Mackie DL Series Reference Guide

Mackie DL806 and DL1608 Reference Guide
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Glossary Of Terms Continued...
Ground —Alsocalledearth.Groundisdenedasthepointofzerovoltageinacircuitorsystem, 
the reference point from which all other voltages are measured.
In electrical power systems, ground connections are used for safety purposes, to keep equipment
chassis and controls at zero voltage and to provide a safe path for errant currents. This is called a
safety ground. Maintaining a good safety ground is essential to preventing electrical shock. Follow
manufacturer’ssuggestionsandgoodelectricalpracticestoensureasafelygroundedsystem.Never
remove or disable the grounding pin on the power cord.
Insensitiveelectronicequipment,tinycurrentsandvoltagesridingontheground(soit’snottrulyzero
volts) can cause noise in the circuits and hamper operation. Often a ground separate from the power
ground is used as the reference point for the electronics, isolating the sensitive electronics from the dirty
power ground. This is called a technical ground.
Quality audio equipment is designed to maintain a good technical ground and also operate safely with
a good safety ground.
Ground Loop —Agroundloopoccurswhenthetechnicalgroundwithinanaudiosystemisconnected
to the safety ground at more than one place. This forms a loop around which unwanted current ows,
causingnoiseintheaudiosystem.Neverdisablethesafetygroundinanattempttosolvehumproblems.
Guacamole —Adeliciousdipcomprisedmostlyofavocados.Speakingofdips,refertodipping.
Hertz — The unit of frequency, equal to 1 cycle per second. 1000 Hz equals 1 kHz.
House — In audio-land, the house refers to the systems (and even persons) responsible for the primary
sound reinforcement in a given venue. Hence, we have the house mixer or house engineer, the house mix,
house mix amps, main house speakers, etc.
Hz — Short for Hertz.
Impedance —TheA.C.resistance,capacitance,andinductanceinanelectricalcircuit,measuredinohms[ ].
Inaudiocircuits(andotherACcircuits)theimpedanceinohmsmayoftenbemuchdierentfromthecircuit
resistanceasmeasuredbyaDCohmmeter.
Maintaining proper circuit impedance relationships is important to avoid distortion and minimize added
noise. Mackie input and output impedances are set to work well with the vast majority of audio equipment.
Knee —Akneeisasharpbendinacompressorgaincurve,notunlikeasharpbendinyourleg.
Level —Anotherwordforsignal,voltage,power,strengthorvolume.Audiosignalsaresometimes 
classiedaccordingtotheirlevel.Commonlyusedlevelsare:microphonelevel(–40dBuorlower), 
instrumentlevel(–20to–10dBu),andlinelevel(–10to+30dBu).
Line Level —Asignalwhoselevelfallsbetween–10dBuand+30dBu.
Main (House) Speakers — The main loudspeakers for a sound reinforcement system. These are usually
thelargestandloudestloudspeakers,positionedfacingtheaudience;thesoundistypicallydelivered
fromthestage.ThisisalsocalledthePA.
Mains — Short for main or house speakers in a sound reinforcement system.
Master — Me. I am your master. Obey! The master on the Master Fader app, though, refers to the master
fader. It aects the total level of the selected output in which one or more signals are mixed together.

Mackie DL Series Specifications

General

Brand	Mackie
Model	DL Series
Category	Music Mixer
Language	English