Mackie 1402-VLZ3 User Manual

1402-

VLZ3

U

O

O

+15

U

O

O

+15

U

+15

-15

U

+15

-15

U

+15

-15

dB

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20

10

O

O

40
50

5

5

U

60

10

d
1

1

AUX

HI

12kHz

MID

2.5kHz

LOW

80Hz

EQ

PAN

SOLO

1

MUTE

ALT 3–4

L R

Another way to do the same thing is assign the chan-

nels to the ALT 3–4 mix, then patch out of the ALT 
OUTPUT L and R back into an unused stereo channel 
(7–8, 9–10, 11–12, 13–14). If that’s your choice, don’t 
ever engage the MUTE/ALT 3–4 switch on that stereo 
channel, or you’ll have every dog in the neighborhood 
howling at your feedback loop.

Another benefi t of the ALT 3–4 feature is that it 

can act as a “AFL” (After-Fader-Listen): just engage a 
channel's MUTE/ALT 3–4 switch and the ALT 3–4 switch 
in the SOURCE matrix and you’ll get that channel, all by 
itself, in the control room and phones. 

MUTE/ALT 3–4 is one of those controls that can bewil-

der newcomers, so take your time and play around with 
it. Once you’ve got it down, you’ll probably think of a 
hundred spiffy uses for it!

PAN adjusts the amount of chan-

nel signal sent to the left versus the 
right outputs. On mono channels 
(ch. 1–6 or 7–14 with connections 
to the left input only) these controls 
act as pan pots. On  stereo channels 
(7–14) with stereo connections to 
L and R  inputs, the PAN knob works 
like the balance control on your 
home stereo.

PAN determines the fate of the 

main mix and ALT 3–4 mix. With 
the PAN knob hard left, the signal 
will feed either MAIN OUT L (bus 
1) or ALT OUTPUT L (bus 3), 
depending on the position of the 
ALT 3–4 [25] switch. With the knob 
hard right, the signal feeds MAIN 
OUT R (bus 2) or ALT OUTPUT R 
(bus 4). 

The 1402-VLZ3’s PAN controls employ a design called 

“Constant Loudness.” It has nothing to do with living 
next to a freeway. As you turn the PAN knob from left 
to right (thereby causing the sound to move from the 
left to the center to the right), the sound will appear to 
remain at the same  volume (or loudness). 

If you have a channel panned hard left (or right) and 

reading 0 dB, it must dip down about 4 dB on the left 
(or right) when panned center. To do otherwise (the 
way Brand X compact mixers do) would make the sound 
appear much louder when panned center. 

The 1402-VLZ3 has 3-band equalization at carefully 

selected points — LOW shelving at 80 Hz, MID peaking 
at 2.5 kHz, and HI shelving at 12 kHz. “Shelving” means 
that the circuitry boosts or cuts all frequencies past the 
 specifi ed frequency. For example, rotating the LOW EQ 
knob 15 dB to the right boosts bass starting at 80 Hz and 
continuing down to the lowest note you never heard. 
“Peaking” means that certain  frequencies form a “hill” 
around the center  frequency — 2.5 kHz in the case of 
the MID EQ.

This control gives you 

up to 15 dB boost or cut 
below 80 Hz. The circuit is 
fl at (no boost or cut) at the 
center detent position. This 
frequency represents the 
punch in bass drums, bass 
guitar, fat synth patches, 
and some really serious 
male singers. 

Used in conjunction with 

the LOW CUT [3] switch, 
you can boost the LOW EQ 
without injecting a ton of 
subsonic debris into the 
mix.

Short for “midrange,” 

this knob provides 15 dB 
of boost or cut, centered at 
2.5 kHz, also fl at at the cen-
ter detent. Midrange EQ 
is  often thought of as the 
most dynamic, because the 
frequencies that defi ne any 
particular sound are almost always found in this range. 
You can create many interesting and useful EQ changes 
by turning this knob down as well as up.

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