Mackie RTA-31 manual

USER’S GUIDE RT A -31 ™ ™ ® Plug-in for Mackie Digital Mix ers ™[...]

2 Acuma R T A-31 Iconogr aphy “Mackie” and the “Running Man” figure 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. 820-257-00 Rev . A1 07/2001 © 2001 Mackie Designs Inc. All Rights Reser[...]

User’ s Guide 3 Cont ents Iconogr aphy ----------------------------------------------------- 2 Intr oduction ---------------------------------------- 5 About Acuma Labs ---------------------------------------------- 5 About the D8B UFX Car d -------------------------------------- 6 About the R T A -31 ---------------------------------------------[...]

4 Acuma R T A-31 Pr eset Title Windo w ------------------------------------------ 14 Input Select ---------------------------------------------------- 14 The Close button ---------------------------------------------- 14 The Analyzer P anel ------------------------------- 15 The Analyzer Windo w ---------------------------------------- 15 The dB Ra[...]

User’ s Guide 5 Intr oduction Thank you for purchasing the R T A-31, the ultimate in equalization and frequency analysis from Acuma Labs. It is one of the exciting new family of 24-bit plug-ins for the D8B, specifically designed for the new Mackie Universal Effects (UFX) card. The R T A-31 is a highly creative tool that enables you to produce gre[...]

6 Acuma R T A-31 About the R T A-31 Acuma Labs' R T A-31 is a dedicated software plug-in for the Mackie Digital 8•Bus that utilizes 24-bit digital processing power to view and modify the frequency response from any given signal within the D8B. An invaluable tool for live sound and studio applications, the R T A-31 lets you create great sound[...]

User’ s Guide 7 Requir ements • One or more Mackie UFX cards • Mackie Real T ime OS 3.0 Software • Plug-in Software W e will assume you have successfully installed a Mackie UFX card and Mackie Real T ime OS 3.0 software upgrade. If you have encountered problems with the installation of hardware or software, please see their associated user [...]

8 Acuma R T A-31 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 9 Configuring the Plug-In After installing your UFX card, unlocking the plug-in, and booting up the D8B, all you need to do is assign the R T A-31 to a UFX card slot. Assigning the Acuma R T A-31 to a UFX Car d 1. Click the Plugins menu and select Plugins , or use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+P . 2. In the Plugin Configuration menu, l[...]

10 Acuma R T A-31 Assigning an Input Sour ce In the INPUT column of the Plugin Configuration screen, select an input source for the R T A-31. This can be an auxiliary send, a Pre- or Post-DSP channel insert, or the main left or right mix. In this example, we’ve chosen the Pre-DSP insert point for Channel 1. Deactiv ating the R T A-31 If you wish [...]

User’ s Guide 11 Using the R T A-31 Front P anel (Overvie w) Y ou can think of the R T A-31 as being comprised of two separate panels: the EQ Panel and the Analyzer Panel. There is also a reduced view (Shrunk Screen) that collapses the plug-in window into the minimized control strip. EQ P anel The 31-Band Graphic EQ section of the GUI (graphic us[...]

12 Acuma R T A-31 Mouse Contr ol Use your mouse to perform various editing EQ functions: • Single Set: Click the left mouse button to adjust individual bands and sweep across the GUI to quickly paint a new EQ curve. • Sweep Default: Press Ctrl and click the left mouse button (Ctrl + left click) to set the default (0 dB) on individual EQ bands a[...]

User’ s Guide 13 The Main Contr ol Bar EQ The EQ selection button toggles the graphic EQ in and out of view via the mouse. Clicking the EQ button when the analyzer is not activated shrinks the EQ GUI to a condensed yet functional screen that can access and modify EQ curve settings, change between Mem A and B, and access the Menu functions. Analyz[...]

14 Acuma R T A-31 Enable This button simply enables or disables the R T A-31 for a wet/dry comparison. Pr eset T oggle Buttons The up/down arrows, located just to the left of the Preset window , enable you to scroll up or down through either the Factory or User Presets. Ti p : As there is no delay in loading presets, you might try building performa[...]

