Mackie Onyx FW and DP

[indytoons]

Hi all. I've just acquired a Mackie Onyx 1640 board, which I'm really happy with. Sounds great! However it does not have the FW option installed, and I'm giving some thought to getting it. My question is, is anyone here using the Onyx with FW with DP and Mac? If so how's it working for you? Thanks in advance!

[kassonica]

There was driver issues with macs a while back....

Prob fixed now.

I have the same board and have been extremely happy with it (don't have the FW installed though).

[philbrown]

Your post is timely, indytoons. I've had thoughts lately of purchasing the 1640 and was wondering the same thing about FW, especially also using FW drives to record at the same time.
Anyone?

[n2mpujack]

One thing to be wary of, if the same setup exists in the 1640 as it does in the smaller 1220 - the FW I/O does NOT include the eq section of the unit. Bummer, but there is a company that does a mod to the Mackie to get around that; I forget who that is at the moment.

[indytoons]

I don't normally print w/eq, so that wouldn't be a deal breaker. I guess it would be nice to have the option though...

[Brian Middleton]

I have a 1640 and it works great with DP. I do with in-studio and remote recording with it. The only issue I ever have is that occasionally the FW inputs cease to function and I have to reboot the Mac to get them working again. However, since I switched from a G4 running Tiger to a MacPro running Panther at almost exactly the same time I replaced my 896HD with the Onyx as the main studio interface, I'm not sure whether that's an Onyx issue or just a Panther FW issue.

[pcm]

I have had a 1640 with the fw option since it came out. Works great with DP. I tend to use on live venue recordings mainly, it excels at that. HOWEVER, I will be selling it now and replacing it with the new Presonus StudioLive, which I had the pleasure to test for three weeks last month. It does everything the onyx does, and about twenty times more. And firewire is built in. You have the option of printing the eq or not, on a channel-by-channel basis. But it also has a compressor, limiter, gate & expander, and highpass filter on every channel. The eq is 4-band, all sweepable. And all of that stuff is also available on all 6 sends, the 4 busses, and the master fader. All of which appear in DP as an input. With DP you get 32 inputs (16 channels, 6 sends, 4 busses, 2 additional line-level stereo inputs, and the master fader), and 18 outputs. I used it over many sessions, including live venue stuff doing both front of house / monitors, and recording simultaneously. I found no bugs or glitches of any kind, which I have to admit surprised me. DP liked it a lot. Sell the onyx while you still can! -:)

[indytoons]

How are the mic pres in the Presonus? That's really the main reason I bought the Onyx, the FW stuff just looks like bonus coverage. Also I got the onyx for $500 in great shape so the Presonus would be a pretty big step up in $$$, even after buying the FW for the Mackie....

[philbrown]

Thanks for the report PCM, espcially the no-glitches part (it's been a while .
I have a Ramsa DA7 which is starting to show its age but still works fine. My studio is so cramped I could use something physically smaller so the Presonus looks good from that standpoint. I have the same question about the Mic pres as indytoons though as the DA7 mic pres are pretty darn good. I'd want them to be at least that good or better rather than stepping down in mic pre quality. It's a little early for comprehensive reviews on the Studiolive so I'll be watching to see what the reviews look like. The StudioLive is certainly feature-laden but I almost never use onboard EQ or comps in the DA7, but might occasionally use the onbaord effects of the StudioLive if they're non-sucky.

There's a video of this board being demo'd by a Presonus guy on Sweetwater's web site. He talks about how easy it is to switch functions and then does like 20 button presses. Kinda funny.

Cheers,
Phil

[Sonormuseum]

I've been using my 1640 w DP6. No problems at all. The only caveat I've noticed is that the levels out of the FW interface into DP can be a bit cold, but I'd rather have it that way than too hot like when I had an 828MkII. Cold can be fixed. Overdriven is forever.

The lack of EQ isn't a big deal for me either. I'd rather have the raw footage and tweak to taste in post production.