Mackie 1642-VLZ3 manual

1 6 4 2-VLZ3 OWNER’S MANUAL 16-Channel Mic/Line Mixer[...]

2 1642- VLZ3 164 2- VLZ3 1. Read these instructions. 2. Keep these instructions. 3. Heed all warnings. 4. Follow all instructions. 5. Do not use this apparatus near water . 6. Clean only with a dry cloth. 7. Do not block any ventilation openings. Install in accordance with the manufacturer’ s instructions. 8. Do not install near any heat sources [...]

3 Owner’ s Manual Owner’ s Manual Other Nuggets of Wisdom For optimum sonic performance, the channel fad- ers and the MAIN MIX fader should be set near the “U” (unity gain) markings. Always turn down the MAIN MIX fader and CONTROL ROOM and PHONES knobs before making connections to your 1642-VLZ3, or turning PHANTOM POWER on. If you shut dow[...]

4 1642- VLZ3 164 2- VLZ3 Introduction Thank you for choosing a Mackie professional com- pact mixer . The 1642-VLZ3 is equipped with our precision-engineer ed XDR2 TM Extended Dynamic Range premium studio-grade mic pr eamps Now that you have your 1642-VLZ3, fi nd out how to get the most from it. That’s wher e this manual comes in. How T o Use Thi[...]

5 Owner’ s Manual Owner’ s Manual Contents IMPOR T ANT SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS ........................ 2 INTRODUCTION ...................................................... 4 HOOKUP DIAGRAMS............................................... 6 P A TCHBA Y DESCRIPTION E-Z INTERF ACING ..................................... 8 MIC AND LINE INPUT FLEXIBILI[...]

6 1642- VLZ3 164 2- VLZ3 HOOKUP DIAGRAMS Recording System Stereo Processor P ow ered Monitors Cassette Recorder 8 T r ack Recorder Out In F rom Mics, K e ys, Drum machines etc. Headphones EFX A Stereo Compressor EFX B CHANNEL INSER TS CHANNEL INPUTS AUX SENDS BAL/UNBAL TA P E OUT TA P E IN PHONES OUT SUB OUTS BAL/UNBAL C/R OUT BAL/UNBAL MAIN INSERT[...]

7 Owner’ s Manual Owner’ s Manual Live Stereo P A System Mic 1-5 Processor Processor Drum Machine Mono EQs, M-1400i Amps, and (C300) P assive Stage Monitors K eyboard Bass Mono Effects Stereo Effects Phono preamp Additional stereo source Stereo Compressors TA P E OUT TA P E IN PHONES OUT SUB OUTS C/R OUT BAL/UNBAL MAIN INSERT Headphones Digital[...]

8 1642- VLZ3 164 2- VLZ3 Patchbay Description At the risk of stating the obvious, this is where you plug everything in: microphones, line-level instruments and effects, and the ultimate destination for your sound: a tape recorder , PA system, etc. Many of the featur es de- scribed in this section are on top of the mixer , but some are on the r ear [...]

9 Owner’ s Manual Owner’ s Manual This 15 dB of attenuation can be very handy when you are inserting a signal that is very hot, or you want to add a lot of EQ gain, or both. Without this “virtual pad,” a scenario like this might lead to channel clipping. The GAIN controls for stereo channels 9-10 and 11-12 are only used to adjust the Mic in[...]

10 1642- VLZ3 164 2- VLZ3 5. DIRECT OUT Only on channels 1–8, these 1/4" balanced jacks deliver the signal from the very end of the channel path; post-GAIN [3], post-EQ [32], post-LOW CUT [34], post- F ADER [25], and post-MUTE [30]. Use these for record- ing, making the 1642-VLZ3 perfect for an 8-track studio. RECORDING When recording, you u[...]

