Mackie 1604-VLZ3 User Manual

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1604-VLZ3
1604-
VLZ3
52.  TO AUX 1 and TO AUX 2
If you want to add reverb or delay to the stage monitor 
mixes, these are the knobs for you. Operating indepen-
dently of their respectively numbered STEREO RE-
TURNS [51] level controls, these knobs are exactly the 
same as the channel strip AUX 1 [34] and AUX 2 knobs.
These two knobs feed stereo return signals to their 
respective AUX SEND [6] outputs:
TO AUX SEND 1 feeds STEREO RETURN 1 to AUX 
SEND 1 master, and:
TO AUX SEND 2 feeds STEREO  RETURN 2 to AUX 
SEND 2 master.
They are off when turned fully down, deliver unity 
gain at the center detent, and can provide up to 15 dB of 
gain turned fully up. STEREO RETURN 3 and 4 have no 
such knobs.
53.  MAIN MIX TO SUBS (STEREO RETURN 3)
With this switch up, STEREO RETURN 3  behaves like 
all the others — it delivers a  stereo signal, regulated 
by its level knob, to the main mix. When you engage 
this switch, the signals are removed from the main mix 
buses and sent to the 1-2/3-4 switch, which diverts the 
signal once more. We’re not fi nished. Please read on.
54.  1–2/3–4 (STEREO RETURN 3)
If the MAIN MIX TO SUBS [53] switch is disengaged, 
this switch does absolutely nothing. Let’s now assume 
it’s engaged. STEREO RETURN 3’s stereo signal will not 
be sent to the main mix, but to subgroup faders 1 and 2 
(this switch up) or subgroup faders 3 and 4 (this switch 
down).
Let’s say you’ve made a stereo drum submix on sub-
group faders 1 and 2, so you can ride those two faders 
instead of the seven channels that the drums came 
from. Subgroup fader 1 has its  ASSIGN TO MAIN MIX 
[39], LEFT button engaged and subgroup fader 2 has its 
 ASSIGN TO MAIN MIX, RIGHT button engaged, blend-
ing the drum submix back into the main mix. The drum 
channels are also sending signals to your reverb via the 
AUX SENDS [6], and the reverb outputs are patched 
into STEREO RETURN 3 [7]. So far so good. 
Even though you could send STEREO RETURN 3 di-
rectly to the main mix (MAIN MIX TO SUBS [53] switch 
up), you don’t want to. Instead, engage the MAIN MIX 
TO SUBS switch and make sure the 1–2/3–4 switch is 
up. Now the reverb return will be blended into the drum 
submix, and as you ride those two faders, the reverb 
level will follow. 
Why do we want that? Because if you had just sent the 
reverb directly to the main mix (MAIN MIX TO SUBS 
switch up) and you did a drum fade-out using 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 because the reverb is 
being fed by the channel’s AUX sends, and they have no 
idea that you’ve pulled down the subgroup faders. That’s 
why we threw in these switches, phew!
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