelyvarying range of input signals that come fromreal-world sources. It is important to set thetrim control correctly; its setting determinesthe overall noise performance in that channelof the mixer. See mic preamp.TRS

Acronym for Tip-Ring-Sleeve, a scheme forconnecting three conductors through a singleplug or jack. 1⁄4" phone plugs and jacks and 1⁄8"mini phone plugs and jacks are commonlywired TRS. Since the plug or jack can carrytwo signals and a common ground, TRS con-nectors are often referred to as stereo orbalanced plugs or jacks. Another common TRSapplication is for insert jacks, used for insert-ing an external processor into the signal path.In Mackie mixers the tip is send, ring is return,and sleeve is ground.TS

Acronym for Tip-Sleeve, a scheme for con-necting two conductors through a single plugor jack. 1⁄4" phone plugs and jacks and 1⁄8" miniphone plugs and jacks are commonly wired TS.Sometimes called mono or unbalanced plugsor jacks. A 1⁄4" TS phone plug or jack is alsocalled a standard phone plug or jack.unbalanced

An electrical circuit in which the two legs ofthe circuit are not balanced with respect toground. Usually, one leg will be held at groundpotential. Unbalanced circuit connections re-quire only two conductors (signal “hot” andground). Unbalanced audio circuitry is lessexpensive to build but under certain circum-stances is more susceptible to noise pickup.unity gain

A circuit or system that has its voltage gainadjusted to be one, or unity. A signal will leave aunity gain circuit at the same level at which itentered. In Mackie mixers, unity gain isachieved by setting all variable controls to themarked “U” setting. Mackie mixers are opti-mized for best headroom and noise figures atunity gain.

VLZAcronym for very low impedance.

(Impedence is measured in ohms representedby the Ω symbol, which is the last letter of theGreek alphabet. This is how the letter Z isused instead of I.) VLZ is one of the most im-portant reasons why inherent noise levels onMackie mixing boards are so minuscule. Ther-mal noise is something that’s created by allcircuitry and usually transistors and resistorsare the worst culprits. The basic rule withthermal noise is: the higher the impedance,the more the noise. Mackie’s VLZ design re-duces thermal noise by making internalimpedances as low as possible in as manyplaces as possible within the console. VLZ isachieved by scaling down resistor values by afactor of three or four – resulting in a corre-sponding reduction in thermal noise. This isespecially true for the console’s mixing buses.volume

Electrical or sound level in an audio system.Perhaps the only thing that some bands have toomuch of.VRMS

See RMS.wet

With added reverberation or other effectlike echo, delay or chorusing.XLR connector

See Cannon.

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APPENDIX B: CONNECTIONS

plug is connected tip to left, ring to rightand sleeve to ground (earth). Mackiemixers do not directly accept 1-plug-typestereo microphones. They must be sepa-rated into a left cord and a right cord,which are plugged into the two micpreamps.You can cook up your own adapter for astereo microphone adapter. “Y” two cablesout of a female 1⁄4" TRS jack to two maleXLR plugs, one for the Right signal and onefor the Left.

• Balanced mono circuits. When wired as abalanced connector, a 1⁄4" TRS jack or plug isconnected tip to signal high (hot), ring tosignal low (cold), and sleeve to ground(earth).

• Unbalanced Send/Return circuits. Whenwired as send/return “Y” connector, a 1⁄4"TRS jack or plug is connected tip to signalsend (output from mixer), ring to signalreturn (input back into mixer), and sleeveto ground (earth).

1⁄4" TS PHONE PLUGS AND JACKS“TS” stands for Tip-Sleeve, the two connec-

tions available on a “mono” 1⁄4" phone jack orplug (Figure C). TS jacks and plugs are used inmany different applications, always unbalanced.The tip is connected to the audio signal and thesleeve to ground (earth). Some examples:• Unbalanced microphones• Electric guitars and electronic instruments• Unbalanced line-level connections

“XLR” CONNECTORSMackie mixers use 3-pin female “XLR”

connectors on all microphone inputs, withpin 1 wired to the grounded (earthed) shield,pin 2 wired to the “high” (”hot” or positive po-larity) side of the audio signal and pin 3wired to the “low” (“cold” or negative polar-ity) side of the signal (Figure A). All totallyaboveboard and in full accord with the hal-lowed standards dictated by the AES (AudioEngineering Society).