11 Owner’ s Manual Owner’ s Manual Dry Signal(s) Dry Signal(s) Aux Send Aux Return Wet Signal Channel P ath Mix Stage Output Section P rocessed Signal Signal P rocessor (e.g., Reverb) Dry Signal P rocessed Signal Insert Send Insert Return Signal P rocessor (e.g., Compressor) 8. SUB OUTS These 1/4" jacks are usually patched to the inputs of[...]

12 1642- VLZ3 164 2- VLZ3 11. T APE OUTPUT These unbalanced RCA jacks tap the main mix outputs to make simultaneous record- ing and P A work more convenient. Connect these to your 2-track recorder’ s inputs. See MAIN MIX F ADER [37] on page 18 for details of the signal routing to these outputs. Mono: If you want to feed a mono signal to your tape[...]

13 Owner’ s Manual Owner’ s Manual As a general guide, you should turn on your mixer fi rst, before the power amplifi er or powered speakers, and turn it off last. This will reduce the possibilities of any turn-on, or turn-off thumps in your speakers. 21. POWER LED Y ou’ve probably already fi gured this out, but if the POWER [20] switch is[...]

14 1642- VLZ3 164 2- VLZ3 Channel Strip Description 26. ASSIGN (1–2, 3–4, L/R) Alongside each channel fader are four buttons, labeled SOLO, 1–2, 3–4 and L/R. The bottom three ar e collectively referr ed to as channel assignment switches. 1, 3 and L are the left sides of these ster eo pairs, and 2, 4 and R are the right sides. Used in conjun[...]

15 Owner’ s Manual Owner’ s Manual LEVEL SET (PFL) taps the channel signal before the fader . If you have a channel’s fader set way below “U” (unity gain), SOLO won’t know that and will send a unity gain signal to the con- trol room, headphones, and meters. That may result in a startling level boost at these outputs, depending on the po[...]

16 1642- VLZ3 164 2- VLZ3 CONST ANT LOUDNESS ! ! ! The 1642-VLZ3’s P AN [31] controls employ a design called “Constant Loudness.” It has nothing to do with living next to a freeway . As you turn the P AN knob from left to right (thereby causing the sound to move from the left to the center to the right), the sound will ap- pear to remain at t[...]

17 Owner’ s Manual Owner’ s Manual 33. 4-BAND FIXED-FREQUENCY EQ The stereo channels (9-16) have a 4-band, fi xed-fre- quency equalization: LOW shelving at 80 Hz, LOW MID peaking at 400 Hz, HI MID peaking at 2.5 kHz, and HI shelving at 12 kHz. Each of these fi lters provides up to 15 dB of boost or cut. As with the mono channels, the circuit [...]

18 1642- VLZ3 164 2- VLZ3 Output Section Description Y ou’ve just learned about the input channels and how the signals get in and out. The signals come in via MIC [1] and LINE [2] input jacks, are manipulated by the channels, and then sent to the output section. In the output section, things get a bit more complicated, so put on your thinking cap[...]

19 Owner’ s Manual Owner’ s Manual 40. T APE IN (LEVEL) This knob controls the level of the stereo signal com- ing from the T APE [12] INPUT RCA jacks. Its range is off when fully down, unity at the center detent, with 20 dB additional gain turned fully up, which may come in handy if you’ve patched in a device with wimpy output levels. After [...]

20 1642- VLZ3 164 2- VLZ3 44. MODE (NORMAL (AFL)/LEVEL SET (PFL)) Y ou may have already seen some of this in the SOLO discussion, but in case you missed it: The 1642-VLZ3’s solo system comes in two fl avors: • NORMAL (AFL) (sometimes called SIP , or solo- in-place) • LEVEL SET (PFL) (sometimes called PFL, or pre-fader -listen) In NORMAL (AFL[...]

21 Owner’ s Manual Owner’ s Manual Meters vs. Reality Y ou may already be an expert at the world of “+4” (+4 dBu=1.23 V) and “–10” (–10 dBV=0.32 V) operating levels. Basically , what makes a mixer one or the other is the relative 0 dB VU (or 0 VU) chosen for the meter display . A “+4” mixer , with a +4 dBu signal pouring out the[...]

