Mackie 1604-VLZ PRO manual

1 604-VLZ PRO 1 6-CHANNEL MIC / LINE MI XER O WNER ’ S MAN U AL 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 PAN AUX 3 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 EQ 5 4 6 5/6 SHIFT PRE PRE PRE PRE PRE PRE PRE PRE PRE PRE PRE PRE PRE PRE PRE PRE TRIM 12 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 1 12 1 3 14 15 16 SOLO L - R 3 – 4 1 – 2 SOLO L - R 3 –[...]

2 CAUTION AVIS RISK OF ELECTRIC SHOCK DO NOT OPEN RISQUE DE CHOC ELECTRIQUE NE PAS OUVRIR CAUTION: TO REDUCE THE RISK OF ELECTRIC SHOCK DO NOT REMOVE COVER (OR BACK) NO USER-SERVICEABLE PARTS INSIDE REFER SERVICING TO QUALIFIED PERSONNEL ATTENTION: POUR EVITER LES RISQUES DE CHOC ELECTRIQUE, NE PAS ENLEVER LE COUVERCLE. AUCUN ENTRETIEN DE PIECES IN[...]

3 Part No. 0006982-90 Rev. A1 06/03 ©2003 Mackie Designs Inc. All Rights Reserved. W e realize that you must have a powerful hankerin’ to try out your new 1604-VLZ PRO. Or you might be one of those people who never reads manuals. Either way , all we ask is that you read this page NOW , and the rest can wait until you’re good and r eady . But d[...]

4 PAN AUX 3 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 EQ 5 4 6 5/6 SHIFT PRE PRE PRE PRE PRE PRE PRE PRE PRE PRE PRE PRE PRE PRE PRE PRE TRIM 12 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 1 12 1 3 14 15 16 SOLO L - R 3 – 4 1 – 2 SOLO L - R 3 – 4 1 – 2 SOLO L - R 3 – 4 1 – 2 SOLO L - R 3 – 4 1 – 2 SOLO L - R 3 – 4 1 – 2 SOLO L - R [...]

5 CONTENTS PRE ........................................................ 21 5/6 SHIFT .............................................. 21 OUTPUT SECTION DESCRIPTION ..................... 22 MAIN MIX F ADER .................................... 22 VLZ MIX ARCHITECTURE ......................... 22 SUB F ADERS ............................................ [...]

6 1604-VLZ PR O 8-T rack T racking 8 7 6 5 4 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 21 1 2 3 4 R L R R L R L R L R L R 1 2 3 4 5 6 DIRECT OUT BAL/UNBAL CHANNEL INSERTS AUX RETURNS MAIN INSERT C/R OUT BAL/UNBAL MAIN OUT BAL/UNBAL MONO STEREO P HONES OUT AUX SENDS BAL/UNBAL 12 3 4 SUB OUTS BAL/UNBAL CHANNEL INPUTS L L L R L R TAPE OUT TAPE IN 1 6 1 5 1 4[...]

7 1604-VLZ PR O Ster eo P .A. 8 7 6 5 4 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 21 1 2 3 4 R L R R L R L R L R L R 1 2 3 4 5 6 CHANNEL INSERTS AUX RETURNS MAIN INSERT MONO STEREO P HONES OUT 12 3 4 CHANNEL INPUTS L L L R L R TAPE OUT TAPE IN 1 6 1 5 1 4 1 3 1 2 1 1 1 0 987654321 3 2 1 DIRECT OUT BAL/UNBAL C/R OUT BAL/UNBAL MAIN OUT BAL/UNBAL AUX SENDS B[...]

8 1604-VLZ PR O Video Setup 8 7 6 5 4 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 21 1 2 3 4 R L R R L R L R L R L R 1 2 3 4 5 6 CHANNEL INSERTS AUX RETURNS MAIN INSERT MONO STEREO P HONES OUT 12 3 4 CHANNEL INPUTS L L L R L R TAPE OUT TAPE IN 1 6 1 5 1 4 1 3 1 2 1 1 1 0 987654321 3 2 1 DIRECT OUT BAL/UNBAL C/R OUT BAL/UNBAL MAIN OUT BAL/UNBAL AUX SENDS BAL[...]

