New large Mackie studio console????

[2" Tape sucks!]

I hear rumors that Mackie is working on a new large studio console.
Anyone else heard this rumor????

[alphajerk]

now thats a good joke.

[e-cue]

The end is so very near....

[Bob Olhsson]

I've also heard that rumor.

I've never gotten the impression they had a clue about what it takes and MANY companies have failed because they didn't have a clue.

Once they have a clue, the ability to build a competitive large console profitably becomes the major question because they are still the new kid on the block in direct competition with used SSLs and Neves.

[etherize]

well George Massenberg pretty much confirmed this...in any case....I Mackie is gonna do it...then maybe the rumors of the Mega Digidesign console is true as well...they're obviously working on something...and the procontrol has been out for a long time at this point...

[Neve Sucks!]

Just found this link:

http://www.musicgearnetwork.com/ubb/...c;f=3;t=004377

[thethrillfactor]

Originally posted by Neve Sucks!
Just found this link:

http://www.musicgearnetwork.com/ubb/...c;f=3;t=004377

Well it says that Keith Olsen is involved. He has always been one of the forward thinking dudes(he had one of the first totally automated Tridents and he was one of the pioneers in surround engineering).

He is also a cool producer too.

So maybe the big Mackie will have something to it after all.

[RSMITH123]

I would venture to say that, that was an "oh, crap, I shouldn't have said that" moment for GM. (letting the cat out of the bag.)

Jules, do you know anything you can share?

[NYC Drew]

Originally posted by RSMITH123
I would venture to say that, that was an "oh, crap, I shouldn't have said that" moment for GM. (letting the cat out of the bag.)

Jules, do you know anything you can share?

Guys,

It's the best kept, worst kept secret in the industry.

If I were to speculate, I would say that Mackie INTENTIONALLY sent info to places where they would know it would surface.

I mean, I got TWO unsolicited contacts (sorry, no names) as far back as mid- 2002 with a whole lot of specifics on the console.

Why don't we just wait and see what develops? Mackie is so, so very notorious for announcing shit, only to have it take 12,16 months to materialize.

NYC Drew

[jkasko]

So Drew,

Tell us what you've heard.

[Jax]

Originally posted by 2" Tape sucks!
I hear rumors that Mackie is working on a new large studio console.
Anyone else heard this rumor????

Isn't that what the 56/8 is supposed to be? (snicker snicker)

[Jay Kahrs]

Nah, the 56x8 is a live desk with a matrix and all that. Decent enough for what it is but totally not built to travel all that well. Many of them ended up DOA at shows. I don't think Wackie makes them anymore. I know they've been working on an update to the studio 8 buss consoles for at least 2 years. Maybe they're finally getting close to something.

[Jules]

I was shocked ages ago when they came out with the VLZ series 'improved' mic pre consoles, then didn't make one bigger than 16 channels!



I assumed it was because they didnt want to give out the vibe 'your old console is sh!t' to all the zillions of 24/8 owners..

Are there 24 & 36 ch VLZ mic pre consoles now?

Or did they just skip that idea.....?

[Jay Kahrs]

They skipped that. At one point I was the office manager for a company that repped Wackie and about 20 other lines. I recall people at Wackie saying that it wasn't that easy to just drop in the new pres because of the circuit layout, blah blah and they were working on a new console. I did see in the newsletters that went out every week that they were looking to buy specific consoles. I remember seeing a Soundcrafts and an AMR. I dobut they're going to give SSL a run, maybe the D&R Orion.

[Jax]

I bet they'll put some unnecessary digital crap into the board. I foresee 24/192 options.

[toledo3]

Ugh. If anyone from Mackie is reading this- NIX any digital stuff from the board. Especially fx.

What would be the bitchin thing would be to have some kind of affordable modular/open design.

[e-cue]

I think they'll nail the touchey queery 5.1 crap. They were the first to REALLY get it down with the Dig 8-bus. I just... I mean.... Close your eyes and imagination walking into your favorite control room and seeing 100 channels of mackie. You can't help but snicker...

[davemc]

Then you can see all those great shootouts between Mackie desks and other big desks that cost 5 times as much. Where they say the Mackie is just so much better for the money... Sorry I just remember all the XDR shootouts where the pre amp was better than anything for the money.... So actually not better..One of the things I hate with reviews.

[Henchman]

Originally posted by e-cue
I think they'll nail the touchey queery 5.1 crap. They were the first to REALLY get it down with the Dig 8-bus. I just... I mean.... Close your eyes and imagination walking into your favorite control room and seeing 100 channels of mackie. You can't help but snicker...

Snicker all you want. I've been getting great stuff with our mackie D8B.