Use a male “XLR”-type connector, usuallyfound on the nether end of what is called a“mic cable,” to connect to a female XLR jack.

SLEEVE

TIPSLEEVE

TIP

RING

RING

TIP

SLEEVERING

Figure B: 1⁄4" TRS Plugs

Figure A: XLR Connectors

1⁄4" TRS PHONE PLUGS AND JACKS“TRS” stands for Tip-Ring-Sleeve, the three

connections available on a “stereo” 1⁄4" or“balanced” phone jack or plug. See Figure B.TRS jacks and plugs are used in severaldifferent applications:• Stereo Headphones, and rarely, stereo

microphones and stereo line connections.When wired for stereo, a 1⁄4" TRS jack or

SLEEVE

TIP

TIPSLEEVE

TIP

SLEEVE

Figure C: TS Plug

2

2

3 1

1

SHIELD

COLD

HOT

SHIELD

COLD

HOT

3

SHIELD

COLDHOT

3

2

1

45

balanced ground (earth) will also beconnected to the ground (earth) at theunbalanced input. If there are ground-loopproblems, this connection may be leftdisconnected at the balanced end.

• When connecting an unbalanced output to abalanced input, be sure that the signal high(hot) connections are wired to each other.The unbalanced ground (earth) connectionshould be wired to the low (cold) and theground (earth) connections of the balancedinput. If there are ground-loop problems, tryconnecting the unbalanced ground (earth)connection only to the input low (cold)connection, and leaving the input ground(earth) connection disconnected.In some cases, you will have to make up spe-

cial adapters to interconnect your equipment.For example, you may need a balanced XLR fe-male connected to an unbalanced 1⁄4" TSphone plug.

SPECIAL MACKIE CONNECTIONSThe balanced-to-unbalanced connection

has been anticipated in the wiring of Mackiejacks. A 1⁄4" TS plug inserted into a 1⁄4" TRS bal-anced input, for example, will automaticallyunbalance the input and make all the right con-nections. Conversely, a 1⁄4" TRS plug insertedinto a 1⁄4" unbalanced input will automaticallytie the ring (low or cold) to ground (earth).

TRS Send/Receive Insert JacksMackie’s single-jack inserts are the three-

conductor, TRS-type 1⁄4" phone. They areunbalanced, but have both the mixer output(send) and the mixer input (return) signals inone connector (See Figure F).

The sleeve is the common ground (earth) forboth signals. The send from the mixer to theexternal unit is carried on the tip, and the re-turn from the unit to the mixer is on the ring.

SWITCHED 1⁄4" PHONE JACKSSwitches can be incorporated into 1⁄4"

phone jacks, which are activated by insertingthe plug. These switches may open an insertloop in a circuit, change the input routing ofthe signal or serve other functions. Mackieuses switches in the channel insert and bus in-sert jacks, input jacks and AUX returns. Wealso use these switches to ground the line-levelinputs when nothing is plugged into them.

In most cases, the plug must be insertedfully to activate the switch. Mackie takesadvantage of this in some circuits, specifyingcircumstances where you are to insert the plugonly partially. See Special MackieConnections, later in this section.

RCA PLUGS AND JACKSRCA-type plugs (also known as phono

plugs) and jacks are often used in home stereoand video equipment and in many other appli-

cations(Figure D).They areunbalancedand electri-

cally identical to a 1⁄4" TS phone plug or jack(See Figure C). Connect the signal to the cen-ter post and the ground (earth) or shield tothe surrounding “basket.”