9 CONVER TING TO RACKMOUNT MODE Not only is the new 1604-VLZ PRO a compact, professional-quality tabletop mixer , it’s rack - mountable! Its unique rotating input pod makes this possible. One of the things that revolutionized the compact mixer industry was the “convertible pod” found on the original, cl assic CR-1604. Using an ordi- nary Phil[...]

10 UTILISE UN FUSIBLE DE RECHANGE DE MÊME TYPE. DEBRANCHER AVANT DE REMPLACER LE FUSIBLE 4321 INSERT INSERT INSERT LINE INSERT MIC 4 MIC 3 MIC 2 MIC 1 BAL UN- BAL BAL UN- BAL BAL UN- BAL BAL UN- BAL LINE LINE LINE O O +6 PHANTOM ON POWER ON 120 VAC 50/60 Hz 20W 1A/250V SLO-BLO 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 98765 MIC 1 6 INSERT INSERT INSERT INSERT INSERT I[...]

11 LINE INPUTS These 1 / 4 " jacks share circuitry (but not phantom power) with the mic preamps. Y ou can use these inputs for virtually any signal you’ll come across, from instrument levels as low as –50dB to operating levels of –10dBV to +4dBu, as there is 60dB of gain available via the TRIM knob . Always be sure to perform the Level-S[...]

12 SPLIT MONITORING W ith split monitoring, you use the first eight channels for your sound sources: vocal mics, drum mics, keyboard/synth outputs, guitar effects outputs, that sort of thing. From there, the channels manipulate the sound, but are not assigned to the output section. Instead, they’re patched from the channel’ s DIRECT OUT jacks t[...]

13 UTILISE UN FUSIBLE DE RECHANGE DE M Ê ME TYPE. DEBRANCHER AVANT DE REMPLACER LE FUSIBLE 4 321 INSERT INSERT INSERT LINE INSERT MIC 4 MIC 3 MIC 2 MIC 1 BAL UN- BAL BAL UN- BAL BAL UN- BAL BAL UN- BAL LINE LINE LINE O O +6 PHANTOM ON POWER ON 120 VAC 50/60 Hz 20W 1A/250V SLO-BLO 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 876 5 MIC 1 6 INSERT INSERT INSERT INSERT INS[...]

14 This method is exactly the same as the double- busing feature found in other mixers. Built-in double busing is nothing mor e than Y -cords living inside the mixer instead of hanging out the back. If we had room for the extra jacks, we would have thrown them in, but we don’t, so we didn’t. Sonically , ther e is no difference whatsoever . Y -c[...]

15 UTILISE UN FUSIBLE DE RECHANGE DE M Ê ME TYPE. DEBRANCHER AVANT DE REMPLACER LE FUSIBLE O O +6 PHANTOM ON POWER ON 120 VAC 50/60 Hz 20W 1A/250V SLO-BLO 16 15 14 13 12 11 1 MIC 1 6 INSERT INSERT INSERT INSERT INSERT INSERT INSERT MIC 1 5 MIC 1 4 MIC 1 3 MIC 1 2 MIC 1 1 MIC 1 0 C-R OUT MAIN INSERT (TIP SEND RING RETURN) TAPE TAPE MAIN OUT R L MON[...]

16 UTILISE UN FUSIBLE DE RECHANGE DE M Ê ME TYPE. DEBRANCHER AVANT DE REMPLACER LE FUSIBLE 432 1 INSERT INSERT INSERT LINE INSERT MIC 4 MIC 3 MIC 2 MIC 1 BAL UN- BAL BAL UN- BAL BAL UN- BAL BAL UN- BAL LINE LINE LINE O O +6 PHANTOM ON POWER ON 120 VAC 50/60 Hz 20W 1A/250V SLO-BLO 16 15 14 13 12 1 1 10 98765 MIC 1 6 INSERT INSERT INSERT INSERT INSE[...]

17 CHANNEL STRIP DESCRIPTION A Clean Fade Faders ar e not rocket science — they operate by dragging a metal pin (the wiper) across a carbon-based strip (the track). It is possible for airborne crud to land on the track. Should that happen, you may hear scratchy noises or signal drop- outs as the wiper stumbles over the crud. Do all you can to kee[...]

18 If you’re printing new tracks or bouncing ex- isting ones, you’ll also use the 1–2 and 3–4 switches, but not the L–R switch. Here, you don’t want the subgroups sent back into the MAIN MIX , but sent out, via the SUB OUTS jacks, to your multitrack inputs . However , if you’re printing tracks via the DIRECT OUT jacks , all the channe[...]

