Mackie Onyx with firewire for live use???

[miercoles]

Does anybody here use this in a live setting utilizing the firewire to run audio? We're a live band using a laptop.

I currently use a 1604 with a Motu 828, but I'd like to streamline a bit. Move up to an Onyx 1602 plus firewire.

Is the Firewire stable? Are the Onyx mixers as road ready as the older Mackies?

Anybody?

[miercoles]

anyone?

[David Spearritt]

We've had no end of trouble. Glitches galore on a new highly powered laptop. Understanding Traktion for use as a live classical music multitracking data aquisition package is a real bore. Can't recommend any of this stuff.

[bishopthomas]

I've used a 1640 several times with great success. I'm looking forward to recording many shows with it in the new year.

[miercoles]

Thanks for the response you guys, but I'm not looking to record live with it. I mean that I want to run audio from a laptop to the mixer (on at least 3 seperate channels) for live use. Currently I use an Motu 828 with a Mackie 1604 - I was looking to streamline the setup.

I should have been more clear before, sorry!

Any thoughts though?

[asbury media]

Hey,

You can only return two channels from your laptop to the mackie via firewire. It has 18 sends (16 direct, plus the stereo out) and 2 returns back to the mackie.

Hope this helps,

tr

[bishopthomas]

Originally Posted by miercoles

Thanks for the response you guys, but I'm not looking to record live with it. I mean that I want to run audio from a laptop to the mixer (on at least 3 seperate channels) for live use. Currently I use an Motu 828 with a Mackie 1604 - I was looking to streamline the setup.

I should have been more clear before, sorry!

Any thoughts though?

Then the Onyx is definitely not for you. Like Asbury said, only two channels are returned, and the routing of those channels is horrendous. You can't send it to an aux and you can't even control the volume of it. This is my main (and only) gripe with the Onyx. Stick with the setup you're using now as it won't get much simpler than that. The preamps on the Onyx are better than previous Mackies and the EQ is more usable, but the main selling point (Firewire recording) will go unused in your case.

[miercoles]

Wow, that's news to me. Thanks so much for the info. You saved me from a big mistake. I'm surprised mackie would do that though - considering Motu has had 8ins/8 outs of firewire for years now and so many others have followed. 2 returns is a joke....although I've heard plenty of good about the Onyx mixers themselves.

[chrisp2u]

Originally Posted by miercoles

2 returns is a joke....although I've heard plenty of good about the Onyx mixers themselves.

The 2-channel return is pretty much intended for monitoring the complete mix, that's it.
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c

[bishopthomas]

It's not the limitation of 2 tracks that I think is rediculous. It's the lack of routing ability that makes it completely useless in a studio or overdubbing environment. I will only be using mine for live recording, but if I ever go the studio route (or have a client that wants to do overdubs) I will have to completely re-work my entire setup.