UNBALANCING A LINEIn most studio, stage and sound reinforce-

ment situations, there is a combination ofbalanced and unbalanced inputs and outputson the various pieces of equipment. This usu-ally will not be a problem in makingconnections.• When connecting a balanced output to an

unbalanced input, be sure the signal high(hot) connections are wired to each other,and that the balanced signal low (cold)goes to the ground (earth) connection atthe unbalanced input. In most cases, the

TIPSLEEVETIPSLEEVE

Figure D: RCA Plug

46

Using the Send Only on an Insert JackIf you insert a TS (mono) 1⁄4" plug only

partially (to the first click) into a Mackieinsert jack, the plug will not activate the jackswitch and will not open the insert loop in thecircuit (thereby allowing the channel signal tocontinue on its merry way through the mixer).

This allows you to tap out the channel orbus signal at that point in the circuit withoutinterrupting normal operation.

If you push the 1⁄4" TS plug in to the secondclick, you will open the jack switch and createa direct out, which does interrupt the signal inthat channel. See Figure E.

NOTE: Do not over-load or short-circuit thesignal you are tappingfrom the mixer. That willaffect the internal signal.

MACKIE STEREO INPUTS AND RETURNS:Mono, Stereo, Whatever

Stereo line inputs and stereo AUX returnsare a fine example of the Mackie philosophy(which we just made up) of Maximum Flex-ibility with Minimum Headache. The inputsand returns will automatically be mono or ste-reo, depending upon how you use the jacks.Here’s how it works:

A mono signal should be patched into theinput or return jack labeled Left (MONO). Thesignal will be routed to both the left and rightsides of the return circuit, and will show up inthe center of the stereo pair of buses it’s as-signed to, or it can be “panned” with theBalance control.

A stereo signal, having two plugs, should bepatched into the LEFT (MONO) and theRIGHT input or return jacks. A jack switch inthe RIGHT jack will disable the mono func-tion, and the signals will show up in stereo.

A mono signal connected to the RIGHT jackwill show up in the right bus only. You probablywill only want to use this sophisticated effectfor special occasions (weddings, bar mitzvahs,Rush Limbaugh’s birthday party, etc.)

MULTS AND “Y”sA mult or “Y” connector allows you to route

one output to two or more inputs by simplyproviding parallel wiring connections. You canmake “Y”s and mults for the outputs of bothunbalanced and balanced circuits.

Remember: Only multor “Y” an output into sev-eral inputs. If you needto combine several out-puts into one input, you

must use a mixer, not a mult or a “Y.”

Direct out with no signal interruption to master.Insert only to first “click.”

Channel Insert jack

Channel Insert jack

Channel Insert jack

Direct out with signal interruption to master.Insert all the way in to the second “click.”

For use as an effects loop.(TIP = SEND to effect, RING = RETURN from effect)

MONO PLUG

MONO PLUG

STEREO PLUG

Figure E

“tip”

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47

APPENDIX C: BALANCED LINES,PHANTOM POWERING, GROUNDINGAND OTHER ARCANE MYSTERIES

What is it, exactly?

The obvious external power source for anymodern microphone is a battery. About theonly electronic advantage that a battery has isthat its output is pure DC. The only other ad-vantage is to the battery company — you haveto keep on buying them.

Tube microphones require several differentvoltages for operation. This invariably means amulti-conductor cable and non-standard (notXLR) connectors. A tube microphone will al-ways have an associated external power supply.

In the late 1960’s, Neumann (you know, thefolks that brought you the U47 and U87microphones) converted its microphones tosolid-state, adopting a system of remote power-ing that they called, and trademarked,Phantom Powering. Because of the trademark,some manufacturers use terms like SimplexPowering, etc. Over the years, the trademarkhas become genericized and now refers to anydevice that is powered according to DIN stan-dard 45 596 (or maybe it’s DIN standard 45595, we’re not exactly sure…).

So, why “Phantom” Powering? Because (likethe Phantom in the old comic strip) it’s therewhen you need it, and invisible when you don’t.This technology is not new; it actually predatesrocket science. Like many other things in au-dio, it was brought to you by the telephonecompany, who used it to get an extra circuitfrom a pair of wires. In effect, so does yourphantom powered microphone.

What is important is: phantom powering isa compatible system. Your dynamic/ribbonmicrophones as well as your condensermicrophones work side-by-side, from thesame microphone inputs, without furtherthought on your part.

