Mackie CFX12, CFX16, CFX20 User Manual

MACKIE

HOOK-UP

GUIDE

CFX

SERIES

OUR [IN]FAMOUS PRODUCT

HOOKUPS IN BYTE-SIZED MORSELS

Copyright © 2002 Mackie Designs Inc. All Rights Reserved.

PRINTING NOTE: These pages were built 21cm wide (8.26in) by 27.94cm (11in) tall to
accommodate the printers of both our North American users and our users around the
globe. This PDF will print at 100% on both “Letter” sized and “A4” sized paper (with room in
the left margin for hole punching).

Hello and welcome to one of many download-

able web editions of Mackie’s Product Hook-Up
Guide. Since 1992, we’ve been including these
helpful “connection maps” in our In Your Face
product guides, and we’ve been urged to continue
doing so because they’re so gosh-darned help­ful. Now, we’ve split our hook-ups into product

famlies, and made them available to you over this
new-fangled “Internet” thingy that everyone is
talking about these days.

There will be documents that cover hooking

up our compact VLZ

®

PRO Series, Analog 8•Bus
Series consoles, CFX Series effects mixers, DFX
Series compact effects mixers, the D8B digital
console, the HDR24/96 hard disk recorder, PPM
Series powered mixers, the FR Series amplifi ers,
SR Series front-of-house mixers, and our Active
loudspeakers.

Inside you’ll fi nd lots of useful information
— most likely your questions will be answered
here. We realize that there’s no possible way to
cover every single question or application in so few
pages because new ways to use Mackie products
are invented every day. You may come up with
some ideas on how to do what you want by look­ing at the various diagrams we’ve included here.

Keep in mind that a good half of the battle in
hooking up our products is having the proper
connections. Check the cables ’n’ plugs that you
already have with the diagrams on the next
page. We know it may look boring, but one of
these drawings could save your life. Well, maybe
not your life, but probably a lot of weeping and
sorrow. And don’t forget to check out the tech
tips/FAQs document also available for download

on the web at www.mackie.com/techsupport

If you don’t fi nd the answers you’re after, then
why not give our mighty Tech Support gang a
call? These folks have tons of experience in the
real world, and they’ve got lots of equipment and
mixers at their beck and call. They’re aching to
share their knowledge with you. (And calling them
would be a very humanitarian thing to do — they’re
located in the dank sub-basement of our building
and they rarely get visitors. Your call just may be
the one that keeps their spirits alive.)

Call Mackie Tech Support toll-free (in the U.S.)
at 800-258-6883 (Monday through Friday, 7 AM
to 5 PM Pacifi c Time) with any Mackie product­question you can conjure. Put them through the
wringer! We encourage it.

Incidentally, the Mackie Product Hook-Up Guide
(Web Editions) were put together from within the
confi nes of the Mackie Digital Mosh Pit — located
on the second fl oor near the Area Of Refuge — by
the well-meaning, super-preening Mackie Macin­tosh Department. We used Adobe InDesign

®

,
Illustrator®, Photoshop®, and Acrobat® on a
number of suped-up big daddy Macs.

Oh yeah: Copyright © 2002 Mackie Designs Inc.

All Rights Reserved.
The following are trademarks or registered trade­marks of Mackie Designs Inc.: “MACKIE.”, the
“Running Man” fi gure, VLZ, XDR, D8B, HUI, CFX
Series, FR Series, and HR Series.

A VISUAL

GUIDE

COMMON

PRO AUDIO PLUGS AND CONNECTORS

KNOW YOUR

PLUGS

SET IT UP, AND GO!

TS Plug (mono)

Standard mono/unbalanced phone
plug used for most mixer connections.

TRS Plug (stereo)

Standard stereo/balanced phone plug used for
balanced connections on Mackie mixers.

Insert “Y” Cable

Balanced XLR

Standard XLR microphone connector to be used
with mic-level.

RCA/Phono Plug

Tape deck connections
on most Mackie mixers.

The “Y” Cable is used for connecting serial effects
devices, such as graphic equalizers or compressors, to a
Mackie mixer’s Channel or Bus insert jacks. On one end is
a standard Tip-Ring-Sleeve “stereo” plug. Its tip and ring
are wired to separate mono Tip-Sleeve plugs. Note that
the RING of the TRS plug (A) is actually wired to the TIP of
one of the mono TS plugs (B). If you insert a TS (mono)
1/4" plug only partially (to the first click) into an insert
jack, the plug will not activate the jack switch and will not
break the insert connection in the circuit (thereby allowing
the channel signal to continue on its merry way through

Insert Points

TS Plug (mono)

Direct out with no signal interruption to master.
Insert only to first “click.”

