BbAltered Posted October 20, 2021 Share Posted October 20, 2021 For the past 10+ years, I have had a Mackie 1604VLZ with Firewire option as my studio mixer. This has served my studio needs perfectly: 16 great pre-amps for recording or rehearsals; the Firewire option functions as an AD/DA converter, and sends 18 audio channels simultaneously to my DAW, and sends a stereo pair from the DAW back to the mixer for monitoring. (Tho' Firewire is now ancient tech, it has function perfectly in this setting without glitches or drop-outs.) I have started on the path to building a new DAW. The new DAW will have a newer OS that may not work well with the older tech in my Mackie mixer. I will first try to get the new DAW working with the Mackie mixer, but I may need to get newer tech. So I am looking for recommendations for a mixer.. I like having 16 good pre-amps available. I like being able to send the audio from those 16 pre-amps to the DAW. There has to be a return from the DAW for monitoring. The newer Mackie Onyx mixers function as 16x16 AD/DA, but only have 12 pre-amps and come with on-board effects (which I don't need and don't want). I've had hands-on experience with the QSC TouchMix 30, which is more than capable and probably more mixer than I want. What other mixer options should I be considering? I suppose one option (in the event I can't get the new DAW to communicate with the Mackie Firewire) is to continue to use the Mackie 1604VLZ but with a newer stand-alone AD/DA interface. I want to know what mixer options are available before going down this route. Thx. Quote J.S. Bach Well Tempered Klavier The collected works of Scott Joplin Ray Charles Genius plus Soul Charlie Parker Omnibook Stevie Wonder Songs in the Key of Life Weather Report Mr. Gone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElmerJFudd Posted October 20, 2021 Share Posted October 20, 2021 Better information to suggest a solution would be what other hardware do you have to record? Rack synths? Keyboards? Drum machines? What is the largest number of instruments, singers, players you would record simultaneously. Do you largely work alone or have a duo, trio? Larger band? Will you daw be hosted on a Mac or PC and which DAW software have you chosen? Quote Yamaha CP88, Casio PX-560 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BbAltered Posted October 20, 2021 Author Share Posted October 20, 2021 Thx Mr. Fudd for your questions. The studio functions primarily as my practice room and my project studio. I will also host larger band rehearsals, and (less commonly) record bands. From time to time, I need all of those 16 mixer channels. Right now, I have two keyboards occupying 4 (line-level) channels of the mixer; an ART pre-amp pair occupies another two mixer channels, and a dedicated studio effects unit is patched in one of the aux send/returns. Quote J.S. Bach Well Tempered Klavier The collected works of Scott Joplin Ray Charles Genius plus Soul Charlie Parker Omnibook Stevie Wonder Songs in the Key of Life Weather Report Mr. Gone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElmerJFudd Posted October 20, 2021 Share Posted October 20, 2021 How many actual channels will you record activate and track on one of those big sessions? How many direct and how many from mics? Quote Yamaha CP88, Casio PX-560 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Burgess Posted October 20, 2021 Share Posted October 20, 2021 https://www.soundonsound.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=79515 There's this thread in the Sound on Sound forum, An Allen and Heath GS24 and a Mackie Onyx both working well with a 2020 Intel iMac, and an M1 Mac, respectively. Just need the adapter. Can't see your Mackie being any different, sure the drivers will be very similar. I, too, thought Firewire was long dead and buried, but was proven wrong! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BbAltered Posted October 20, 2021 Author Share Posted October 20, 2021 How many actual channels will you record activate and track on one of those big sessions? How many direct and how many from mics? A couple of times I recorded a 7-piece band, where all 7 sang, and there were two horns to be miked, and the rhythm section. I could have used more pre-amps and more input channels to the DAW for those sessions. Most of the time, my needs are more simple. Quote J.S. Bach Well Tempered Klavier The collected works of Scott Joplin Ray Charles Genius plus Soul Charlie Parker Omnibook Stevie Wonder Songs in the Key of Life Weather Report Mr. Gone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElmerJFudd Posted October 20, 2021 Share Posted October 20, 2021 Ok, on the one hand - most of the time you would do fine to use a USB audio interface, preferably with ADAT for additional mic pres added later, or one with a lot of inputs (where you use the insert outputs from each channel of your analog mixer to feed the interface). However, since you use the mixer for rehearsal as well, then one with USB out to your PC build its preferable. There are a few that offer USB interface (instead of FireWire) with similar io or more than your Mackie. Take a look at: Allen & Heath ZED-22FX 22-channel Mixer with USB Audio Interface and Effects Mackie 2404VLZ4 24-channel Mixer Yamaha MGP24X 24-channel Mixer with Effects If the $1k+ price point is a little above your budget, there are similar models from these three with less io. Quote Yamaha CP88, Casio PX-560 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KuruPrionz Posted October 21, 2021 Share Posted October 21, 2021 This is Seattle area craigslist, worth keeping an eye out elsewhere... https://seattle.craigslist.org/est/msg/d/bellevue-presonus-studiolive-ar16-usb/7395461324.html Quote It took a chunk of my life to get here and I am still not sure where "here" is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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