19 CONST ANT LOUDNESS ! ! ! The 1604-VLZ PRO’s PA N controls employ a de- sign called “Const ant Loudness.” It has not hing to do with living next to a freeway . As you turn the PA N knob from left to right (thereby caus- ing the sound to move from the left to the center to the right), the sound will appear to remain at the same volume (or lo[...]

20 20 Hz 100 Hz 1k Hz 10k Hz 20k Hz – 15 – 10 – 5 0 +5 +10 +15 20 Hz 100 Hz 1k Hz 10k Hz 20k Hz – 15 – 10 – 5 0 +5 +10 +15 Most of the root and lower harmonics that define a sound are located in the 100Hz–8kHz frequency range, and you can cr eate drastic changes with these two knobs. Many engineers use MID EQ to cut midrange frequenci[...]

21 W e recommend going into a ster eo reverb in mono and returning in ster eo. W e have found that on most “stereo” r everbs, the second input just ties up an extra aux send and adds nothing to the sound. There ar e exceptions, so feel fr ee to try it both ways. Should you choose to use two aux sends, use the “odd” AUX ( 1 , 3 or 5 ) to fee[...]

22 AUX SEND STEREO AUX RETURN EFFECTS TO MONITORS TO AUX SEND 2 TO AUX SEND 1 1 2 PWR PHAN SOLO SOLO 1 2 1 2 3 4 1 2 C - R / PHNS ONLY RETURNS SOLO MAIN MIX TO SUBS ASSIGN OPTIONS 1 – 2 3 – 4 U O O +20 U O O +20 U O O +1 5 U O O +1 5 U O O +20 U O O +20 U O O +10 U O O +1 0 LEFT RIGHT PHONES LAMP 12 V 0.5A TAPE IN SOLO RUDE SOLO LIGHT CTL ROOM [...]

23 Now you know how to select the signals you want to send to the engineer’s control room and/or phones. From there, these signals all pass through the same level control, aptly named: CTL ROOM/PHONES As you might expect, this knob controls the levels of both the stereo C-R OUTS and PHONES output . The control range is from off through unity gain[...]

24 MODE (NORMAL (AFL)/LEVEL SET (PFL)) Y ou may have already seen this, but in case you missed it: The 1604-VLZ PRO’s solo system comes in two flavors: NORMAL (AFL) (sometimes called SIP , or solo-in-place) and LEVEL SET (PFL) (sometimes called PFL, or pr e-fader-listen). In NORMAL (AFL) , the soloed channel’s signal is sent dir ectly to the C-[...]

25 METERS The 1604-VLZ PRO’s peak metering system is made up of two columns of twelve LEDs. Decep- tively simple, considering the multitude of signals that can be monitored by it. If nothing is selected in the SOURCE matrix and no channels are in SOLO , t h e meter display will just sit there. T o put them to work, you must make a selection in th[...]

26 AUX SENDS SOLO Once again, in a live sound situations AUX SEND 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 but- tons are for . ( AUX 3 through AUX 6 have no such switch.) Beside each switch is a gr een LED that, just like the channel’ s –20 LED , helps you[...]

27 ( MAIN MIX TO SUBS switch up) and you did a drum fade-out usi ng subgroup faders 1 and 2 , the “dry” signals would fade out, but the “wet” signals would keep on singing. All you would hear is the drum reverb (the “wet”), and none of the original drum signals (the “dry”). That’ s be- cause the reverb is being fed by the channel?[...]

28 1604-VLZ PRO BLOCK DIAGRAM MAIN L SUB 3 MAIN R SUB 2 SUB 1 SUB 4 AUX 1 AUX 2 AUX 3 AUX 4 AUX 5 AUX 6 SIP L SIP R PFL LOGIC 75Hz HPF MID HI 80 100–8K 12K LO L R 1 2 3 4 SIP L SIP R PFL PHANTOM POWER (GLOBAL SWITCH TRIM MIC IN LINE IN DIRECT OUT (CH'S 1–8 ONLY) INSERT LOW CUT –20 (FLICKER) SOLO (GLOW) OL (FLICKER) MUTE (GLOW) EQ GAIN FR[...]