TS Plug (mono)

Direct out with signal interruption to master.
Insert all the way in to the second “click.”

TRS Plug (stereo)

For use as an effects loop.

(TIP = SEND to effects
RING = RETURN from effects)

the mixer). See (C) in “Insert Points” below.

Partial insertion allows you to tap out of the channel or
bus circuit at that point in the circuit without interrupting
normal operation.

If you push the 1/4" TS plug in to the second click, you
will open the jack switch and create a direct out, which does
interrupt the signal in that channel or bus circuit. See (D) in
“Insert Points” above. Note: Do not overload or short-circuit
the signal you are tapping from the mixer. That will affect
the internal signal of the mixer.

Attention !

A

You may notice these effects unit hookups (Figure A)
throughout this applications guide. These hookups utilize
the Insert "Y" Cable (explained on the facing page).

B

MIXER INSERT

Figure B is a closeup of Figure A. The two colors
represent the input and output traveling the length of the
"Y" cable. The dotted line represents the two signals
travelling alongside one another.

COMPRESSOR

OUT

IN

VLZ PRO

CFX SERIES

Mic 1-4

Guitar

Processor

CFX-12

SMALL CLUB SET UP

Compressors

SET IT UP, AND GO!

Keyboards

Drum Machine

SRM450 Active

PA Speakers

Stereo

Compressor

Stereo EQ

CD Player

CHANNEL INSERTS

AUX SENDS

CHANNEL INPUTS

EFX SENDS

75Hz

SUB OUT

STEREO EFX RETURNS

LR

BAL/UNBAL

MAIN OUT

SUB OUTS

LR

BAL/UNBAL

MAIN OUT

MAIN

INSERT

UTIL OUT

IN

TAPE

PHONES

OUT

TAPE

BAL/UNBAL

BAL/UNBAL

2

1

BAL/UNBAL

BAL/UNBAL

OUT

Stereo EQ, M•1400i,

and (C300) Passive

Stage Monitors

Delay/Reverb

Delay/Reverb

Headphones

VLZ PRO

CFX SERIES

Mic 1-4

CFX-16

LARGE CLUB SET UP

SET IT UP, AND GO!

Guitar

Direct Box

Keyboards

Guitar

Bass

Processors

Drum Machine

Active PA Speaker/

Subwoofer

combination

(Pole-mounted

SRM450s and

SRS1501 active

Subwoofers pictured)

CHANNEL INSERTS

AUX SENDS

CHANNEL INPUTS

EFX SENDS

STEREO EFX RETURNS

75Hz

SUB OUT

SUB OUTS

LR

BAL/UNBAL

MAIN OUT

UTIL OUT

PHONES

LR

BAL/UNBAL

MAIN OUT

BAL/UNBAL

BAL/UNBAL

2

1

BAL/UNBAL

BAL/UNBAL

OUT

Compressors

Mono EQs, M•1400i

Amps, and Passive

Stage Monitors (C300s)

Digital Delay

Mono in/Stereo
out Reverb

Digital Multitrack
Recorder

Headphones

MAIN

TAPE

TAPE

INSERT

IN

OUT

CD Player

Guitar

Direct Box

Bass

Processors

Wireless Mic

Receivers

VLZ PRO

CFX SERIES

Mic 1-6

Guitar

CHANNEL INSERTS

BAL/UNBAL

AUX SENDS

CHANNEL INPUTS

BAL/UNBAL

EFX SENDS

2

CFX-20

CHURCH SET UP

Compressors

Assisted Listening
Transmitter

Mono EQ, M•1400i Amp,
Passive Stage Monitor (C300)

Reverb/Delay

Reverb/Delay

SET IT UP, AND GO!

Drum Machine

Keyboards

Subwoofer

Stereo EQ, M•2600 Amp,

and Passive PA Speakers (C300s)

DAT Recorder

M•2600 Amp

CD Player

Cassette

or

STEREO EFX RETURNS

SUB OUTS

UTIL OUT

75Hz

SUB OUT

PHONES

LR

BAL/UNBAL

MAIN OUT

LR

BAL/UNBAL

MAIN OUT

Headphones

MAIN

INSERT

IN

TAPE

OUT

TAPE

1

Stereo EQ, M•1400i Amp,
and Passive PA Speakers (C300s)

BAL/UNBAL

BAL/UNBAL

OUT

To the line level
inputs on a
Video Camera/
TV/Radio feed