Onyx w/Firewire or Soundcard - Need Advice!

Dracon

Dracon

New member
Hello folks,

I've been out of the loop for a while and I'm glad to see that the Delta 1010 has not gone out of style.

I currently own one Delta 44 but I was looking at the Mackie 1640 Onyx w/Firewire card. I can only input four stereo channels in my Delta 44.

According to Mackie the Onyx with Firewire will input upto 18 seperate channels
http://www.mackie.com/products/onyxfirewire/ through the firewire. Well they don't say seperate channels but that's what they are implying.

Quote:
'he Onyx FireWire Card allows you to stream up to 18 channels of
24-bit digital audio to your Mac (OSX 10.3.5 or greater) or PC
(Win XP). These show up in your audio software as 16 individual audio
inputs, plus a stereo L/R mix. You can also send two channels of
audio back from the computer to the mixer for monitoring purposes.'

Just wondering if any of you guys out there have used the Mackie Onyx with the firewire and what do you think? Is it worth it or should I go with something more professional with a soundcard.

Please keep in mind this is a hobbie and I'm not a professional studio (obviously or I wouldn't be asking such a stupid question). I know the best is to go with a SPIF I/O card but I'm certainly not there.

For reference I'll let you know that I have a used Mackie 1406VLZ which I bought on ebay a little over two years ago. I've heard great things about the Onyx pre-amps but the question is not about the pre-amps here it is how good is the firewire soundcard.

I think that would make that mixer a much nicer addition to my current set if it delivers what I think it can deliver. Any suggestions or comments welcome (as long as they are relevant to the topic of course).

Thanks!
 
Last edited:
I don't know why but the post got duplicated. Possibly because I edited and it may have reposted. Who the heck knows.

Anyway, sorry!
 
Mackie Onyx's are extremely picky when it comes to Firwewire chipsets. My 1220 requires that the wireless networking card be disabled on my laptop - otherwise I end up with pops and clicks.

It works flawlessly with my Intel Mac Mini though...
 
I own and use the 1640 in my home studio and yes you can record 16 individual tracks at a time. The firewire card will come with a full version of Tracktion 2 which is very powerful and easy to use recording software. Yes if you have a wireless nic card you will have to disable it or you may get clicks or pops (some people do some dont). I did and it is very simple to disable and enable a wireless card when needed. If you ever see yourself playing live then the 1640 is a great mixer/recording unit. I use mine for studio recording and I use the aux outputs (6) as studio headphone monitors for the musicians. And I can use it as a live mixer when the need arises. Your other choice would be the Mackie onyx 1200f interface when it comes out. Its going to run $1600 and offers 24bit 192khz quality. The 1640w/t firewire will run you $1680 and gives 24bit 96khz which is better than cd quality. Below is a link to some of the stuff I have recorded with the 1640 and keep in mind I am a noobie to the recording scene. If you have any queastion feel free to ask me.

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=695947
 
I am very happy with my Onyx. It will record 16 live tracks. The only real Drawback I have noticed that might be a consideration for some is that you can only have one stereo output from the firewire, so for monitoring from the software, you are kind of limited. I use my Onyx for live and studio. For hardware monitoring I think it works well. The preamps are definately good, and in live situations, the EQ is great. I have never had any issues with pops or clicks. If you need a live board, I definately recomend it. If it is just seeing studio use, you may also want to check out MOTU or Presonus to get that number of inputs.
 
brzilian said:
Mackie Onyx's are extremely picky when it comes to Firwewire chipsets. My 1220 requires that the wireless networking card be disabled on my laptop - otherwise I end up with pops and clicks.

It works flawlessly with my Intel Mac Mini though...
Click to expand...

I will probably not record to my laptop (nor have my laptop on at the time), but I do have a wireless router. Did you have to disable that as well when recording. I do know about Cell Phones and Wireless Phones in the room when you are recording (I've encountered that).
 
Hey Bush,

I tried going to your website to listen but it could not find your page (or something).
Anyway, thanks for the good information though.

D
 
Bondo said:
I am very happy with my Onyx. It will record 16 live tracks. The only real Drawback I have noticed that might be a consideration for some is that you can only have one stereo output from the firewire, so for monitoring from the software, you are kind of limited. I use my Onyx for live and studio. For hardware monitoring I think it works well. The preamps are definately good, and in live situations, the EQ is great. I have never had any issues with pops or clicks. If you need a live board, I definately recomend it. If it is just seeing studio use, you may also want to check out MOTU or Presonus to get that number of inputs.
Click to expand...

Yes, MOTU was one of the sound cards I was looking at two years ago (although back then there were some issues running MOTU on Windows). Presonus I have not looked at and I would have to check it out.

As for monitoring from the software (when I'm recording or not) it should not be an issue since I do have a Delta 44 sound card which I can use to pump back through the Mackie, directly to my Mackie Monitors or my cans.
I've got some options.

Have you had any experience with Presonus at all?
 
Dracon said:
Hey Bush,

I tried going to your website to listen but it could not find your page (or something).
Anyway, thanks for the good information though.

D
Click to expand...
Soundclick link works for me
 
Dracon said:
Yes, MOTU was one of the sound cards I was looking at two years ago (although back then there were some issues running MOTU on Windows). Presonus I have not looked at and I would have to check it out.

As for monitoring from the software (when I'm recording or not) it should not be an issue since I do have a Delta 44 sound card which I can use to pump back through the Mackie, directly to my Mackie Monitors or my cans.
I've got some options.

Have you had any experience with Presonus at all?
Click to expand...

Well with the mackie, so long as you only want one mix from the software, as in you are working on your mix, or don't mind using the main mix for all of the monitoring for overdubs, you will be fine and won't need anything else. For me this works, for others, not so much. A great option for monitoring, by the way, is mackies four channel headphone amp. That coupled with the board will give you great hardware monitoring flexibility.
 
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