Summary of the content on the page No. 1
N
N
N
N
N
N
N
N
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
G
G
G
G
G
G
G
G
U U U U U U
U U
CFX SERIES
OWNER’S MANUAL
AND WARRANTY REGISTRATION
12, 16, AND 20-CHANNEL
MIC/LINE MIXERS
WITH DIGITAL EFFECTS
CAUTION WARNING: TO REDUCE THE RISK OF FIRE OR ELECTRIC SHOCK, DO NOT SERIAL NUMBER MANUFACTURING DATE
EXPOSE THIS EQUIPMENT TO RAIN OR MOISTURE. DO NOT REMOVE COVER.
CFX12 MIXER RISK OF ELECTRIC SHOCK NO USER SERVICEABLE PARTS INSIDE. REFER SERVICING TO QUALIFIED PERSONNEL.
DO NOT OPEN
AVIS: RISQUE DE CH
Summary of the content on the page No. 2
11. Damage Requiring Service — This Mackie product should be serviced only by qualified service personnel when: CAUTION AVIS A. The power-supply cord or the plug has been damaged; or RISK OF ELECTRIC SHOCK DO NOT OPEN B. Objects have fallen, or liquid has spilled into this Mackie RISQUE DE CHOC ELECTRIQUE product; or NE PAS OUVRIR C. This Mackie product has been exposed to rain; or CAUTION: TO REDUCE THE RISK OF ELECTRIC SHOCK DO NOT REMOVE COVER (OR BACK) NO USER-SERVICEABLE PARTS INSIDE D.
Summary of the content on the page No. 3
INTRODUCTION Thank you for choosing a Mackie Designs Comprehensive master section, with: CFX™ Mixer! These compact live-sound mixers • Four 60mm submix mono faders are designed to meet the sound reinforcement • Separate Left & Right assign for each sub needs of almost any small to medium-sized club, • 60mm main mix stereo fader meeting room, sanctuary, or outdoor gathering. • TRS insert jacks for main mix Here’s a quick glance at all the features • Balanced XLR stereo main outputs you’ve acquire
Summary of the content on the page No. 4
CONTENTS SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS .........................................2 MASTER SECTION FEATURES ................................15 INTRODUCTION ...................................................3 MAIN MIX FADER ........................................15 ABOUT THIS MANUAL ..........................................3 METERS ......................................................15 QUICK START ......................................................5 RUDE SOLO..........................................
Summary of the content on the page No. 5
N I A G U 1 QUICK START ZERO 6 +50 LEVEL -15dB +30dB TRIM LOW CUT 100 Hz 15 15 MASTER SEND We know you can’t wait to 10 10 U AUX U AUX 5 5 get the show on the road. 1 1 0 0 +15 5 5 Who has time to read a +15 U U 10 10 booooring manual? That’s 2 15 15 2 +15 63 125 250 500 1K 2K 4K 8K 16K +15 fine — the CFX Mixer is PRE FADER STEREO GRAPHIC EQ U EFX U designed to set up quickly and operate intu- EFX 1 1 (EXT) (EXT) CFX12 MIXER itively — but please, READ THIS PAGE! +15 +15 12 CHANNEL COMPACT INTEGR
Summary of the content on the page No. 6
TWEAK THE MIX: KNOW THESE THINGS: 1. Engage MUTE on all channels except your • Never listen to loud music for prolonged rhythm section (drums & bass). periods. Please see “Safety Instructions” on page 2 for information on hearing protection. 2. Adjust the rhythm section’s channel faders to get a good balance of levels. • Never plug amplifier outputs into anything except speakers. 3. Un-mute the other active channels and adjust their faders. • Never use guitar cables to connect amplifiers to spea
Summary of the content on the page No. 7
Subwoofer Keyboard, or other line-level input CFX•16 — Large Club Gig or Auditorium Keyboard, or other line-level input using a Subwoofer Mono Drum Power Amplifier Machine Left PA Speaker Right PA Speaker Stereo EQ Direct Box Stereo Compressor Guitar Effects Guitar Effects Mono Power Amplifiers CD Player L L 5 6 7 8 910 11 12 13 14 15 16 L R L R R R 1 2 3 4 SUB OUT MAIN OUT MAIN OUT MAIN TAPE TAPE CHANNEL INPUTS 75Hz L R BAL/UNBAL INSERT OUT IN CHANNEL INSERTS AUX SENDS EFX SE
Summary of the content on the page No. 8
PATCHBAY FEATURES At the risk of stating the obvious, this is These unbalanced jacks are configured thusly: where you plug everything in: microphones, SEND to processor ring “tip” line-level instruments, effects, headphones (TRS plug) tip sleeve and the ultimate destination for your sound: PA system, tape recorder, etc. This plug connects to one of the “ring” mixer’s Channel Insert jacks. RETURN from processor MIC SHIELD The CFX Mixer is equipped with rugged, low 1 Tip = Send (to effects device
Summary of the content on the page No. 9
EFFECTS: SERIAL OR PARALLEL? MAIN OUT Effects devices are used Coming in two flavors, XLR and TRS, the either in serial or in parallel: main output represents the end of the mixer “Serial” means that the chain, where your fully mixed and enhanced entire signal is routed stereo signal enters the real world. through the effects device. The XLR balanced outputs will add 6 dB Examples: preamps, compressor/limiters, when connected to balanced inputs, thereby graphic equalizers. elevating signal from
Summary of the content on the page No. 10
UTILITY OUT EFX SEND The stereo signal at these TRS jacks is the The signal at these TRS outputs is post- RING (COLD) same as at the MAIN OUT , but with one fader only, so they cannot be used as TIP (HOT) important difference: traditional stage monitor cues. They’re in- SLEEVE (SHIELD) After the MAIN MIX Fader , the mix is tended to patch into effects device inputs; TRS BALANCED WIRING sent through the UTILITY OUT LEVEL con- hence the name “EFX.” See EFX 1 (EXT) trol, allowing you to set level
