Mackie Pro Audio Lab manual

USER’S GUIDE Pro Audio Lab ™ Precision Audio Analy sis and Sound Genera tion Labora tory Precision Audio Analy sis and Sound Genera tion Labora tory Precision Audio Analy sis and Sound Plug-in for Mackie Digital Mix ers ™[...]

User’ s Guide Read This First: Mackie Designs Plug-in Softw ar e License Please read this license carefully before using the accompanying Software. By downloading and using the Software, you are agreeing to be bound by the terms of this license. Software as used herein means all computer code (both source and object) including, but not limited to[...]

User’ s Guide 8. Disclaimer of Warranty on Software. Y ou expressly acknowledge and agree that use of the Software is at your sole risk. The Software and related documentation are provided “AS IS” and without warranty of any kind. MACKIE DESIGNS EXPRESSL Y DISCLAIMS ALL W ARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLI[...]

User’ s Guide Iconogr aphy “Mackie” and the “Running Man”  gure are trademarks or registered trademarks of Mackie Designs Inc. All other brand names mentioned are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders, and are hereby acknowledged. Part No. SW0062 Rev . A 03/2003 © 2003 Mackie Designs Inc. All Rights Reserved.[...]

User’ s Guide Cont ents Mackie Designs Plug-in Softw are Lic ense --------------------- 2 Intr oduction --------------------------------------------------------- 6 About Acuma Labs ---------------------------------------------------------- 6 About the D8B UFX Card --------------------------------------------------- 6 About Pro Audio Lab ---------[...]

User’ s Guide Intr oduc tion Thank you for purchasing Acuma Labs’ Pro Audio Lab. This is a precision audio analysis tool and sound generation software plug-in for the Mackie D8B digital mix- er . It offers a broad cross section of sophisticated meters, noise generation devices, and highly accurate instrument tuning references. Pro Audio Lab pre[...]

User’ s Guide About Pr o Audio Lab Main Scr een (with Levels and O scillator open) The main screen is an overview of the primary analysis meters and tone generation graphs. Each “top level” meter can be selected and enlarged using your mouse to “zoom in” for an easy-to-read view of the selected data. T wo fundamental categories, Analysis [...]

User’ s Guide Unlock Pr ocedur e 1. Locate your D8B’ s Electronic Serial Number (ESN). This is displayed at the bottom of the Licensing window , which is accessed from the Setup screen. The 12-digit ESN is made from numbers 0–9 and letters A–F . It is unique to the D8B processor , and is not the same as the serial number on the rear of the [...]

User’ s Guide Using Pr o Audio Lab The Sta tus Scr een Factory/User Presets T oggle the up/down arrows to select Factory Presets, or create your own and save them to User Presets. Input Select Select stereo inputs from any of the DB8’ s pre, post, or auxiliary channels. Enable This switches Pro Audio Lab from the inactive state to active. Minim[...]

User’ s Guide The Analysis Scr eens The Levels, Spectrum Analysis, and Phase Analysis options are selected from the Analysis drop-down menu found in the Status Screen. Only one option can be open at a time. The Levels menu is further expandable by clicking on any of the level meters. See P age 11 See P age 16 See P age 18 See P age 9 Analysis Eac[...]

User’ s Guide The Lev els Screen The Levels Scr een Select the Levels Screen from the Analysis drop-down menu. This shows an overview grouping of the primary meters of the Analysis section. Each meter can be isolated and expanded for a detailed view of the selected audio measurement, by selecting a meter and double-clicking on the display . The e[...]

User’ s Guide RMS Level RMS (expanded view) Root Mean Square (RMS) is an audio measurement that correlates signal energy with a reference signal. Neither a peak, nor an average, RMS is derived by squaring all the instantaneous voltages from a waveform, averaging the squared value, and then taking the square root of that value. Thus, RMS is a math[...]

User’ s Guide VU Meter (V olume Unit Meter) VU Meters (expanded view) Probably the  rst audio measurement that many of us learned is the familiar VU meter that we equate with distortion overload. The VU Meter is actually de ned by a speci c set of attributes and response characteristics known as ballistics, which estimate the loudness of[...]

User’ s Guide Note: When using this application on the left and right masters, remember to turn off the enable button in the Pro Audio Lab GUI to disable the T one Generation, as you simply need to see the meters. The Loudness Meter displays both a VU and a Peak Level meter on the same graph. There is no absolute measurement for how the ear hears[...]

User’ s Guide Correlation/Loudness Balance Corr elation (expanded view) Correlation This clear and easy-to-read display is designed to help you understand the complex phase relationship between two signals, and shows how the signals relate to each other . The correlation meter measures the similarities between two signals by dis- playing a range [...]

User’ s Guide Spectrum Analyzer Spectrum Analyzer Scr een Select the Spectrum Analyzer from the Analysis drop-down menu. The graphical rep- resentation indicates the level of an audio signal at various frequencies. The analyzer performs a Fast-Fourier T ransform (FFT) on the input audio to convert it to fre- quency information. This is put into i[...]

User’ s Guide Precision This offers precision viewing ranges from 1 octave to 1/6 octave with additional views in between. Click on the Precision window to open a drop-down menu to choose from 1 octave, 2/3 octave, 1/2 octave and 1/6 octave views. The maximum resolution is 1/6 octave for the mono display , and 1/3 octave for stereo. Imperfections[...]

User’ s Guide Phase Analyzer Phase Analyzer Scr een (Out of Phase example) Phase Analyzer Scr een (In Phase example) Select the Phase Analyzer from the Analyzer drop-down menu of the Status Screen. Phase Meter The Phase Meter displays an X/Y plot of a set of raw Left and Right audio samples. This results in a ‘swarm of bees’ type of display t[...]

