[Tobiah]

I'm sending three stereo outputs via balanced cable
into three stereo blades of a Mackie 1202 VLZPro.

I'm setting the outputs to Aux Out, and monitoring them
through the Control Room Out. If I set all of the fader
knobs to unity gain, I actually see the noise in the first
VU Led at -30dB. It takes all three inputs to register.
One or two is quieter. The noise is mostly white sounding.
In the console, I'm setting the outputs to generate only
'play' signal. All of the input sliders are on mute for
all channels. The noise level does not change when I
adjust the output and master sliders of the channels in the
console app, or when I toggle -10/+4. It's just an
unavoidable noise that is always present, no matter what
settings I choose for the unit. My solution is to set all
of the outputs to +4, and reduce the level of the Mackie
fader knobs. I'm just wondering whether this newly
acquired second hand unit could be defective. I expect
better from Echo. Basically, when I play a sound at
a comfortable level, I can just hear the noise from
the Audiofire when the sound stops. Setting the outputs
to +4 helps, but I still find this lame.

Thanks,

Toby

[Mike Rivers]

On 10/6/2010 1:29 PM, Tobiah wrote:
I'm sending three stereo outputs via balanced cable
into three stereo blades of a Mackie 1202 VLZPro.

Blades? I think most of us would call those "channels."

Basically, when I play a sound at
a comfortable level, I can just hear the noise from
the Audiofire when the sound stops. Setting the outputs
to +4 helps, but I still find this lame.

What's lame about that? The nominal input level of a Mackie
stereo line level channel is +4 dBu. If you've set the
output of your Echo interface to a lower (-10 dBV, probably)
level, then you need to add 12 dB more gain at the mixer,
which amplifies the noise coming from the interface as well
as the signal.

--
"Today's production equipment is IT based and cannot be
operated without a passing knowledge of computing, although
it seems that it can be operated without a passing knowledge
of audio." - John Watkinson