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A good user manual
The rules should oblige the seller to give the purchaser an operating instrucion of Mackie VST, along with an item. The lack of an instruction or false information given to customer shall constitute grounds to apply for a complaint because of nonconformity of goods with the contract. In accordance with the law, a customer can receive an instruction in non-paper form; lately graphic and electronic forms of the manuals, as well as instructional videos have been majorly used. A necessary precondition for this is the unmistakable, legible character of an instruction.
What is an instruction?
The term originates from the Latin word „instructio”, which means organizing. Therefore, in an instruction of Mackie VST one could find a process description. An instruction's purpose is to teach, to ease the start-up and an item's use or performance of certain activities. An instruction is a compilation of information about an item/a service, it is a clue.
Unfortunately, only a few customers devote their time to read an instruction of Mackie VST. A good user manual introduces us to a number of additional functionalities of the purchased item, and also helps us to avoid the formation of most of the defects.
What should a perfect user manual contain?
First and foremost, an user manual of Mackie VST should contain:
- informations concerning technical data of Mackie VST
- name of the manufacturer and a year of construction of the Mackie VST item
- rules of operation, control and maintenance of the Mackie VST item
- safety signs and mark certificates which confirm compatibility with appropriate standards
Why don't we read the manuals?
Usually it results from the lack of time and certainty about functionalities of purchased items. Unfortunately, networking and start-up of Mackie VST alone are not enough. An instruction contains a number of clues concerning respective functionalities, safety rules, maintenance methods (what means should be used), eventual defects of Mackie VST, and methods of problem resolution. Eventually, when one still can't find the answer to his problems, he will be directed to the Mackie service. Lately animated manuals and instructional videos are quite popular among customers. These kinds of user manuals are effective; they assure that a customer will familiarize himself with the whole material, and won't skip complicated, technical information of Mackie VST.
Why one should read the manuals?
It is mostly in the manuals where we will find the details concerning construction and possibility of the Mackie VST item, and its use of respective accessory, as well as information concerning all the functions and facilities.
After a successful purchase of an item one should find a moment and get to know with every part of an instruction. Currently the manuals are carefully prearranged and translated, so they could be fully understood by its users. The manuals will serve as an informational aid.
Table of contents for the manual
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USER’S GUIDE Final Mix ™ VST F or T racktion Plug-in for Sof tware Audio Rec ording Applications By Acuma Labs[...]
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User’ s Guide 2 User’ s Guide 3 Mackie Softw ar e Licens e 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, all interf[...]
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User’ s Guide 2 User’ s Guide 3 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. LOUD TECHNOLOGIES EXPRESSL Y DISCLAIMS ALL W ARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NO[...]
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User’ s Guide 4 User’ s Guide 5 Iconogr aphy “Mackie” and the “Running Man” gure are trademarks or registered trademarks of LOUD T echnologies Inc. VST is a trademark of Steinberg Media T echnologies GmbH. All other brand names mentioned are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders, and are hereby acknowledged.[...]
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User’ s Guide 4 User’ s Guide 5 Cont ents Mackie Softw ar e License------------------------------------------- 2 Iconogr aphy ---------------------------------------------------------- 4 Intr oduction ---------------------------------------------------------- 6 About Final Mix -------------------------------------------------------- 6 Main F ea[...]
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User’ s Guide 6 User’ s Guide 7 Intr oduction Thank you for choosing Mackie software products for your computer -based audio recording system. This version of Mackie's Final Mix stereo mastering plug-in comes with the PC ver - sion of T racktion, our easy-to-use music production software application. When you install T racktion on your PC,[...]
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User’ s Guide 6 User’ s Guide 7 • Stereo mastering plug-in solution for the PC version of T racktion • 6-band pre-dynamics parametric equalizer • 3-band dynamics processor • 6-band post-dynamics parametric equalizer • Soft-Clip feature to provide peak overload protection • DC removal lter • Noise gate • Integrated on-screen h[...]
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User’ s Guide 8 User’ s Guide 9 Using Final Mix Fr ont P anel Overview Y ou can think of Final Mix as being broken into three basic blocks: EQ, Dynamics, and Glob- al. The dynamics and equalizer blocks have alternate pop-up screens that can be accessed for detailed editing. P re/P ost P arametric Equalizers (Six B and) Global Controls Dynamics [...]
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User’ s Guide 8 User’ s Guide 9 the threshold and ratio, as well as a desired knee. It is a view of the overall ‘shape’ or con- tour of exactly what the compressor is going to do your signal. Y ou can even draw in regions of expansion. From this screen you can also enable or disable the band’ s auto make-up gain. Band V iew displays the e[...]
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User’ s Guide 10 User’ s Guide 11 The EQ screen defaults to EQ EDIT PRE ON when Final Mix is initially activated. EQ EDIT PRE ON is also indicated by the letters (PRE) that are highlighted on the background screen. EQ Editing Six nodes (balls) are displayed for each of the Pre and Post EQ curves. Each node on a se- lected curve offers independe[...]
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User’ s Guide 10 User’ s Guide 11 DC offset is noise that may be present within your signal but typically is not audible by it- self. Why would you want to remove it? It can damage speakers by offsetting the "resting" position of the cone. It can also require extra energy to reproduce, robbing an amplier of power that could be used[...]
