In all, there is no function on the 500 Series (or the
ETC Obsession II) that is anything like "
release" on the
Express(ion)
line. If your goal is to get to a blank
stage then you need to use [GOTO]0[*] and pull all your subs out. If you want to leave a couple things on, but pull the rest out then you should make friends with the [REM-DIM]
button. [REM-DIM] will take out anything except the channels you select. For example, if you want to keep your
cyc look up you might hit 111-120[REM-DIM], so all the channels except for 111-120 will be taken to 0.
If your
submaster is a "
pile-on" type sub then it is an
HTP control, so as long as the sub is active, you won't be able to set the channels it controls to a lower
level. I don't remember off the top of my head all the submaster types, but there may be a type that acts in
LTP.
In your example, is
channel 1 in your submaster? If it is then what you explain makes sense, if it is not, when you hit 1[@][ENTER] it should take the channel to 0 (or to the level set by the submaster). I have never run into a 500 series that doesn't do this, but there may be a setting that you need to change so that it does.
If you have temporarily modified channel levels, or you change a lever then change it back to where it started, and you don't want it to be red, you can hit [SHIFT][CLEAR] which will "release" all channels that have been modified (so they no longer show in red on the
screen). If you are in the middle of a show they will
track at that level until a new command is given to them, and if you are programming they won't get updated into cues. They would get recorded into cues if you use the record function.
Hope that is somewhat helpful. I sit in front of 500 series desks all day, so I am happy to help.