29 GAIN STRUCTURE DIAGRAM +22dBu max in 15dB loss, TRIM down 45dB gain, TRIM up LINE IN, all channels MIC IN, all channels 60dB gain, TRIM up 0dB gain, TRIM down +22dBu max in +15dB up – 15dB down – 15dB down – 15dB down LOW +15dB up MID +15db up HIGH +10dB up FADER PAN – 4dB center EQ MIX 0dB 1/4" Unbal Out and RCA Tape Out +6dB (1/4&[...]

30 SPECIFICA TIONS Main Mix Noise 20Hz–20kHz bandwidth, 1 ⁄ 4 " Main Out, channel Trims @ unity gain, channel EQs flat, all channels assigned to Main Mix, odd channels panned left, even channels panned right Main Mix fader unity, channel faders down: –86.5dBu (90dB Signal to Noise Ratio, ref +4dBu) Main Mix fader @ unity, channel faders [...]

31 SER VICE INFO Details concerning W arranty Service are spelled out on the W arranty Card included with your mixer (if it’s missing, let us know and we’ll rush one to you). If you think your 1604-VLZ PRO has a problem, please do everything you can to confirm it before ca l l- ing for service. Doing so might save you from being deprived of you[...]

32 APPENDIX A: CONNECTIONS “XLR” CONNECTORS Mackie mixers use 3-pin female “XLR” con- nectors 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 wir ed to the “low” (“cold” or negative polarity) side of the sig[...]

33 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. Con- versely , a 1 ⁄ 4 " TRS plug inserted into a 1 ⁄ 4 &[...]

34 Using the Send Only on an Insert Jack If you insert a TS (mono) 1 ⁄ 4 " plug only partially (to the first click) into a Mackie insert jack, the plug will not activate the jack switch and will not open the insert loop in the circuit (thereby allow- ing the channel signal to continue on its merry way through the mixer). This allows you to t[...]

35 TIP (SEND) RING (IN) TIP (OUT) RING (RETURN) TO MIXER CHANNEL INSERT RING (RETURN) TIP (SEND) TO PROCESSOR INPUT FROM PROCESSOR OUTPUT Y-cord insert cable Y-cord splitter cable MUL TS AND “Y”s A mult or “Y” connector allows you to route one output to two or more inputs by simply providing parallel wiring connections. Y ou can make “Y?[...]

36 PAN AUX 3 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 EQ 5 4 6 5/6 SHIFT PRE PRE PRE PRE PRE PRE PRE PRE TRIM 12 3 456 78 SOLO L - R 3 – 4 1 – 2 SOLO L - R 3 – 4 1 – 2 SOLO L - R 3 – 4 1 – 2 SOLO L - R 3 – 4 1 – 2 SOLO L - R 3 – 4 1 – 2 SOLO L - R 3 – 4 1 – 2 SOLO L - R 3 – 4 1 – 2 SOLO L - R 3 – 4 1 – 2 OL - 20 OL - 20 O[...]

37 UTILISE UN FUSIBLE DE RECHANGE DE M Ê ME TYPE. DEBRANCHER AVANT DE REMPLACER LE FUSIBLE 4321 INSERT INSERT INSERT LINE INSERT MIC 4 MIC 3 MIC 2 MIC 1 BAL UN- BAL BAL UN- BAL BAL UN- BAL BAL UN- BAL LINE LINE LINE O O +6 PHANTOM ON POWER ON 120 VAC 50/60 Hz 20W 1A/250V SLO-BLO 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9876 5 MIC 1 6 INSERT INSERT INSERT INSERT INSER[...]

38 COLOPHON (Roll credits please) Manual written by Jeff Gilbert, based on a vignette by Ron Koliha, with tidbits borrowed from almost everywhere. Manual then defaced with proofreading pens in the hands of Mackie’s legendary T ech Support staff. Manual composed on a rinky-dink PC using a low-budget word processor , then converted to this amazing [...]

39 1604-VLZ PRO LIMITED W ARRANTY 3. Make sure that the problem can be dupli- cated. If you bring your product to an Authorized Service Center and they can’t find anything wrong with it, you may be charged a service fee. 4. If the Mackie Authorized Service Center is located in another city, pack the product in its original shipping carton. More i[...]

Mackie Designs Inc. 16220 W ood-Red Road NE • W oodinville, W A 98071 • USA US and Canada: 800.898.3211 Europe , Asia, Central and South 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[...]