Summary of the content on the page No. 11
TAPE INPUT EFX FOOT SWITCH Patch the outputs of your intermission en- You can connect a normally-open foot switch SLEEVE SLEEVE TIP TIP tertainment here. Any line-level mono or stereo to this connector to duplicate the function of device can be used: tape, CD player, television the BYPASS switch, located in the EMAC audio, etc. See BREAK SWITCH for more EFFECTS PROCESSOR . Closing the switch RCA UNBALANCED WIRING information. connection causes the EFX BYPASS indicator When connecting a mono de
Summary of the content on the page No. 12
N I A G U 1 CHANNEL STRIP FEATURES ZERO 6 +50 LEVEL PHANTOM POWER -15dB +30dB Through a stereo channel’s stereo LINE IN TRIM Ha! We tricked you! The phantom power TRS inputs, there is 20 dB of attenuation fully LOW CUT 100 Hz switch is not located in the channel strip sec- down and 20 dB of gain fully up, with a “U” U AUX tion at all! It’s way over on the right side of the (unity gain) mark at 12:00 (knob halfway up). mixer (see graphic on previous page). We’re Having 20 dB of line-level attenu
Summary of the content on the page No. 13
PRE FADER 80Hz and below. “Peaking” means that only a selected “hill” of frequencies surrounding a The aux send rule of thumb: For parallel center “hilltop” frequency is affected by the effects processing, use aux sends in post-fader EQ control. mode. For stage monitors, use pre-fader mode Everything in moderation (including mod- (see diagram below). eration): with EQ, although you can bring With this switch disengaged (up), AUX 1 +15 a sound to life, you can also screw things and 2 receive sign
Summary of the content on the page No. 14
PAN nal. Subtle adjustment of the channels’ fader positions is the key to a finely-tuned mix. PAN adjusts the amount of channel signal Typically (providing the TRIM knob is set sent, left versus right, to the SUB OUTs correctly) the fader position will be positioned (and ultimately the MAIN OUTs via the somewhere between 0 dB (“U”) and –30 dB. SUB ASSIGN switches). On mono chan- If you have a fader set all the way up, adding nels, the knob places the signal somewhere 10 dB of gain, that’s us
Summary of the content on the page No. 15
MASTER SECTION FEATURES We hope you’ve understood, if not memo- A “+4” mixer, with a +4 dBu signal pouring rized, the CHANNEL STRIP FEATURES you out the back, will actually display 0 dB on its just read. If you’re still confused, please look meters. A “–10” mixer, with a –10 dBV signal them over again before you tackle this section. trickling out, will also display 0 dB. So ... when Don’t worry, it’s easy to swallow as long as you is 0 dB actually 0 dB? Right now! take it a bite at a time. At th
Summary of the content on the page No. 16
jacks and engage the BREAK SWITCH. In- stantly, the entire main mix is switched off and the intermission entertainment is switched on. Even if you just want silence during the 15 15 breaks, this switch can act as a “Master Mute” 10 10 switch, simply by plugging nothing into TAPE 5 5 0 0 INPUT . 5 5 10 10 PHONES LEVEL 15 15 63 125 250 500 1K 2K 4K 8K 16K After the MAIN MIX Fader , the mix is STEREO GRAPHIC EQ sent through this knob, allowing you to set headphone levels as desired without disturbi
Summary of the content on the page No. 17
AUX MASTER SEND ING/DEPTH and WIDE . When you find an effect you like, jot down the parameters, then Aux send signals are derived by each goof around some more. channel’s AUX knob, mixed together, then To mute these effects, engage BYPASS sent through this AUX MASTER SEND knob. (or your foot switch if connected to EFX FOOT Turned fully up, it provides 15 dB of additional SWITCH ). To send these effects to the gain, the center “U” mark is unity gain, and stage monitor cues, turn up the EFFECTS
Summary of the content on the page No. 18
EMAC effects, with their levels already deter- A very dramatic effect that works well with wind mined by the channels’ EFX 2 (EXT) knob, you’ll instruments such as flute, slow finger picking on typically set this knob near the “U” mark and acoustic guitar, and quiet vocal group harmony then leave it alone. and choirs. Also works well with keyboards and drums using short decay. Decay range is adjust- EFFECTS TO MONITOR able from 2 seconds to 10 seconds. Pre-delay set This works just like the chan
Summary of the content on the page No. 19
slowest repeats at 10. DAMPING/DEPTH able from 0.5Hz to 20Hz. Depth is adjustable controls the damping, with the darkest tone at from 0% to 100%. 0 and the brightest tone at 10. Since the delay PHASER: This effect is perfect for enhanc- effect is not stereo, it is not affected by the ing strummed acoustic guitar or electric guitar WIDE switch. power chords. The PHASER effectively dupli- DELAY 1: One repeat. Works best for cates the popular 70’s phase shift effect used slapback delay used in cou
Summary of the content on the page No. 20
GENERAL PRECAUTIONS AND CONSIDERATIONS NEVER bypass the AC When setting up for a show, oftentimes you plug’s ground pin. This is are plugging into an AC power distribution sys- dangerous! tem you know nothing about. You may even be faced with 2-wire outlets that are missing the third safety ground pin. It’s a good idea to have a three-wire AC outlet tester in your toolbox so AC Power Distribution you can check the outlets yourself to make The majority of AC outlets encountered in sure they are w
