Owner's Manual

802VLZ4
16
802VLZ4
Channel Strip Description
22. Pre Fader Solo
Thislovableswitchallowsyoutohearsignals
throughyourheadphonesorcontrolroomwithout
havingtoroutethemtothemainmixoralt3-4mix.
Youdon’tevenhavetohavethechannel’slevel[21]
knobturnedup.Folksusesoloinliveworktopreview
channelsbeforetheyareletintothemix,ortojust
checkoutwhataparticularchannelisuptoanytime
duringasession.Youcansoloasmanychannelsata
timeasyoulike.
Soloedchannelsaresenttothesourcemix,which
ultimatelyfeedsyourcontrolroom,phonesandmeter
display.Wheneversoloisengaged,allsourceselections
(mainmix,alt3-4andtape)aredefeated,toallowthe
soloedsignaltodojustthat—solo!
WARNING:Prefadersolotapsthe
channelsignalbeforethelevelknob.
Ifyouhaveachannel’slevelknobsetbelow
“U”(unitygain),solowon’tknowthatandwillsend
aunitygainsignaltothecontrolroom,phonesand
meterdisplay.Thatmayresultinastartlinglevel
boostattheseoutputs.
23. Mute/Alt 3–4
Thedual-purposemute/alt3–4busisoursignature.
WhenGregwasdesigningourrstproduct,hehadto
includeamuteswitchforeachchannel.Muteswitches
dojustwhattheysoundliketheydo.Theyturnoffthe
signalby“routing”itintooblivion.“Gee,whatawaste,”
Gregreasoned.“Whynothavethemutebuttonroutethe
signalsomewhereelseuseful…likeaseparatestereo
bus?”Somute/alt3–4reallyservestwofunctions—
muting(oftenusedduringamixdownorliveshow),and
signalrouting(formultitrackandlivework)whereit
actsasanextrastereobus.
Tousethisasamuteswitch,allyouhavetodoisnot
usethealt3–4[9]outputs.Then,wheneveryoupress
thisswitch,youwillassignachanneltotheseunused
outputs,disconnectingitfromthemainmix,and 
effectivelymutingthechannel.
Tousethisasanalt3–4switch,allyouhavetodo
isconnectthealt3–4outputstowhateverdestination
youdesire.Herearetwopopularexamples:
Whendoingmultitrackrecording,usethealt3–4
outputstofeedyourmultitrack.Withmostdecks,you
can"mult"thealt3–4[9]outputs,usingY-cordsor
mults,tofeedmultipletracks.So,takealtoutputLand
sendittotracks1,3,5and7,andaltoutputRandsend
ittotracks2,4,6and8.Now,tracksthatareinrecord
orinputmodeswillhearthealt3–4signals,andtracks
inplaybackorsafemodeswillignorethem.
Thevechannelstripslookalike,andfunction
identically.Thersttwoareforindividualmicsormono
instruments,andhavemoregainavailable.Thenext
stripcontrolsmicorstereoline-levelsources,andthe
lasttwoareforeitherstereoormonoline-levelsources.
(Eachofthestereochannelstripsisactuallytwo
completecircuits.Thecontrolsarelinkedtogetherto
preservestereo.)We’llstartatthebottomandwork
ourwayup:
“U” Like Unity Gain
VLZ4mixershavea“U”symbolonalmostevery
levelcontrol.This“U”standsfor“unitygain,”meaning
nochangeinsignallevel.Onceyouhaveadjustedthe
inputsignaltoline-level,youcanseteverycontrolat
“U”andyoursignalswilltravelthroughthemixerat
optimallevels.What’smore,allthelabelsonourlevel
controlsaremeasuredindecibels(dB),soyou’llknow
whatyou’redoinglevel-wiseifyouchoosetochangea
control’ssettings.
21. Level
Thisadjuststhechannel’slevel,fromoff,tounity
gainatthecenter,onupto12dBofadditionalgain.
Thisknobistheequivalentofachannelfader,
sosometimeswelapseandsaythewordfader.
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