The thing I really snicker at is how everybody using PT's denied it sounded bad, untill HD came out. Then they said it sounded "much better". Guess it sounded like crap anyway. And the people saying, it sounded better, kept repeating that, even though it was pointed out that the softwrae was still the same garbage.

[toledo3]

I can't figure out why the d8B, in particular, is so maligned. There have been great sounding records recorded with it. I particularly like the last two XTC records that used the d8b.

[e-cue]

Originally posted by Henchman
Snicker all you want. I've been getting great stuff with our mackie D8B.

Yeah, yeah, yeah... I've done great records on the D8B too. Like I said, they were the 1st to nail 5.1 and it's still better than doing 5.1 on SSL's or the like, IMHO. But what's the point of going to a major studio, and spending a lot of money on a project studio quality board? I'll try giving Mackie the benefit of the doubt until it comes out and I work on a couple albums on it.

[Mats Olsson]

Originally posted by G-man
I particularly like the last two XTC records that used the d8b.

Yes, but did they actually use the converters of the d8b for tracking/mixing?

From what I've read in interviews, I get the impression that they swear by the converters in their Radar II. I also believe that XTC's last 2 albums was mixed in big studios.

But then of course, I might have misunderstood it all.

/Mats

[NYC Drew]

Originally posted by Henchman
Snicker all you want. I've been getting great stuff with our mackie D8B.

The thing I really snicker at is how everybody using PT's denied it sounded bad, untill HD came out. Then they said it sounded "much better".

Mark,

The whole point is, it boils down to the operator. If you take a D8B new, out of the packaging, and plug it into use, what you have is a fairly HORRIBLE product. It only starts to shine with the requisite and proper clock etc etc. I am never concerned with where products are today, but with how good they were when they were 1st released.

I've bought a few dogs in my time, and and free and proud to admit so. Your Pro Tools bashing / D8B defending is very tiresome. We got your point three or four forums ago. What else do you have to contribute? Becuase, based on how long you say you've been in the industry (notice I didn't say business), and on the type of work you're engaged in, surely, you must have something beyond the scope of "Pro Tools sucks" to contribute.

Hey, by the way, I've NEVER, EVER used Pro Tools...or mixed a whole record on the DhateB.

NYC Drew

[Henchman]

I hope and I think they have learnt a lesson from the D8B. And tyhe competition is a lot tougher now. Especially with the new Yamaha console.

If they are shooting at the $20k $50k range, I think they have a viable product, depending of course on how it sounds and the bells and whistles.

Anything above that is going to be tough. I think it's going to get harder to compete with established companies in that market.

[Jay Kahrs]

Why do I dislike the D8B? Let me count the ways...

#1 Automation is fairly hard to come to grips with, and I use Ultramix all the time.
#2 Lack of analog inserts and difficult routing if you want to use analog outboard and stompboxes
#3 Faders that get stuck at the top of their travel for no reason. The only fix is to shut the console down and restart. Granted sometimes my MCI has a problem that needs a similar fix but it takes 2 seconds to come back on-line, not 3 minutes.
#4 I know many people that have had CPU problems which caused the console to fail and be down for an extended period of time. Last year I had another studio book a week at my place when that happened to them.
#5 Overall sound was not that great IMHO. Not horrible, but not killer either.

Shall I continue?

[Henchman]

well, all I can say, we have 2 D8B's and have been running them for the last 2 years non-stop.

I found the automation supereasy to learn.
You need a clock card and good clock source to improve the sound.
None of the digiatal console in that price-range have analogue inserts.
The occasioanl fader problem I had went away after recalibrating the faders. I've never had one stick at the top though. But try the calibartion feature.

[Jay Kahrs]

I demoed one in my studio before I bought the Trident. It was back at the dealers after a few days and yes, I did notice a difference in sound when I put the Apogee clock card in but it still lacked balls and anything compelling. I'll try the fader calibration thing the next time I'm forced at gunpoint to use one.

But with the analog inserts, I think a console in that price range should have at least a 1/2 dozen you can route to any channel. There's a nice range of analog outboard here that I've invested a large sum of money into. I don't want to have it collect dust when I mix.

[toledo3]

OK, I'm ignorant- are there any digital boards with an insert on every channel- I don't think I've seen any- but that might push me into the realms of buying one.

[hollywood_steve]

***are there any digital boards with an insert on every channel?***


why would you need them on every channel? as Jay suggested. 1/2 dozen (more for big places) would give you what you probably need and it shouldn't add too much to the overall cost. These boards list for close to $10K (and many of its competition list for far more). some analog inserts wouldn't be a big hit on units in that price category.


steve

[Henchman]

Since the mackie has 24 analogue and 34 digital inputs, anything I ant to run through outboard stuff, comes out of the 24 analogue outputs on our Fairlight, and then I patch into gear first and then into the console.