Furnished with 16 mono mic/line inputs, the desk boasts 12 mix outputs,which can be either mono or switched to six stereo pairs to take advantage ofthe recent trend towards in ear monitoring.
Mechanically identical to other MixWizards, with individual card and nuttedpot construction and Quick Change Connector pod, the WZ3 Monitor presentsthe monitor engineer with a compact, easy to use desk capable of mixing alarge number of wedge and in-ear sources. Its 12 mixes can be globallyassigned as mono or stereo, and each stereo mix is provided with stereo AFLsignal checking.
Input channels feature the crystal-clear WZ3 preamplifier and include apassive microphone splitter and individual phantom power. In common withthe entire Wizard range, four extended range overlapping bands of EQ areprovided, two with frequency sweeps. Rotary channel fader, mute switch, PFL,signal and peak meters complete the strip.
The auxiliaries are arranged so that sends 1-4 may be switched pre or postfader, while sends 5-12 are set to be postfade, although these may be setusing internal jumpers to prefade. The mix send controls are configured aslevel controls in mono mode but are level and pan in stereo mode. All mixcontrols are on 60mm faders, colour-coded in pairs.
The engineer is provided with a stereo monitor output for wedge speaker, aswell as a headphone output with level control. The mixer can be set up asrequired, in either desktop or rackmount configuration, and the mixer has aninternal power supply as well as a back-up power supply input socket.
Mike Griffin, the desk's designer, says: "After we launched the GL2800M,we realised that there was a large untapped demand for small monitor deskswhich can handle lots of outputs for performers. This desk has loads ofinputs and outputs and everything's arranged neatly to provide clear andprecise control of mixes. It's really straightforward, and coupled with therugged build and reliability of the MixWizards, we think we have a littlecracker!"
(Chris Henry)