User’ s Guide The Gener ation Scr eens T one Generator options are selected from the Generation drop-down menu found in the Status Screen. This is where you will  nd a wide variety of oscillators and tuners to suit any task. Only one option can be open at a time. See P age 20 See P age 21 See P age 22 See P age 23 See P age 24 See P age 25 See[...]

User’ s Guide Noise Gener ator The Noise Gener ator This noise generator produces white and pink noise, and has independent burst/ pause ratio, total time, and repetitions. White and pink noise are random signals that include all of the audio frequencies. The noise simulates the random thermal motion of electrons. When either white or pink noise [...]

User’ s Guide Slat e T one Genera tor The Slate T one Gener ator The familiar three-step oscillated tone sequences (like we used to hear at the be- ginning of cassette albums), are known as Slate T ones. They are used to calibrate faders, buses, and meters between consoles and decks to insure that all input and output levels are set to a single r[...]

User’ s Guide The Oscilla tor Oscilla tor Screen The oscillator has many uses in sound testing, as it can zero in on a speci c fre- quency and generate a constant steady tone. For example, the sine wave, having no harmonic content, is very useful in determining distortion in a signal that can cause very apparent changes in tone quality . Level[...]

User’ s Guide The Piano T uning Refer ence Piano T uning Refer ence The piano tuning reference is a very convenient tool which is useful for many studio applications. Use your mouse to click a desired note on the keyboard. Level Use your mouse to select an output level ranging from off to 0 dB. Note Select This one-octave keyboard lets you use yo[...]

User’ s Guide The Guitar T uning Refer ence The Guitar T uning Re fer ence This offers an easy way to make sure your guitar player is in tune. It’ s always a good idea to check tuning prior to recording. T uning Use this to select alternate guitar tunings such as, Open G, Open C, Do Bro, etc. The String Select plays the appropriate tones for th[...]

User’ s Guide The Bass T uning Referenc e The B ass T uning Refer ence This offers an easy way to make sure that your bass player is in tune. It’ s always a good idea to check tuning prior to recording. T ype Use this to select the bass type from 4 string (normal), 5, or 6 string setups. Some bass guitars have alternate tunings to accommodate a[...]

User’ s Guide The A440 T uning Refer ence A440 T uning Refer ence Level Use your mouse to select an output level ranging from off to 0 dB. Reference T one The A440 is the accepted standard tuning reference. It’ s handy to have access to this reference tone to quickly compare an instrument tuning to an A440 reference. W ave Select This offers tw[...]

User’ s Guide Con guring the Plug-In After installing your UFX card, unlocking the plug-in, and booting up the D8B, all you need to do is put the kettle on, have a cup of tea, and assign the plug-in to the card. The following instructions are general for most plug-ins. Please note that the graph- ics may not exactly match the plug-in you have,[...]

User’ s Guide Assigning an Input Sour ce t o the Plug-in • Click the plug-in’ s Input Source button to select an input source. In the example below , we have chosen the Aux 4 Bus as the input to the plug-in installed in slot 6. • Whe n a p lug -in i s f ed from an aux b us, its out put a ppe ars o n t he FX Re tur n chan nel s by default (f[...]

User’ s Guide Sa ving, Loading, and Resetting a Preset Plug-in settings can be saved and recalled from the hard drive. Y ou can save and load  les to either Memory A or Memory B. Some plug-ins just show these as A or B. T o Save a Preset: 1. Click and hold the Menu button. Menu button. Menu 2. Select Save User Preset to overwrite the  le cu[...]

User’ s Guide T o Reset the Plug-in: Reset will reload the default patch. 1. Click and hold the Menu button. Menu button. Menu 2. Select Reset (Plug-in) . T o Cut Plug-in Settings: 1. Click and hold the Menu button. Menu button. Menu 2. Select Cut (Plug-in) . The current settings are temporarily stored in the clipboard memory in case you want to [...]

User’ s Guide Automa tion and Snapshot Contr ol Dynamic Real Time T o write automation on a loaded plug-in: 1. Engage AUTO TOUCH . 2. Engage ALL , disengage BYPASS , and send timecode to the console –the POSITION readout will change to show time code is being received. 3. Move a parameter or recall a patch (user or factory preset). Subsequent e[...]

User’ s Guide FX Routing The Plug-in Con gur ation Windo w Car d Slot Col umn Car d B Car d C Car d A Plug-in display tog gle display tog gle Input Sour ce Assignment Input Sour ce Assignment Input Sour ce Column Plug-in Assignment Column Close Window D estination Assignment Col umn Car d D Ster eo/Mono Mode Column Ster eo/Mono T oggle But ton[...]

User’ s Guide Using an Aux Send with a Plug-in • Click the associated Input Source button and select an Aux input source. In the example below , we have chosen the Aux 4 Bus. Send the Input Signal to the Aux Bus 1. Send a signal to a D8B mixer input channel (MIC/LINE or T APE IN). 2. Assign the input channel V -Pot/GUI Control Pot to an aux sen[...]

User’ s Guide Pr e-Fader and P ost-Fader Auxiliary Sends Normally , effect sends are post-fader , so the signal sent to the ef fect follows the pro- gram level in the mix. Occasionally you may wish to feed an effect from a pre-fader source so that the signal level from the aux control is independent of the channel fader position. Aux sends are se[...]

User’ s Guide 35 The FX Return Channel • Switch the D8B Bank Select to EFFECTS (49-72) and bring up faders one and two (channels 49 and 50). Y ou will also see meter activity associated with these channels. FX Chan nels 1&2 (chan nels 49 & 50) The Plug but ton tog gles be tween Win dows menu but tons and FX but tons (low er lef t on the[...]

Acuma Pro Audio Lab © 2003 Mackie Designs Inc. All Rights Reserved[...]