Mackie 1220I User Manual

Owner's Manual   

3

Part No. SW0722 Rev. B 02/2010
©2010 LOUD Technologies Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Loosely based on a dream sequence in which the technical writer is given keys to a 
sports car of his choice, unlimited gas, and closed roads. The dream suddenly ends and 
reality kicks in. A mixer manual to write, a mixer manual to write!

It’s not even necessary to hear what you’re doing to 

set optimal levels. But if you’d like to: Plug in  
headphones and turn up the phones knob just a little.

1.  Turn on the mixer's power switch.

2.  For one channel, press the solo switch in, and 

the rude solo light will turn on. 

3.  Play something into that input at real-world 

levels.

4.  Adjust that channel's gain control until the 

right main meter stays around the 0 dB LED 
(marked "level set").

5.  Disengage the channel's solo switch.

6.  Repeat steps 2 to 5 for the remaining channels.

7.  Turn up a channel fader to the "U" mark.

8.  Slowly turn up the main mix fader until you 

hear the signals in your speakers or  
headphones.

9.   If needed, apply some channel EQ wisely.

10.  Adjust the channel faders to get the best mix. 

Keep the gain controls and faders fully down on 
unused channels.

11.  During the performance, if you notice a channel 

OL LED turning on during peaks, carefully turn 
down that channel's gain control until OL does 
not turn on.

• 

See page 34 for details of getting started with 
FireWire.

• 

PC drivers are on the supplied CD-ROM. Mac 
OS X contains built-in drivers, so no software 
installation is required.

• 

When shutting down, turn off any power  
amplifi ers or powered speakers fi rst. When  
powering up, turn them on last. This will 
reduce the chance of turn-on or turn-off 
thumps.

• 

Always turn down the phones level when  
making connections, pressing solo, or doing 
anything that may cause loudness in the  
headphones. This will help protect your  
hearing.

• 

Always turn down the main mix level and  
control room level when making connections to 
the mixer. Better yet, turn off the power.

• 

Save the shipping box!

We realize that you must be really keen 
to try out your new mixer. Please read the 
safety instructions on page 2, read this 
page, and then have a look through some 

of the features and details in this manual.

Use the mixer in a nice clean and dry environment, 

free from dryer lint and dust bunnies.

1.  Fully turn down all the knobs and faders to 

minimum, except for the channel EQ and pan 
controls, which should be centered.

2.  Make sure all buttons are in the out position.

1.  Make sure the AC power switch is off before 

making any connections.

2.  Push the linecord securely into the IEC  

connector on the rear panel, and plug it into a 
 3-prong AC outlet. The mixer can accept any  
AC voltage ranging from 100 VAC to 240 VAC.

3.  Plug a balanced microphone into one of the mic 

XLR (3-pin) connectors. Or connect any line-
level signal (keyboard, or guitar preamp) to a 
line input jack using a TS or TRS 1/4" plug.

4.  If your microphone requires phantom power, 

press in the 48V phantom power button.

5.  You can connect a guitar directly to line inputs 

1 or 2 without the need for a DI box. Press a 
hi-z switch if you connect a guitar directly.

6.  The insert jacks of channels 1 to 4 can be used 

to connect an external effects or dynamics 
processor into the channel signal chain.

7.  Connect the main outputs of the mixer (either 

XLR or TRS 1/4") to the line-level inputs of your 
amplifi er (with speakers already attached) or 
to the line-level inputs of powered speakers.

8.  Engage the main mix switch in the control 

room/phones source selection, so the meters 
will show the main mix levels in the next steps.