Opinions on the Mackie Onyx 1640 mixer? Urgent!

[FattMusiek]

It looks like a dream come true - 16 in/out and an optional firewire interface that allows you to get your tracks onto your computer. However, one of the reviews on musiciansfriend.com calls the mixer "hugely misleading". The reviewer goes on to say "Neither the eq's, nor the channel inserts can be used via the direct outs (or firewire). Mackie should be ashamed of themselves for selling a mixer on the new studio quality eq's when they can only be used live."

Is this true? I plan on using it for my home studio. I don't have any intention of recording bands live at the moment.

 

[battleminnow]

Yup. True. I own one and use it for my main studio interface and for live use. I love it, and the preamps are very, very good. Anything else I can answer?

Pete
Meter 12
Burn Cycle Productions

 

[FattMusiek]

So would you recommend it for studio use? What exactly does the reviewer mean when he says "Neither the eq's, nor the channel inserts can be used via the direct outs (or firewire). Mackie should be ashamed of themselves for selling a mixer on the new studio quality eq's when they can only be used live."? I've been using a Delta 44 audio interface and a Behringer mixer for over two years and it's time to upgrade, but I'm naive when it comes to knowledge about equipment.

Thanks for your help!

 

[therage!]

I agree that Mackie blew it bad on this. It's been talked about all over the net and if I were in the market for a new console I'd get a Soundcraft or ??..

But the way I'm working now I could use the Onyx. I'm not tracking more than two instruments at a time and I don't use the EQ on my mixer. I use a stand alone preamp and for the most part my mixer is used for monitoring and I patch my keyboard into an Aux input. But at this point an Onyx would serve no better than my Alesis mixer. If I start tracking acoustic drums that will be a different matter but for now I don't need any EQ from my mixer. And I'd rather not come abck out of the box with another DA/AD conversion so I mix in my DAW and use plugs for any EQ.

Think it through. Do you really need a mixer?

 

[FattMusiek]

Just when I was sure on what I was going to buy I hear these kinds of things. I want to be able to record at least 10 tracks at once; not 8, not 6, not 24.

<audible sigh>

 

[therage!]

Just when I was sure on what I was going to buy I hear these kinds of things. I want to be able to record at least 10 tracks at once; not 8, not 6, not 24.

<audible sigh>

Recording 10 tracks at once is probably (unless you want to get a 8 in and 2 in preamp setup) going to require you to get a console. My question would be how good are the converters on the Mackie/firewire compared to stand alone interfaces? The dynamic range spec on the Mackie looks pretty low compared to something like a Delta 1010 or an Echo Layla. Of corse that's not the only thing to look at, I'm just making a point.

 

[FattMusiek]

I could buy two Presonus Firepods and stack them, but I don't want knobs at my fingertips - I want faders. I've been looking to upgrade for about two weeks now and I can't decide on anything. Any help would be appreciated...

 

[earthboundrec]

two daisy chained Firepod's? That'll give you 16 descent mic pres for $1200.00

 

[earthboundrec]

I could buy two Presonus Firepods and stack them, but I don't want knobs at my fingertips - I want faders. I've been looking to upgrade for about two weeks now and I can't decide on anything. Any help would be appreciated...

Damn, you posted that right as I was typing it!

 

[earthboundrec]

I have the two Firepods and the next thing I'm adding to the set up is a Mackie Control. They've been going on ebay for about $650.00. With that you'll get your faders, motorized ones at that.

 

[FattMusiek]

What are the advantages to having the Mackie Control (Universal model?)? How do the daisy chained Firepods sound and perform? How do you even connect the two units?

 

[earthboundrec]

The Mackie Control basically replaces your computer keyboard when operating your DAW. When you use the faders during mixing it will write in the volume envelopes to your tracks. It has the transport controls on it, pan pots, and also software specific function keys. Basically it makes the process of using a computer for music creation much more intuitive and effecient. Here's a review of it that explains its uses better than I can;

http://www.mackie.com/pdf/press/0303MackieControldsg1.pdf

Daisy chaining the Firepods is real simple. FireWire out from one to the other firewire port on another one, and from there to the computer. I think the current driver supports up to 4 of them to be daisy chained. Having a Firepod with the Mackie, you'd still have to adjust the gain settings by turning the nobs on the firepod, but most everything else should be able to be done with the Mackie Control.

 

[earthboundrec]

Oh, just saw that you asked how the firepods sound and perform. Personally I love them. I can't give a technical critique of the mic pre's or anything but I think they sound very clean and translate the sound source very well. Prior to the Firepod I was using an Mbox, and I think that the Firepods pres are a step above the Mbox's. Just recording vocals it seems that I can push the gain a bit further without clipping and just leave it there... With the Mbox I remember I always acting like a human compress with my hand always on the gain control ready to turn it down when my vocalist would get louder. Maybe my vocalist has just learned to use a microphone better or something, so that could account for that The Firepod also has a much higher output than the Mbox does. If you wanna crank your monitors you can, whereas wiith Mbox I would have to turn up the input sensitivity knob on the monitors when the Mbox was at full blast just to get a loud sound. Also, I like the cuemix feature on the Firepod, it lets you send an additional stereo out to a headphone amp which is very handy.

So that's my thoughts on the Firepod. I know I'm just kinda comparing it to the Mbox, but that's the only other unit that I've used extensively to compare it to.

Here's a good review of it that someone wrote when it first hit the shelves.

http://www.hyperactivemusic.com/MSProFiles/FirepodReview/firepodreview.htm

 

[battleminnow]

So would you recommend it for studio use? What exactly does the reviewer mean when he says "Neither the eq's, nor the channel inserts can be used via the direct outs (or firewire). Mackie should be ashamed of themselves for selling a mixer on the new studio quality eq's when they can only be used live."? I've been using a Delta 44 audio interface and a Behringer mixer for over two years and it's time to upgrade, but I'm naive when it comes to knowledge about equipment.

Thanks for your help!

If you need to use the faders to control the output, this is not the mixer for you. I am comfortable using the CPU mixer in Cubase SX3, but it has taken some getting used to. Now, keep in mind that I purchased both the mixer and firewire card for $1400, which makes a hell of a deal on 16 direct ins. Also, all of my single channel stuff gets EQ'd through my Joe Meek TwinQ. The EQ does not transfer to tracks via firewire, so if you need the EQ on the board, don't buy it for recording. Also, if you need to control the faders during mixdown or playback, this is not the board for you. All in all, I love it and it fits well. I have pointed out some of the bad, so hopefully that helps, but there is so much I like about this mixer as well, mostly the 6 auxes, ability to transfer tracks via one cable for live recording, ability to daisy chain another onyx and add that many more simultaneous tracks, and much more.

Pete
Meter 12
Burn Cycle Records

 

[FattMusiek]

Thank you

A final thank you to all of you guys; the info you provided me with saved me a bunch of money, inconvenience, and frustration. I ended up ordering a Presonus Firepod after all. If I like it (and I expect that I will, based on all the great reviews), I'll buy another one and daisy chain them for 16 inputs. I don't need another mixer, but it's nice to have faders under your fingers for that studio "feel" that direct-in audio interfaces don't have. If ever the craving for faders gets too strong, I'll buy something like the Mackie Control.