Floating Down the Old I/O

The console is firmly rooted in I/O design tradition, with lots of good implementation of same and comparatively few cost-cutting shortcuts or radical weirdnesses. Mic and line inputs both feed the mic preamp, with the line input having 10 dB of attenuation built in. The Mic input has 48V DC phantom power (switchable in groups of 8). I measured some crosstalk (-85 dB) between the two inputs, so you wouldn't want to have both patched if you were working with extremely low level signals on one while high level signals were present on the other. Not a big problem. After the mic preamplifier (which has a 40 dB gain range) comes the insertion point and then the EQ, which can be bypassed. Next up is the fader plus channel mute switch. After this the signal is sent to both the direct out and the pan pot, which distributes the signal to L/Odd and R/Even buses, as well as stereo Solo buses. The six aux buses can each be fed from either before (Pre) or after the Fader/Mute (Post). One cost-cutting move limits any given I/O strip to only four aux buses at a time; you have to choose between 3/4 and 5/6.

The tape return for each I/O strip has selectable level (+4 or -8 dBu) so you can accommodate any multitrack. It is normally sent to level 'n pan for the Mix B stereo bus. There is also a "Flip" switch for mixdown, that swaps the Mic/Line input and the Tape Input, so that Mic/Line goes to Mix B and Tape goes through the normal channel flow to the buses. One niceness is that the EQ can be split, with the two shelving EQs being used in the Mix B flow. Another niceness is that Mix B can be derived from the channel, giving you a second, indepenedent mix. The ultimate niceness in this arrangement is that Mix B can be assigned to the main stereo bus, known as L/R. This layout, when you include the submasters, blends many of the nicest elements of split and I/O design architecture, and is actually pretty elegant.

Each I/O strip has a "-20 dB" pre-fader signal level LED, and a red Overload ("OL") LED. The former lets you know that there is signal present in the module, while the latter lets you know you're screwing up again. It is set to go off at +20 dBu (I think), and a neat wrinkle is that it is fed from three different points in the flow (outa the mic pre, after the EQ and/or after the fader) and it goes off if any one of them gets a little obstreperous.

Master of the Universe?

The master section is pretty straightforward. Eight submasters, treated as four stereo pairs - odds go to the Left bus and evens go the Right. You can assign any sub to both L and R by use of a mono switch, or you can of course patch the sub to go anywhere you want (you also can patch outboard stuff into the submaster insertion point, a really nice touch). There is also a stereo master fader. 12-segment bargraph meters display over a 50 dB range. The master meters become solo meters when solo is engaged. Solo is available on all inputs, aux sends and returns, submasters and phones, and mostly it is stereo-in-place, which is to say solo signals are picked up after the pan-pots and this allows you to hear the solo in stereo perspective. Mackie supplies a "Rude Solo" light that blinks at you very brightly whenever solo is engaged - a nice idea when it's 4:30 AM, your mind is gone, and you just can't figure out why there's no bass even when you crank its level up to the point where smoke is coming from the meter. Maybe, just maybe, that offensive cop-car light flashing on the master section will then remind you that you're listening to everything else soloed for some dumb reason you've forgotten.

As I said, the monitor section stuff is pretty basic. Selections are additive, so when you select both the 2-track and Mix B in the Monitor Section, you will hear a mix of them. Talkback can be sent to Aux buses 1 & 2, Submasters and Stereo Buses, and/or Phones and Studio Monitor send. There's no slate tone or oscillator.