Technically speaking, phantom powering re-fers to a system where the audio signal isapplied to the balanced line in differential-mode, and the DC power is appliedcommon-mode. The audio travels via pins 2and 3, the power travels between pins 2 and 3simultaneously, and pin 1 is the ground forboth audio and power.

Balanced LinesBalanced lines offer increased immunity to

external noise (specifically, hum and buzz).Because a balanced system is able to minimizenoise, it is the preferred interconnect method,especially in cases where very long lengths ofcable are being used. A long unbalanced cablecarries with it more opportunity for noise toget into a system — having balanced inputsmeans very little noise will enter the systemvia snakes and other cables that typically mustrun a long length. But regardless of length,balanced lines are best.

Phantom Powering and Microphones

History

Condenser (capacitor) microphones differfrom dynamic and ribbon microphones be-cause they are not self-generating. That is,they cannot generate electricity in response toan impinging sound wave. A condenser micro-phone modifies an external source ofelectricity to reflect the effects of a soundwave striking its diaphragm.

Dynamic and ribbon microphones usemagnetism to generate electricity in responseto a sound wave: they are self-generating. Fur-thermore, both of these types of microphonesare inherently low-impedance devices. It ispossible to connect a dynamic microphone ele-ment directly to a balanced, low-impedancemixer input. Many commercially made dy-namic microphones do just that.

On the other hand, a condenser microphoneis an inherently high-impedance device. Howhigh? Verrrrrrry high. On the order of a billionohms (1 Gigaohm). This is high enough thatthe inherent capacitance of a foot of shieldedcable would audibly reduce the output of themicrophone. All condenser microphones havean impedance converter, in the form of avacuum tube or field-effect transistor (FET),built into the microphone and located ex-tremely close to the microphone element. Theimpedance converter and the microphone ele-ment itself require an external power source.1

1 To be strictly correct, electret condenser microphonesare a bit different, as the microphone element does not requirea power source for operation (it is more or less permanentlyself-polarized). Regardless, the impedance converter still re-quires an external source of power.

48

Microphones that do not require power sim-ply ignore the DC present between pin 2/pin 3and pin 1. If you measure with a voltmeterbetween pin 2 and pin 3, you will read 0 VoltsDC. This is what your dynamic microphonesees. Measuring between pin 2 and pin 1, orbetween pin 3 and pin 1, you will read thephantom power voltage, usually 48V, without amicrophone connected. The dynamic micro-phone, as well as your balanced mixer input,ignores this voltage.

Lately, the term phantom power has beenperverted to refer to any remote poweringsystem. In the strict sense of the DIN standard,this is not true. Furthermore, microphones ortransducers that claim to use this system arenot compatible with the DIN standard and willalmost certainly be damaged if connected intosuch a system. Fortunately, these systems usetip-ring-sleeve phone plugs or miniature XLRconnectors and they are usually associatedwith instrument pickup applications2.

Phantom powering is defined in DIN standard45 596 or IEC standard 268–15A. Your MackieDesigns mixer conforms to this standard.

What works?

To be compatible in a phantom poweredsystem, a device (microphone, preamp with amicrophone-style output, or direct box) musthave a balanced and floating, low-impedanceoutput. This includes all microphones com-monly used for sound reinforcement and

recording, such as the Shure SM58, SM57,Electro-Voice RE-15, RE-16, RE-20, ND series,Beyer M160, M500, AKG D224, D12, D112, andmany others.

If you are fortunate enough to own any tubecondenser microphones, such as the AKG C12,Neumann U47 or U67, these microphones maybe connected in a phantom powered systemand will operate without regard to the presenceor absence of phantom power. They will alwaysrequire their external power supply (whichmust be plugged in and turned on).

What doesn’t work?

The list is short:1. Microphones with unbalanced outputs.

2. Microphones with grounded center-tappedoutputs. Many old ribbon microphones weresupplied connected this way. Have a techni-cian lift the ground from the center tap.

3. High-impedance microphones.4. Microphones that exhibit leakage

between pin 2 or pin 3 and pin 1. Thesemicrophones will sputter and cracklewhen phantom power is applied and willwork fine when you turn off the phantompower. Get the microphone repaired.

