User Manual
True to the Music
®
Radial Engineering Ltd.
MC3 Monitor Controller
7
You can also connect a subwoofer to the MC3. The SUB output on the MC3 is actively
summed to mono so that the stereo input from your recorder sends both the left and right
bass channels to the subwoofer. You would of course adjust the sub’s crossover frequency to
suit. Connecting from the MC3 to your subwoofer is done using an unbalanced ¼” cable. This
will not affect the balanced monitor-A and B connections. Turning on the subwoofer is done
by depressing the SUB toggle switch on the front panel. The output level may be adjusted
using the top mounted SUB WOOFER trim control. Again, you should set the relative level
so that it sounds balanced when played with your monitors.
A
B B
A
S
On the top panel and next to the SUB WOOFER LEVEL control is a PHASE switch. This
changes the electrical polarity and inverts the signal going to the subwoofer. Depending on
where you are sitting in the room, this can have a very dramatic effect on what is known as
room modes. Room modes are basically places in the room where two sound waves collide.
When the two waves are at the same frequency and in-phase, they will amplify each other.
This can form hot spots where certain bass frequencies are louder than others. When two
out-of-phase sound waves collide, they will cancel each other out and create a null spot in
the room. This can leave the bass sounding thin.
Try moving your subwoofer around the room following the manufacturer’s recommendation
and then try reversing the phase of the SUB output to see how it affects the sound. You will
quickly come to realize that speaker placement is an imperfect science and that once you
nd a comfortable balance you will likely leave the monitors alone. Getting used to how your
mixes translate to other playback systems takes some time. This is normal.
A cool feature built into the MC3 is the DIM control. This
lets you reduce the level going to your monitors and subs
without affecting the MASTER level settings. So for instance
if you are working on a mix and someone comes in to the
studio to discuss something or your cell phone starts ringing,
you can temporarily lower the volume of the monitors and
then instantly go back to the settings you had before the
interruption.
As with the monitors and sub outputs, you can set the DIM attenuation level using the set &
forget DIM LEVEL ADJUSTMENT control on the top panel. The attenuated level is usually
set quite low so that you can easily communicate over the playback volume. The DIM is
sometimes used by engineers who like to mix at low levels to reduce ear fatigue. Being able
to precisely set the DIM volume makes it easy to go back to familiar listening levels with a
push of a button.