SignVideo ENG-44 User manual

ENG-44 Field Portable Audio Mixer
Operator’s Manual
SignVideo - 1226 SE Gideon Street - Portland, Oregon 97202
503.236.0000 www . signvideo .com

2
Safety Warning
Protect your ears. Always turn down the headphone volume before you connect your
headphones and before you put on your headphones. When using the headphones, set
headphone volume to the lowest practical level to guard against sudden loud noises or
other changes in the sound level of the audio environment. Excessive headphone
volume may be damaging to your hearing.
Read this manual in its entirety before using or operating this product.
ONE YEAR LIMITED WARRANTY
Sign Video Ltd. warrants this product (including accompanying accessories) and all parts thereof, except as set forth
below, for a period of one year from the original date of purchase. Should the product be found to be defective, Sign
Video Ltd. will repair or replace the product at no charge.
To obtain warranty service telephone one of the numbers below or log on www.signvideo.com to obtain the current
telephone number for warranty repair.
The duration of any implied warranties is limited to the duration of the express warranty herein. This warranty does not
cover cosmetic damage or damage due to acts of god, accident, misuse, abuse, alteration, negligence, improper
installation, tampering, criminal acts, negligence, lack of reasonable care, or if serviced or repaired by anyone other
than Sign Video Ltd. or a repair facility authorized by Sign Video Ltd.
Sign Video Ltd. shall not be liable for any loss of use, or incidental or consequential damages resulting from the use of
this product or the failure or inoperability of this product in any respect, including from any cause whatsoever, or from
breach of any express or implied warranty. In no event shall Sign Video Ltd. be liable for any amount in excess of the
purchase price paid for the product, except to the extent prohibited by applicable law.
Some states do not allow the exclusion or limitation of incidental or consequential damages, or permit limitations on
how long an implied warranty lasts, so these exclusions and limitations may not apply to you. This warranty gives you
specific legal rights and you may also have other rights which vary from state to state.
Sign Video Ltd. [phone] [phone] www.signvideo.com
© Copyright 2006 by Sign Video Ltd.

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Note: This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a
Class B digital device, pursuant to part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are
designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference in a
residential installation. This equipment generates, uses and can radiate radio
frequency energy and, if not installed and used in accordance with the
instructions, may cause harmful interference to radio communications. However,
there is no guarantee that interference will not occur in a particular installation. If
this equipment does cause harmful interference to radio or television reception,
which can be determined by turning the equipment off and on, the user is
encouraged to try to correct the interference by one or more of the following
measures:
Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna
Increase the separation between the equipment and receiver
Connect the equipment into an outlet on a circuit different from that to which the
receiver is connected
Consult the dealer or an experienced radio/TV technician for help
Note also that changes or modifications to this equipment not expressly approved by
Sign Video Ltd. could void your legal authority to operate this equipment.
This Class B digital apparatus complies with Canadian ICES-003.
Cet appareil numériqué de la classe B est conformé à la norme NMB-003 du Canada.

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ENG-44
Front Panel
1. CH1-CH4 Gain Controls Individual gain controls for each of the four input audio
channels, marked 1-4. Gain controls are also known as faders or level controls.
2. Master Gain Control Controls overall gain.
3. FLAT/Low Cut Filter Switches Switches for each of the four input channels
select between flat (no filter) and 100 Hz roll off (attenuates audio in frequencies
below 100 Hz). Use to reduce wind noise or other low frequency noise.
4. Pan Selectors Slide switches for each of the four input channels assign each input
to either the left, right or both audio channels. (Select C position for both channels to
place the audio in the center).
5. LED Audio VU Meter Two rows of LEDs light in progression to indicate level for
both right and left audio channels. Use VU Meter Intensity Switch on the underside
of the unit to select HIGH for high visibility outdoors or select LOW to conserve
battery.
6. Other LED Indicators
LIM Output Limiter LIM lights when limiter is triggered by audio level beyond a
specified threshold which has been preset at the factory. The limiters compress the
audio when this threshold is reached.
Power EXT lights automatically when external power is being used.
Power BAT lights automatically when battery power is being used.
Low Battery Warning BAT flashes when battery needs to be replaced.
Prior to this BAT will flash on audio peaks to offer early warning.
NOTE: The unit is reverse voltage protected. No permanent damage can be
sustained from reverse voltage.
7. Reference Tone Switch from MIX to TONE to generate 1KHz reference tone.
8. Slate Momentary push button activates slate mic located on front panel. Push and
hold in while verbally identifying the audio take. Release to deactivate slate mic and
continue with the take.
9. Head Phone Jack 1/8” jack for operator head phone monitoring. (Note that there
is a separate XLR head phone jack for boom operator. See Right Panel.) Turn down
headphone level control before connecting or putting on headphones.
10. Head Phone Level Control Adjusts head phone volume for both mixer operator
and boom mic operator. Reduce volume before putting on headphones to protect
your hearing. Use at lowest practical level to protect your hearing.
11. Tape Return Selector Slides from MIX to TAPE RETURN to allow head phones
to monitor audio from video camera, tape recorder or other audio device.
12. Strap Ears Adjustable shoulder strap (included) attaches to these metal ears.

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ENG-44
Left Panel
MIC/LINE XLR Inputs Channel 1 through 4 XLR transformer balanced audio inputs.
Use individual selector switches located on the underside panel of the unit to choose
mic/line level for each input and to activate/ deactivate +48 volt phantom power for each
input. For any given input, turn off phantom power if not specifically required by the
microphone in use (using the switch on the underside of the unit).
These XLR connectors are wired in the following manner:
Pin 1: Ground (shield)
Pin 2: Hot (in phase)
Pin 3: Cold (out of phase)
Phantom power for these XLR connectors is wired in the following manner:
Pin 1: Ground
Pins 2 & 3: carry 48 volts DC through 6.81K resistors when the particular input is
switched to phantom power using the corresponding switch on the underside of the
product.

