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CHANNEL STRIP DESCRIPTION
A Clean Fade
Faders are 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 keep airborne crud out of your
profession. Use air conditioned rooms when-
ever possible, avoid smoking near the mixer,
keep food and drink away from the mixer, and
for pity’s sake, never put the mixer in your
kitchen! We also recommend “exercising” the
faders — give them a few full-travel excur-
sions once a week or so, and that will help
scare the crud away. We do not recommend
spray cleaners.
ASSIGN (1–2, 3–4, L–R)
Alongside each channel fader are four but-
tons, labeled
SOLO
,
1–2
,
3–4
and
L–R
. The
latter three are collectively referred to as chan-
nel assignment switches.
1
,
3
and
L
are the left
sides of these stereo pairs, and
2
,
4
and
R
are
the right sides. Used in conjunction with the
channel’s
PAN
knob , these switches deter-
mine the destination of a channel’s signal:
With the
PAN
knob set at the center detent,
the left and right sides receive equal signal
levels. To feed only one side or the other, just
turn the
PAN
knob accordingly.
If you’re doing a mixdown to a 2-track, sim-
ply engage the
L–R
switch on each channel
that you want to hear, and they’ll be sent to the
MAIN L-R MIX
. If you want to create a sub-
group of certain channels, engage either the
1–2
or
3–4
switches instead of the
L–R
, and
they’ll be sent to the appropriate subgroup fad-
ers
. From there, the subgroups can be sent
back to the
MAIN L-R MIX
, allowing you to
use the subgroup faders as a master control for
those channels.
The sixteen channel strips look alike and
function identically. The only difference is that
the eight on the left have
DIRECT OUT
jacks
and the eight on the right don’t. We’ll start
at the bottom and work our way up.
“U” LIKE UNITY GAIN
Mackie mixers have a “
U
”
symbol on almost every level
control. This “
U
” stands for
“unity gain,” meaning no
change in signal level. Once you have per-
formed the
Level-Setting Procedure
, you
can set every control at “U” and your signals
will travel through the mixer at optimal lev-
els. What’s more, all the labels on our controls
are measured in decibels (dB), so you’ll know
what you’re doing level-wise if you choose to
change a control’s settings.
You won’t have to check it here and check it
there, as you would with some other mixers. In
fact, some don’t even have any reference to
actual dB levels at all! Ever seen those “0–10”
fader markings? We call these AUMs (Arbitrary
Units of Measurement), and they mean noth-
ing in the real world. You were smart — you
bought a Mackie.
FADER
The fader is almost the last control in a
channel’s signal path. It’s placed after the
EQ
and
MUTE
controls (post-
EQ
/post-
MUTE
and
before the
PAN
control (pre-
PAN
). The “
U
”
mark, about three-quarters of the way up,
indicates unity gain, meaning no increase or
decrease of signal level. All the way up pro-
vides an additional 10dB, should you need to
boost a section of a song. If you find that the
overall level is too quiet or too loud with a
fader near unity, you’ll want to confirm the
TRIM
setting by performing the
Level-Setting
Procedure
.
PAN
AUX
3
1
2
EQ
5
4
6
5/6
SHIFT
PRE
TRIM
1
SOLO
L - R
3
–
4
1
–
2
OL
-
20
U
OO
+15
U
OO
+15
U
OO
+15
U
+15-15
U
+15-15
800
2k200
8k
U
+15-15
12k
HI
MID
80Hz
LOW CUT
75 Hz
18dB/OCT
LOW
10 0
U
OO
+15
1
MUTE
M
I
C
G
A
I
N
10
U
60
+10dB -40dB
-
1
0
d
B
V
LR
OO