Mackie 1402-VLZ3 User Manual

Owner’

s Manual

Part No. 0019815  Rev. A 

 

 

 

 

©2006 LOUD Technologies Inc. All Rights Reserved. 

 

Printed on enviro-friendly, self-perpetuating, thinly-sliced sheets of fossilized 
Albatross guano, eco-harvested from the wooded slopes of Mount Woodinville.

For optimum sonic performance, the channel faders 

and MAIN MIX faders should be set near the “U” (unity 
gain) markings.

Always turn the MAIN MIX and CONTROL ROOM/

SUBMIX faders down before making connections to and 
from your 1402-VLZ3.

If you shut down your equipment, turn off your ampli-

fi er fi rst. When powering up, turn on your amplifi er last.

Save the shipping box! You may need it someday. 

Here’s how to get going right away, assuming you have 

a microphone and a keyboard: 

1.   Plug your microphone into channel 1’s MIC 

input.

2.  Turn on the 1402-VLZ3.

3.   Perform the Level-Setting Procedure. 

4.   Connect cords from the MAIN OUTS (XLR, 1⁄4" 

or RCA, your choice) to your amplifi er. 

5.   Hook up speakers to the amp and turn it on. 

6.   Turn up the 1402-VLZ3’s channel 1 fader to the 

U mark, and the MAIN MIX fader one quarter of 
the way up.

7.   Sing like a canary! 

8.   Plug your keyboard into stereo channel 7-8. 

9.   Turn that channel’s fader to the U mark.

10.  Play like a madman and sing like a canary! 

It’s your fi rst mix! 

We realize that you must be dying to 

try out your new 1402-VLZ3. All we ask 
is that you read this page NOW, and the 
rest later  — you’ll be glad you did.

WARNING: Before you plug the AC power 

cord into the mixer, make sure the VOLTAGE 
SELECTOR switch is set to the same voltage 

as your local AC mains supply (see page 12). 

Message to seasoned pros: do not set levels using the 

old “Turn the GAIN up until the clip light comes on, 
then back off a hair” trick. When a Mackie mixer clip 
light comes on, you really are about to clip. We worked 
and slaved to come up with a better system, one that 
provides low noise and high headroom.

On the fi rst six channels, it’s not even necessary to 

hear what you’re  doing to set  optimal levels. But if you’d 
like to: Plug headphones into the PHONES jack, then 
move the CONTROL ROOM/SUBMIX fader up a little.

The following steps must be performed one channel at 

a time: 

1.  Turn the GAIN, AUX SEND knobs and FADERS 

fully down.

2.  Set the EQ knobs at the center detent. 

3.   Connect the signal source to the input. 

4.   Engage (push in) the channel's SOLO switch.

5.  Engage the AFL/PFL switch in the master sec-

tion. A green LEVEL SET light will turn on.

6.   Play something into the selected input. This 

could be an instrument, a singing or speaking 
voice, or a line input such as a CD player or 
tape recorder output. Be sure that the volume 
of the input is the same as it would be during 
normal use. If it isn’t, you may have to readjust 
these levels during the middle of the set. 

7.   Adjust the channel’s GAIN control so that the 

display on the LED meters stays around “0” and 
never goes higher than “+7.”

8.   If you apply some EQ, repeat step 7. 

9.   Disengage that channel’s SOLO switch. 

10.  Repeat for channels 1 through 6.