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ENG-44
Right Panel
1. Boom Head Phone Out XLR audio output for boom operator head phone
monitoring. XLR output allows use of cable with XLR connectors rather than one with ¼”
connectors. Use a ¼” adapter to connect to head phones. This way your spare XLR
cable also serves as your spare boom operator cable, and you only need carry a small
spare ¼” adapter. NOTE: The single head phone level control adjusts volume for both
the boom head phone out and the front panel head phone out.
2. XLR Outputs 2 Balanced line level audio outputs. Use switch located on the
underside panel of the unit to choose between mic and line level.
3. Line Out Line level 3.5 mm (1/8”) unbalanced audio output jack. Can be used to
feed audio to cameras that only provide a 3.5 mm audio input jack. This is not
recommended when using cables longer than a few feet. For longer cables runs to
camera see the Using an XLR-Pro™ Adapter section of this manual.
4. Mic Out Microphone level 3.5 mm (1/8”) unbalanced audio output jack. Can be used
to feed audio to cameras that only provide a mic level 3.5 mm audio input jack. This is
not recommended when using cables longer than a few feet. For longer cables runs to
camera see the Using an XLR-Pro™ Adapter section of this manual.
5. Auxiliary In 3.5 mm (1/8”) unbalanced audio input jack
6. Tape Return In 3.5mm (1/8”) unbalanced audio input jack for connection to video
camera, tape recorder or other audio device.
7. Power on/off Switch

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ENG-44
Rear Panel
1. External Power 2.1mm ID x 5.5mm OD external power jack. While this unit can
operate fully on battery power, this input allows the unit to also be powered from a
wall power outlet by using a power adapter. Plug the AC power adapter itself into
the wall outlet, then connect the AC adapter’s low voltage DC output cord to this
input jack. Note that power automatically switches to external when external power
is supplied, and back to battery when external power is removed.
2. Battery Compartment Slide out drawer holds four AA batteries.

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ENG-44
Underside Panel
1. Mic/Line Switches Individual switches for each input channel select between mic
and line level in. One switch for both xlr outputs switches between mic and line level out.
2. Phantom Power Switches Individual switches for each input channel
activate/deactivate +48 Volt phantom power. Some microphones require phantom
power to operate. However, do not apply phantom power except for microphones that
are equipped to operate on phantom power. Check the microphone operating manual if
you are not certain. For phantom power XLR connector wiring, see Right Panel section
of this manual.
3. VU Meter Intensity Switch Controls brightness of VU meter LED display located
on the front panel. Select HIGH for high visibility outdoors,. Select LOW to conserve
battery.
4. Tape Return Level Control Adjustable amplifiers allow matching to the vast
majority of video cameras and other recording equipment for monitoring tape confidence
heads. Use a small flat blade or phillips screwdriver to adjust the level for the best
match. Many consumer/prosumer DV camcorders may not provide tape confidence
heads. However, tape return is still valuable for checking for bad cable connections etc.
5. Feet These are supplied to protect the unit from wear for table top use. If you wish
to remove the feet, it is okay to remove the feet and reinstall the existing screws. While
they will screw further into the unit without the feet, they will not damage anything.

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ENG-44 Specifications
Country of Manufacture: USA
Input Impedance: 2K, transformer balanced
Output Impedance : 600 Ohms (both balanced and unbalanced line level outputs)
Frequency Response: 20Hz to 20kHz +/- 1.5dB
Distortion: <.1% (1kHz @ 0dBu output)
Noise: -126dBu EIN
Overall Gain: 66dB
Output Clipping level: >22dBu
Low Cut Filters: 100 Hz, -6db/octave roll off
Tone Oscillator: 1kHz, +/- 5%, <0.2% THD (@ 0dBu)
Aux Input: unbalanced line level, input impedance of 47K Ohms,
AC coupled, via stereo 1/8" (3.5mm) jack
Tape Return: input impedance 10K, Left/Right input levels independently
adjustable
Headphone Output: 10 Ohms output impedance
Phantom Power: +48VDC "48PH", individually switchable,
14mA maximum (total of all microphones)
Battery Life: 14 hours normal mixer operation
Internal Power: 4X "AA" batteries; Alkaline (recommended)
or rechargeable NiMH (charging unit not included)
External Power: 9-18 VDC via 2.1 x 5.5mm coaxial power plug; center positive;
input protected against reversed polarity
Size: 1.5"x10.5"x6.5" (HxWxD), exclusive of detachable strap "ears"
Weight: 2.25 lbs (1.0kg) w/ alkaline batt eries
Using an XLR-Pro™ Adapter
to connect balanced audio to your consumer/ prosumer video camera
Many consumer/prosumer camcorders only offer an unbalanced 3.5mm (1/8”) audio
input. While you can connect directly to this input from the mixer using the mixer’s
3.5mm unbalanced audio output jack, this is not recommended for cable runs longer
than a few feet. This is because long unbalanced audio lines tend to pick up noise. The
longer the line, the worse the problem may be. To avoid this problem, you can purchase
a SignVideo XLR-Pro™ Audio Adapter and connect it to your camcorder. Then you can
feed a balanced audio signal from the XLR outputs of the mixer to the XLR inputs of the
XLR-Pro™ and use as long a cable as you need. The XLR-Pro™ provides an output
cable with 3.5mm stereo jack that can be directly connected to the camcorder.