Worry about your other microphones as longas their output is balanced and floating.

Connect microphones or devices that do notconform to the DIN 45 596 standard.

Don’t connect A-B or T-system microphones(another remote powering system) withoutsuitable adaptors.

PHANTOM POWER DO & DON’T CHARTDO DON’T

If you are plugging in a condenser micro-phone, do verify that your microphone canbe phantom powered.

Ensure that the microphone’s output is lowimpedance, balanced and floating. This isespecially important for vintage ribbonmicrophones like the RCA 44BX and 77DX.

Mute the sound system when turning thephantom power on or off, or when connect-ing or disconnecting microphones. If youforget, the resulting loud, nasty POP may beyour last.

2 There is another remote powering system called A-B orT-system powering. It uses pins 2 and 3 to carry both powerand audio. It is not compatible with dynamic microphones orphantom-powered microphones.

49

Do’s and Don’ts of Fixed InstallationsIf you install sound systems into fixed in-

stallations, there are a number of things thatyou can do to make your life easier and that in-crease the likelihood of the sound systemoperating in a predictable manner. Even if youdon’t do fixed installations, these are goodpractices for any sound system, installed.1. Do use foil-shielded snake cable for long

cable runs. Carefully terminate each end,minimizing the amount of shieldingremoved. Protect the exposed foil shieldwith shrink sleeving or PVC sleeving.Prevent adjacent shields from contactingeach other (electrically). Use insulatingsleeving on the drain wire (the one thatconnects to pin 1) to prevent it fromcontacting the connector shell.

2. Don’t connect the XLR connector shell topin 1 of the XLR connector (unless neces-sary for RFI shielding). Doing so is aninvitation for a ground loop to come visiting.

3. Do ensure that your speaker lines and ACpower lines are physically separated fromyour microphone lines.

4. If you use floor pockets, use separatepockets for inputs and speakers, or put theconnectors on opposite sides of the box sothat they may be shielded separately.

5. If your speaker lines run in the open, theyshould be twisted pairs, at least 6 twists perfoot. Otherwise, run the speaker lines intheir own conduit. (Of course, conduit isnot too practical for portable systems, heh-heh.)

6. Minimize the distance between the poweramplifiers and the speakers.

7. Use heavy gauge, stranded wire for speakerlines. Ideally, the wire resistance should beless than 6% (0.5dB power loss) of the loadimpedance. Remember that the actual runis twice as long as the physical length ofthe run. See below.

Maximum wire run for 0.5dB power loss in feetwire res. per 2 4 8gauge 1000 ft. Ω Ω Ω

10 1.00 60 120 240

12 1.59 40 75 150

14 2.5 24 48 95

16 4.02 15 30 60

8. Ensure that the electrician uses the star-ground system for the safety grounds inyour electrical system. All of the audiosystem grounds should terminate at thesame physical point. No other groundsmay come in contact with this groundsystem.

9. Ensure that the AC power feeds are con-nected to the same transformer, and ideally,the same circuit breaker.

10.Walk outside – look at the horizon, see anyradio towers? Locate potential sources of RFinterference and plan for them before youbegin construction. Know the frequency,transmitter power, etc. You can get thisinformation by calling the station. Remem-ber that many broadcast stations changeantenna coverage pattern and transmitterpower at night.

11. Don’t use hardware-store light dimmers.

12. Don’t allow for anything other than micro-phone inputs at stage/altar locations.Supplying line inputs at these locations isan invitation for misuse. Make all sourceslook like microphones to the console.

13. Balance (or at least impedance balance)all connections that are remote from theconsole’s immediate location.

14. If you bridge an amplifier, don’t use 1⁄4"phone plugs for speaker connectors.

GroundingGrounding exists in your audio system for

two reasons: product safety and noise reduc-tion. The third wire on the power cord existsfor product safety. It provides a low-resistancepath back to the electrical service to protectthe users of the product from electrical shock.Hopefully, the resistance to ground throughthe safety ground (third wire) is lower thanthat through the user/operator to ground. Ifyou remove this connection (by breaking orcutting the pin off, or by using a ‘groundcheater’), this alternate ground path ceases toexist, which is a safety hazard.

