Mackie Preamps
- Thread starter Apple
- Start date
mrbowes
New member
i wouldn't split too many hairs comparing low end pres. all will be reasonably quiet, and definitely will get the job done.
i have a mackie 1202 non VLZ and the pres sound fine. i only use them for live gigs and for scratch tracks when recording in my project studio, but they serve their purpose well.
a lot depends on your needs - do you need multiple pres? routing options? do you need the faders? etc
mackie mixers are great b/c they put a lot of decent components into a well built box for a great price(especially used). they will last forever sans abuse. however, don't buy the mixer for just one of its components. buy stand alone pres if that's all you need.
i have a mackie 1202 non VLZ and the pres sound fine. i only use them for live gigs and for scratch tracks when recording in my project studio, but they serve their purpose well.
a lot depends on your needs - do you need multiple pres? routing options? do you need the faders? etc
mackie mixers are great b/c they put a lot of decent components into a well built box for a great price(especially used). they will last forever sans abuse. however, don't buy the mixer for just one of its components. buy stand alone pres if that's all you need.
I realize that this post is 6 years old but I have recent experience testing current Mackie pres against other pres. My current setup has a ONYX board, a Focusrite ISA ONE, RNP, and a UA Solo 610. Mackie is equal to those pres and my go to pre for most recording. The RNP sounds very similiar sonically, the Focusrite is 'sheeny' and clear and the UA is thick and a bit warm. The Mackie ONYX pres fall right in the middle. They are bit low in db gain for LD dynamic mics.
At first I really didn't want to believe that my $500 ONXY board (with several pres) sounded as good (though different) than my single $1000 and $500 pres. After listening tests with multiple 'middle of the road' mics (Blue Blue Bird, SM7, Blueberry and MXL 4000) the Mackie always sounds great, always. It stacks up nice in a mix with mutliple tracks.
I really wanted to hear a genuine difference (besides color) in higher end pres but in this case Mackie happen to put genuine 'boutique' sounding pres into thier board.
Much respect and blessings,
At first I really didn't want to believe that my $500 ONXY board (with several pres) sounded as good (though different) than my single $1000 and $500 pres. After listening tests with multiple 'middle of the road' mics (Blue Blue Bird, SM7, Blueberry and MXL 4000) the Mackie always sounds great, always. It stacks up nice in a mix with mutliple tracks.
I really wanted to hear a genuine difference (besides color) in higher end pres but in this case Mackie happen to put genuine 'boutique' sounding pres into thier board.
Much respect and blessings,
TyphoidHippo
1Trillion K Platinum User
Posts like this are useful and always welcome, IMO, 6 year old thread or not. Anything that helps to diffuse (or at least counteract somewhat) the snake-oil voodoo that is endlessly circulated is much appreciated. There was a thread a few years ago where a source was recorded through some super-high-end signal chain at ridiculous bit depth and sampling rate, then routed out of some super-high-end d/a and re-recorded at 24/44.1 through a cheap converter and a very expensive one. The only person who could accurately tell which was which all the time cheated by looking at the waveforms in an editor. It was a very revealing thread... I'd love to see something similar done for preamps...though I'm not sure how exactly we'd set it up to keep all variables except the preamp itself controlled.