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User’ s Guide 12 User’ s Guide 13 T ypically , the dynamics processor is used as a compressor . However , depending on the set- tings it can act as a compressor , limiter , or expander , or even a combination of all three. Having three dynamic processors acting separately on each band can give you great exibil- ity while mastering. For insta[...]
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User’ s Guide 12 User’ s Guide 13 Ke y Gain The Key Gain Control ranges from –15 dB to +15 dB. This gain control is not the same as the compressor make-up gain, which is found in the contour screen (and beside the three small contour graphs). Instead, this control adjusts the gain of the signal that is sent to the key level detector . This is[...]
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User’ s Guide 14 User’ s Guide 15 Contour Edit Scr een Contour Edit screen Note: The Dynamics Contour Edit s creen is ac cessed by double-clicking on any of the thr ee bands found at the bottom of the main Final Mix screen. Overvie w The Contour Edit Screen allows you to have very powerful control over the heart of Final Mix. Double-clicking on[...]
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User’ s Guide 14 User’ s Guide 15 Expansion occurs when the amplitude of the output increases faster than the amplitude of the input. Compression, on the other hand, occurs when the amplitude of the output in- creases slower than the amplitude of the input. Final Mix allows expansion or compression above the threshold. Expansion can be used to [...]
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User’ s Guide 16 User’ s Guide 17 In general, the attack time should be much faster than the release time to get pleasing results. If the attack time is set too quickly , you hear something resembling clipping on at- tacks, especially with low-frequency signals. Leaving the attack a little bit longer also allows more of the ‘snap’ of the at[...]
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User’ s Guide 16 User’ s Guide 17 Nodes can be added to the contour graph by right-clicking the mouse on the contour graph. Right-clicking on the graph where there is no node adds a node, up to a maximum of 4. Right-clicking on a node removes it. Y ou can also add or remove nodes by scrolling through the NODE selector window and toggling the No[...]
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User’ s Guide 18 User’ s Guide 19 Other Contr ols in the Dynamics Sec tion Active This engages or disengages all of the compressors. Note: The dynamics pr ocessor for each band can be individually enabled or disabled using the IN button immediately belo w the key / crosso ver graph. Reset RESET DYNAMICS will reset the Dynamics section to its fa[...]
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User’ s Guide 18 User’ s Guide 19 Global Contr ols Block The Global Controls Block is shown below . This includes the minimize and preset up/down buttons, the preset title window , the ACTIVE, MENU, and MEM A/B buttons. The global controls also include INPUT and OUTPUT faders and meters, and fader LINK buttons. Main Global Controls screen Help [...]
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User’ s Guide 20 User’ s Guide 21 Pres et T oggle Buttons The preset up/down arrow buttons enable you to scroll up or down through either the factory or user presets. These toggle buttons are located just to the left of the Preset window . Pres et Title Window The Preset T itle window displays the currently selected preset. This window is locat[...]
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User’ s Guide 20 User’ s Guide 21 Specica tions 6 b an d Pa ra me tr ic E Q Ga in ± 15 .0 d B Fr eq ue nc y 20 H z to 20 k Hz Q r an ge 0. 1 to 16 Fi lt er t ype Hig h/ Lo w sh el f or ba nd pa ss D y n am ic s Ga in M ak eu p ± 15 dB A tt ac k 0 t o 1 00 m s R el ea se 30 ms t o 300 0 ms Th r es ho ld –4 8 dBf s to 0 dB fs C o m pr es s[...]
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User’ s Guide 22 User’ s Guide 23 Final Mix F ac tory Pr esets The following table is a simple guide to help you understand some of Final Mix’ s factory pre- sets. A brief description and intended use is given. Final Mix presets can be used effectively as they are, or as a starting point that lets you do the ne tuning mix. Final Mix also l[...]
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User’ s Guide 22 User’ s Guide 23 Final Mix Preset Preset Description Preset T ype Female Broadcast Optimized Female compression Radio and television settings for radio or TV broadcast. broadcast (female) Uses an EQ lift between 100 and 300Hz with a 75Hz roll of f. This simulates Electro V oice RE-20 microphone response. Female V ox Comp Good a[...]
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User’ s Guide 24 User’ s Guide 25 Final Mix Preset Preset Description Preset T ype H_Notch EQ One pre EQ band set extremely low . Use to eliminate bad Used to remove a frequencies problem frequency . H_One Comp Band Uses the middle contour band as a Used as one over all single broadband compressor . The compressor Xover has its borders at 20Hz [...]
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User’ s Guide 24 User’ s Guide 25 Final Mix Preset Preset Description Preset T ype Male V ox Comp Good all around compression and Good over all male EQ. Good for most male singing vocal mix voices. Moderate + Hi Low EQ Moderate compression with high High and low EQ and low EQ boost. boost Moderate + Mid EQ Moderate compression with a bit of Mid[...]
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L OUD T echnologies Inc. 16220 W ood-Red Road NE • W oodi n ville, W A 98072 • USA US and Canada: 800.898.3211 Europe, Asia, Central and South America: 425.487.4333 M i ddle East and Africa: 31.20.654.4000 F ax: 425.487.4337 • www .mack ie.com E-mail: sales@mack ie.com[...]