22 1642- VLZ3 164 2- VLZ3 50. AUX SENDS SOLO and LED In live sound situations, AUX SEND [6] outputs 1 and 2 are likely to feed your stage monitors. Y ou’ll want to check the mix you’re sending them, and that’ s what these two buttons are for . (AUX 3 and 4 have no such switch.) Beside each switch is a green LED that, just like the channel’s[...]

23 Owner’ s Manual Owner’ s Manual 55. C-R/PHNS ONL Y (for RETURN 4) Once again, the default for all the STEREO RETURNS [7] is to feed them directly into the main mix. Y ou’ve just learned about the optional exceptions involving STEREO RETURN 3. Not wanting to be left out, STEREO RETURN 4 also has an optional exception: By engaging this C-R/P[...]

24 1642- VLZ3 164 2- VLZ3 Appendix A: Ser vice Information W arranty Ser vice Details concerning the Limited W arranty are spelled out on page 31 of this manual. If you think your 1642-VLZ3 has a problem, please check out the following troubleshooting tips and do your best to confi rm the problem. Visit the Support section of our website (www .mac[...]

25 Owner’ s Manual Owner’ s Manual “XLR” Connectors Mackie mixers use 3-pin female “XLR” connectors on all microphone inputs, with pin 1 wired to the grounded (earthed) shield, pin 2 wired to the “high” (”hot” or positive polarity) side of the audio signal and pin 3 wired to the “low” (“cold” or negative polarity) side o[...]

26 1642- VLZ3 164 2- VLZ3 Special Mackie Connections The balanced-to-unbalanced connection has been anticipated in the wiring of Mackie jacks. A 1 ⁄ 4 " TS plug inserted into a 1 ⁄ 4 " TRS balanced input, for example, will automatically unbalance the input and make all the right connections. Conversely , a 1 ⁄ 4 " TRS plug inse[...]

27 Owner’ s Manual Owner’ s Manual Direct out with no signal interruption to master. Insert only to first “c lick.” Channel Insert jack Channel Insert jack Channel Insert jack Direct out with signal interruption to master. Insert all the way in to the second “c lick.” For use as an effects loop. (TIP = SEND to effect, RING = RETURN from[...]

28 1642- VLZ3 164 2- VLZ3 Appendix C: T echnical Information Specifi cations Main Mix Noise (20 Hz–20 kHz bandwidth, 1/4" Main out, channel gains @ unity gain, channel EQs fl at, all channels assigned to Main Mix, odd channels panned left, even channels panned right.) Main Mix fader unity , channel faders down: –86.5 dBu (90 dB Signal to[...]

29 Owner’ s Manual Owner’ s Manual Block Diagram M AI N L S UB 3 MA I N R S UB 2 S UB 1 S UB 4 A UX 1 A UX 2 A UX 3 A UX 4 SIP L SIP R P FL L OG IC 75Hz HPF MID HI 80 100 ? 8K 12K LO L R 1 2 3 4 SIP L SIP R PFL PHANTOM POWER (GLOBAL SWIT CH) TRIM MIC IN LINE IN DIRECT OUT (CH'S 1 ? 8 ONL Y) INSERT LOW CUT ? –20 (FLICKER) SOLO (GLOW) OL ([...]

30 1642- VLZ3 164 2- VLZ3 T rack Sheet Session: Note s: Dat e :[...]

31 Owner’ s Manual Owner’ s Manual A. LOUD T echnologies Inc. warrants all materials, workmanship and proper operation of this product for a period of three years from the original date of purchase. If any defects are found in the materials or workmanship or if the product fails to function properly during the applicable warranty period, LOUD T[...]

16220 W ood-Red Road NE • W oodinville, WA 98072 • USA United States and Canada: 800.898.3211 Europe, Asia, Central and S outh America: 425.487 .4333 Middle East and Africa: 31.20.654.4000 F ax: 425.487 .4337 • www .mackie.com E -mail: sales@mackie.com[...]