Mackie Big Knob -- Will this ruin things?

[Dave Peck]

It sounds like you might want something more like the Coleman Audio M3PH Mk II.

Dave Peck

[Marjan]

Originally Posted by Matthew Murray

While I"m aware that the Mackie Big Knob doesn't accomplish the headphone thing in so many words, it looks like it could be a handy little unit. Anyone know if it's passive or not when it comes to adding or depleting sound quality?

Hi...
Have you checked Mackie's website?
If you go there you'll read that the Big Knob is not passive... whether that degrades the sound is debatable... (I don't know personally) but you if you do care about the quality of your output signal... an inexpensive box would be the SPL 2381.
It's not completely passive, but it is for what matters... there's no level adjustment trimmer for any inputs nor there is for the outputs (you need to balance up the sources and monitors using their own controls to avoid level discrepancies when switching between them)... this was obviously done to keep the signal path as simple (passive) as possible, so as to maintain the highest signal integrity.
If mine got stolen I'd get another one.

As for a cheap way of getting different mixes for tracking musicians, check OZ Audio Q-Mix HM-6.
Hope it helps... good luck!

[Mark Warren]

I read somewhere on here that the the Big Knob make everything sounds "flat, 2-D, and the stereo image collapses".

I can attest that describes it exactly since I own one, and it will be strictly doing backup/headphone duty in the near future.

I contemplated the SPL unit, and the Coleman, but decided to go with the new Dangerous ST, since it has remote, wheres the others I just mentioned don't have one.

Some people have said good things about the Presonus Central Station, and that has a remote, but I found out that the remote doesn't control a volume actuator in the unit, but they actually run the audio down the entire length of the cord to the remote box/knob then all the way back into the rack unit. Think I'll pass on that, but I will say in that price range <$500 the Presonus sounds a lot better than the Mackie.

Let me sumarize with this - if you have a Benchmark and ADAM's which will allow you to hear every nuance of your audio, what sense does it make to put something in the chain that is going to muck it up? No sense mating a $10,000 racing engine to a $500 Huyundai transmission, and you should spend the bucks on the Dangerous or the Cranesong Avocet or etc. etc. or you'll be forever wondering if your controller is mucking up your sound.