Mackie lm3204 User Manual

hooked up to a synthesizer, tickle those
plastic ivories! On the other hand, you might
have to deviate from this approach on certain
channels. For example, you don’t want to set
the hi-hat cymbal channel at 0dB. Use your
judgement on this.

5. The channel’s –20dB LED should light. The

L/R main meters will show the actual internal
operating level of soloed signals. Now you will
optimize levels.

For a meter reading of 0dBu with +4dBu
input (line level) signals, the settings in step 3
should be just about right. Adjust the channel
Gain control slightly so that you get peaks that
regularly hit 0dB on the Left and Right meters.

For –10dBV signals, you may have to turn
the channel Gain control clockwise to
boost the signal to read 0dB on the Left
and Right meters.

The Long Arm Exercise: For Microphone
signals (using an onboard Mackie mic
preamp), leave the channel Gain setting at
the “U” detent and instead adjust the Mic
Trim pot on the rear of the mixer until you
get peak levels of around 0dB on the Left
and Right meters. Remember, the sound
coming in the microphone should be typical
of what you will really be using. For patching
instructions, see page 11, “Microphone
Preamplifiers.”

6. If desired (optional):

Adjust the channel strip’s EQ to about what
you will be using during the session.

Repeat Step 5.

7. Return the channel strip’s Solo button to the

up position.

8. Repeat steps 1–7 on the next channel that is

being used.

9. As you un-solo the channel strips to listen to

your mix, ease up the Left and Right master
faders to set a good mix level on the meters,
with occasional peaks of 0dB.

A rock stage setup used to only include

three guitar amps and a set of drums. Here at
the turn of the century, it still means guitars
and drums, but add to that samplers and
synthesizers and drum pads and guitar
synths and MIDI saxophones and delays and
reverbs and choruses and maybe even sub-
harmonic synthesis. Imagine the joy your

If you’re a seasoned patch-cord weaver and

general propellor-head, just refer the to the
way-cool hook-up drawings that start on page
22 of this section.

If, you’re a glutton for verbal effluvia, read on.

To fully achieve the

LM-3204 Mixer’s impressive
headroom and specs, you
must “tune” the input sensi-
tivity for each channel. This

simple operation is so important that we’re re-
peating it here as well as at the beginning of this
manual. If our Technical Support department
had its way, the adjustment procedure would
probably be repeated on every other page of this
manual. They spend a fair amount of their time
“solving” new Mackie Mixer users’ noise and
headroom “problems” by directing neophyte
owners to the IMPORTANT SENSITIVITY
ADJUSTMENT PROCEDURE.

1. Set the Control Room, Phones, Left and Right

Master Faders, and Solo controls all the way
off. (As you are working through the steps,
you can ease these controls up a bit to hear
what you are doing, but be careful. There’s a
lotta level in this mixer.)

2. Apply signal to channel input.

Insert a stereo line input into the corre-
sponding Left and Right Input jacks at the
rear of the mixer.

Insert a mono line input into the correspond-
ing Left Input jack on the rear of the mixer.

3. Set channel strip controls as follows:

Gain control at “U” detent.

Solo switch down.

Mute switch up.

Balance control at “U” detent.

EQ controls at “U” detent.

Aux controls fully counterclockwise (off).

4. Apply audio signal to the input. The material

and level you use to set up the mixer should
be vaguely representative of what you will
really be doing when you really do it. If you’re
connected to a tape deck or a CD player, put
some music on and push the button! If you’re