The metal chassis of the product, theground connections provided by the variousconnectors, and the shields within your con-necting cables provide a low potential point fornoise signals. The goal is to provide a lower im-pedance path to ground for noise signals thanthrough the signal wiring. Doing so helps mini-mize hum, buzz, and other extraneousnon-audio signals.

50

FREE T-SHIRT OFFERWe love to hear what folks have created us-

ing our mixers. If you use your 1402-VLZ PROto track and/or mix a CD that is commerciallyreleased, we’ll trade you a disc for a genuineMackie T-Shirt! By “commercially released,”we mean “offered for sale,” even if it’s just be-ing sold out the back door of a local Karaokejoint. No hand-lettered covers, please andthank you. Furthermore, if you send us aninteresting story or photograph about yourproduction, we might just use it somewhere!To get your genuine 100% cotton MackieCelebrity T-shirt, send your CD (and optionalstory or photo) to:

Mackie DesignsFREE T-SHIRT OFFER

attn: Communications Department16220 Wood-Red Rd. NE

Woodinville, WA 98072(Roll credits please) Manual written by Jeff

Gilbert, based on a short story by Ron Koliha,now a major Broadway Musical. Manual thendefaced with proofreading pens in the hands ofMackie’s legendary Tech Support staff. Manualcomposed on a rinky-dink PC using a low-bud-get word processor, then converted to thisamazing piece of work using a 13-story 1000gigawhopper Macintosh operated by Mackie’snotorious Advertising staff (most notably BeckyPriebe). Please, feel free to let us know if youfind an error or stumble over a confusing para-graph. Thank you for reading the entire manual(we know you have, or you wouldn’t be here).

Many “authorities” tell you that shieldsshould only be connected at one end. Some-times this can be true, but for most (99%)audio systems, it is unnecessary. If you do every-thing else correctly, you should be able toconnect every component of your audio systemusing standard, off-the-shelf connecting cablesthat are available at any music store.

Here are some guidelines:1. All return lines to the stage should be

balanced. At a minimum, they should beimpedance balanced. Remember that you canbalance a line by inserting a piece of equip-ment inline that has a balanced output.

2. Run your own AC power wiring from thestage for the mixer and related equipment.Don’t use the “conveniently located” recep-tacle thoughtfully provided by themanagement for your use. You have no ideahow it’s wired or grounded.

3. Carry an outlet tester, available at any well-stocked hardware store. Use it to tell you ifthe outlet you’re about to plug into is wiredcorrectly. Consider it cheap insurance.

4. If you carry enough equipment that youneed to wire directly into the electricalservice, then use a voltmeter to ensure thatthe line voltage is correct, then use theoutlet tester mentioned in #3, above. Dothis before you connect any of your audioequipment. Chances are that your 120Vgear won’t be too happy if it sees 220V forany length of time.

5. Cables that are too long are less likely topick up hum if you uncoil them in theirentirety, and then find a place to stow theexcess. Leaving the excess coiled onlyhelps the cable pick up hum more effi-ciently.

6. Don’t run unbalanced lines to or from thestage. It’s not the impedance, it’s the factthat they’re unbalanced. It’s a good idea touse a direct box to make the unbalancedsource look like a microphone.

7. For really extreme cases, you may need toinsert 1:1 or isolation transformers intoeach return line from the front-of-houselocation to your amp racks.

8. Don’t cut the third pin off of the powercord. Carry some ground-lifter adaptersand use them only when you have to pluginto an ancient two-wire outlet.

9. If you bundle your cables together, don’tbundle AC wiring and audio wiring to-gether. Bundle them separately.

10. If your sound system insists on humming,you may need to teach it the words.

Mackie, the "Running Man" figure, VLZ and XDR are trademarks or registered trademarks ofMackie Designs Inc. Other brand names mentioned are trademarks or registered trademarks oftheir respective holders and are hereby acknowledged.

© 1999 Mackie Designs Inc.All rights reserved

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1402-vlz pro owner's manual - grateful dead · 1402-vlz pro 14-channel mic/line mixer...

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