Mackie VLZ 1604 Vs. The Mackie Onyx 1640

I've Checked out the Stats, but is there a real difference in ability between these 2 besides the Firewire Connection??

Any Gear Heads out there know??

Yeah, I'd like to know too... can anyone help out. I've heard the eq is sweeter on the onyx ...

i own the 1604 vlz, its dope cuz i got it mad cheap, 300 bucks canadian!
2 channels are blown tho gotta get that fixed. its a great mixer

the onyx costs way more than a 1604 these days, but u get a better eq, with optional aftermarket eq on some high end ish. and the firewire ability..
but unfortunatly it sends all the tracks, pre EQ which is totally the fallin point IMO.

u cant go wrong owning a 1604 vlz! always useful for somethin

The onyx is really only better cause it can be use as a computer interface(sound card). I have a mackie tapco mix and its alright right(good sounding) but since i dont use it to mix and everything i do(mixing) is always in nuendo i feel a mixer really dont matter. When i track everything on my gear list, everything go right into my sound card(i bypass the mixer). I think a good mixer is only needed if you have plans to mix down with out board gear. If not then i really wont stress(no pun) it at all. Look at my gear list. My motif has 6 out puts on it and mpc has 8 and my nord lead rack has 4 out puts on it but i have a 4 channel mixer cause i only use that to out put (amp) the sound coming out of my stereo outs of my gear and nothing else. My sound card is hook up to the mixer (tape in jacks) on the mixer. 100 dollars and it sounds and do everything i need it too!

So how are you monitoring everything. The 828mk2 has only 10 inputs, if you wanna have everything running at the same time before you record, what's your solution?

I got the 828mk2 and am building up a mass of gear that I need to both monitor and record. At the moment I use a patchbay, but that is getting a bit tiresome, and I need to have more mic pre-amps. Was thinking a mixer would be the best solution, especially as I wanna take it live soon...

I hope i get this right cause man its easier when person can look at it or im just doing it. On my lil mixer board i have a switch that lets me only hear the output of the motu. Since everything go right into the motu when recording im hearing the sound that comes out of it. When i want to hear what comes out of the mixer or just go into the motu first i just hit the switch and not i can hear my gear when it comes out the mixer. Im sorry if it didnt come out right but i just know this is what works. If it wasnt for latency i would say you dont need a mixer period. I learn from using my mbox along time ago how to get rid of latency with a mixing board

but unfortunatly it sends all the tracks, pre EQ which is totally the fallin point IMO.

are you sure about this mate, seams like a bad design call to whip up a brand new "Virtual british eq" section and then not being able to record that sweet eq via the fierwire ... I hoestly have a hard time beleiving that its pre eq only...

this is just what i have read, i was really stoked on the boards until i heard that.

i would be happy to be proved wrong!

its true...was interested in buying one till i found that out...even downloaded the manual to check it

yes - the firewire takes the signalstraight after the preamp - so noe Eq. But, the firewire not only sends the individual channels, it also sends a stereo mix, which comes after the eqs. So there is a work around.

Anyhow... Does anyone know how it sounds??? or does anyone have one to help fill us in a bit...??

Click-happy...

Have you thought about the Soundcraft M range?... Ive heard very good things about them.

I have an Onyx 1220 and the thing I'm most impressed with are the preamps. They have a new designed preamp that shits on the VLZ series in my opinion. They sound very clean and very clear. I have the firewire on backorder and it's supposed to be here Wednesday so I'll let yall know how that works out. But the EQ's are very nice. The sweepable mids make EQ'ing a breeze. The firewire card is Pre-EQ, but I prefer it that way personally. I'd rather have a clean signal straight off the preamp instead of going through the ciruitry of the mixer, but that's just me. Anywayz, this is the best mixer you can buy for under $600 <---Mark my words.

Okay, I just got the firewire interface last night and installed it. This was probably the easiest install of anything I have ever done. Installing the card in the back of the mixer took all of 3 minutes. The software installation took a little longer and only had one or two speed bumps to slow down the process, but I still had it up and running flawlessly in under a half-hour. Mackie did a great job with the firewire card and the recordings are crystal clear and with no noticeable latency. I recommend you have over 512MB Ram though if you have a few other USB or firewire devices already hooked up. I noticed my CPU was bogged down a little, but I attribute that to still having my M-Audio card installed as well as the Cubase protective device, flash media card reader, and Midiman midi interface all hooked up to the USB hub. I disconnected my midi interface for the time being since I rarely use it, and the Onyx no longer bogged down my CPU. Big ups to Mackie for making a solid piece! I'm gonna field test it this weekend in a live band situation. By the way, if anyone needs to know I'm running a P4 1.5 ghz with 512 MB ram and Windows XP. We installed it on a Sony VAIO laptop with no trouble either.

Peace

good to hear from someone that actually has one... i was contemplating the onyx boards a lil while ago, ended up going with a used 1604 since i found a cool deal on one, ill have to get a seperate audio interface now, ill probably go pci and not firewire...

LabratsProd wrote:Okay, I just got the firewire interface last night and installed it. This was probably the easiest install of anything I have ever done. Installing the card in the back of the mixer took all of 3 minutes. The software installation took a little longer and only had one or two speed bumps to slow down the process, but I still had it up and running flawlessly in under a half-hour. Mackie did a great job with the firewire card and the recordings are crystal clear and with no noticeable latency. I recommend you have over 512MB Ram though if you have a few other USB or firewire devices already hooked up. I noticed my CPU was bogged down a little, but I attribute that to still having my M-Audio card installed as well as the Cubase protective device, flash media card reader, and Midiman midi interface all hooked up to the USB hub. I disconnected my midi interface for the time being since I rarely use it, and the Onyx no longer bogged down my CPU. Big ups to Mackie for making a solid piece! I'm gonna field test it this weekend in a live band situation. By the way, if anyone needs to know I'm running a P4 1.5 ghz with 512 MB ram and Windows XP. We installed it on a Sony VAIO laptop with no trouble either.

Peace