User’ s Guide 15 The Analyzer P anel The Analyzer Windo w The analyzer window is represented by thirty-one bar graphs that correspond to the same thirty-one sliders of the graphic EQ section. The Analyzer displays a frequency spectrum from 20Hz to 20kHz with a range that runs from –40 dBr to +20 dBr or –24 dBr to +12 dBr . The reference point[...]

16 Acuma R T A-31 Gr aph Speed Select Graph speed select refers to the response speed of the Analyzer meters. It controls the peak and hold times as well as the decay rate of the meters. This is very useful when you are trying to identify quick transients and is probably most noticeable when you have selected either Peak Hold, Point, or Peak Differ[...]

User’ s Guide 17 The Reduced Scr een Contr ol Bar The Reduced Scr een Control Bar The control bar is a convenient way of viewing your signal without taking up valuable real estate on the D8B screen. W ith the Analyzer button off, simply click the mouse pointer on the EQ button to switch from the full screen GUI to the reduced version. Input/ Outp[...]

18 Acuma R T A-31 Sa ving, Loading and Resetting a Preset R T A-31 settings can be saved and recalled from the hard drive. Y ou can save and load files to either Memory A or Memory B. T o Sa ve a Pr eset: 1. Click and hold the MENU button. 2. Select Save User Preset to overwrite the file currently opened. 3. Select Save User Preset As to save to a [...]

User’ s Guide 19 T o Load a Pr eset: 1. Click MEM A or MEM B to choose the memory location from which to load the file. 2. Click and hold the MENU button. 3. Select Load Graphic EQ to open a file. The Load Preset File dialog box appears. 4. Click INTERNAL if the file is on the internal drive, or click FLOPPY if the file is on a floppy disk. 5. Se[...]

20 Acuma R T A-31 T o Reset The Pr eset: Reset will reload the previous patch. 1. Click and hold the MENU button. 2. Select Reset Graphic EQ . T o Cut Preset Settings: 1. Click and hold the MENU button. 2. Select Cut Graphic EQ . The current settings are temporarily stored in the clipboard memory in case you want to paste them to a new preset. The [...]

User’ s Guide 21 Dynamic Real Time T o Write Aut omation on a Loaded Plug-In: 1. Engage AUTO TOUCH. 2. Engage ALL, disengage BYP ASS, and send timecode to the console – the POSITION readout changes to show time code is being received. 3. Move a parameter or recall a patch (user or factory preset). Subsequent edits to any recorded automation mov[...]

22 Acuma R T A-31 FX Routing The Plugin Configur ation Window Car d Slot Column Car d B Car d C Car d D Car d A Plug-in display toggle Input Channel Assignment P ull- down Menu Button Input Sour ce As- signment Column Plug-in Assign- ment Column Close Window Ster eo/Mono Mode Column Ster eo/Mono T oggle Button Select R T A31 from the Plugin configu[...]

User’ s Guide 23 Inserting a Plug-in into a Channel A pre- or post-DSP channel insert can also be used as the input source for a plug-in. When a channel insert point is selected, the plug-in output returns to the channel. The FX return path is disconnected, although the plug-in output is still displayed on the FX return channel meter . A plug-in [...]

24 Acuma R T A-31 Using an Aux Send with a Plug-In ♦ Click on the associated INPUT menu button and select an Aux input source. In the example below , we have chosen the Aux 5 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 [...]

User’ s Guide 25 Y ou will see the plug-in’ s input meter become active as you raise the mixer input channel’ s aux send. Set the plug-in input/output signal levels as you would with any effect, so the meter reaches its upper -most range every so often (always trust your ears first). This can be accomplished from the console or GUI. Pr e-Fade[...]

26 Acuma R T A-31 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 Channels 1&2 (channels 49&50) Mono plug-in The Plug button toggles between Windows menu buttons and FX buttons (lower lef t on th[...]

User’ s Guide 27 F actory Pr esets The following table is a simple guideline to help you understand the factory presets, and which type of source file was applied to the individual presets. But don't be afraid to run anything through the plug-in preset and customize the parameters to your specific needs, and save it as a user preset. So get [...]

© 2001 Mackie Designs Inc. and Acuma Labs. All Rights Reserved. Part No. 820-257-00 Rev . A1 07/2001 ™ ®[...]