That Mackie DL1608

[heath_eld]

Finally got to play with a DL 1608 today. It wasnt really something i'm looking at buying, but i absolutely love the price point and the small size. I am hoping to go digital at some stage. Had a few questions though. 

It felt a bit, shall i say, toyish? Obviously its not a very old product but does anyone have any experience of how reliable and how the sound is? 

I notice that it only works up to an ipad 3? It doesnt work with either the mini or the ipad 4? Are there any plans to upgrade this? Doesnt seem like it will have a very long shelf life? I know you can still buy an ipad 2, but this seems very disappointing (i know this is apples fault, not Mackies... but still). 

Is anyone using these on real world gigs? It seems that it would cost me about $1300 for the board and then i'd need a $500 (au prices) ipad which is a fair bit cheaper than the SL 16.4.2 and probably half the size? 

[jonthomas]

You may want to wait for the new Behringer to get reviewed.

Used or B-stock iPads start around $200.

[jlb]

 

Over 20 shows with the DL and no issues so far. It has performed well like any of my other mixers.

 

Here is a low quality video from a recent gig. Terrible room to work in.

 

[Stagemixer]

Great tool for live sound.

[Art Flood]

 

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heath_eld wrote:

 

Finally got to play with a DL 1608 today. It wasnt really something i'm looking at buying, but i absolutely love the price point and the small size. I am hoping to go digital at some stage. Had a few questions though. 

 

It felt a bit, shall i say, toyish? Obviously its not a very old product but does anyone have any experience of how reliable and how the sound is? 

I notice that it only works up to an ipad 3? It doesnt work with either the mini or the ipad 4? Are there any plans to upgrade this? Doesnt seem like it will have a very long shelf life? I know you can still buy an ipad 2, but this seems very disappointing (i know this is apples fault, not Mackies... but still). 

Is anyone using these on real world gigs? It seems that it would cost me about $1300 for the board and then i'd need a $500 (au prices) ipad which is a fair bit cheaper than the SL 16.4.2 and probably half the size? 

---

 

G'day Heath,

I was tempted by the Mackie but resisted. I liked a lot about it but didn't like that the aux sends couldn't be set to be pre eq and compressor. Not an issue if you use IEMs but a worry (for feedback) with regular foldbacks. 

I'd be tempted if they address this down the road.

Cheers

[stangconv]

I love mine. It's not 100% correct to say the new iPad or mini won't work. At this stage. They won't "dock" they will still run the mixer as a remote. My plan is to find a good used iPad 2 to have just stay in the dock all the time.

 

I do believe they are working on a fix to get the new iPad docked

[wheresgrant3]

Just used ours for two shows this weekend. It's replacing our trusty Allen & Heath Mix Wiz 16:2. My first imppression. Very impressed.  I was initially against this purchase. Not a fan at all of Mackie gear or Onxy preamps. I must say kudos to Mackie for a well engineered product. Took us an hour to unbox it, connect a router, assign channels. To start... six independent auxs is amazing. I've been sharing an aux send with our other keys player. Last night all five out of six of us were on stage last night with ipads. The sixth borrowed my mini and set his settings independently. From in the crowd the mids and highs are crisp (we have Yorkville EL500P and LS 800 subs) and the kick was prominent. However the low end seem a little on the tamer side. Could have been just the eq... I wasn't managing the mix.  It's only been two shows so we can check the durability and road worthyness of this board. The A&H has lasted 700 shows without even a cleaning. Incredibly durable. 

[minn12]

 

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heath_eld wrote:

 

Finally got to play with a DL 1608 today. It wasnt really something i'm looking at buying, but i absolutely love the price point and the small size. I am hoping to go digital at some stage. Had a few questions though. 

 

It felt a bit, shall i say, toyish? Obviously its not a very old product but does anyone have any experience of how reliable and how the sound is? 

I notice that it only works up to an ipad 3? It doesnt work with either the mini or the ipad 4? Are there any plans to upgrade this? Doesnt seem like it will have a very long shelf life? I know you can still buy an ipad 2, but this seems very disappointing (i know this is apples fault, not Mackies... but still). 

Is anyone using these on real world gigs? It seems that it would cost me about $1300 for the board and then i'd need a $500 (au prices) ipad which is a fair bit cheaper than the SL 16.4.2 and probably half the size? 

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A club I work at just installed this system, so I mixed a multi-band festival and an acoustic vocal duo on it the last two weekends.  The first point is that you can only mix with the iPad. If the iPad battery dies, or there is some problem, there is no way to mix on the actual console, due to no faders or controls other than gains.  The console just continues the audio at the last settings.  The Mackie software is pretty good, and works well, but you need to keep sweeping the screens back and forth to get at all the inputs and the reverb/delay etc.,  which really is normal for iPad mixing.  There are no subgroups; everything goes to the main outs. You have full 31 band EQ on the main outs and the auxes, which is great.  It is fairly easy to use the PEQ on the channels, and the gates and comps are decent to use.

We did have some trouble with the way you save and load shows and 'snapshots'.  It seems kind of a clunky way to save things.  You can change shows or snapshots on the iPad, but the iPad has to be docked to actually load a new show into the console.  Last night, I had the software on the iPad 'freeze' on me while adjusting the EQ on an input, and had to reboot the iPad and re-dock it to get back to normal. 

Advantages are you can obviously mix wirelessly anywhere in the venue and adjust as needed.  It's great to be able to stand in front of monitors and dial them in yourself.  It was fun to see the shocked looks on bands' faces (who never saw wireless iPad mixing before) as I came up on stage with them and gave them their monitor mixes on the spot.  So much better than having to use talkback and communicate from a distance with the band.  The other thing is, I was occasionally asked questions by patrons seeing me mix while out in the crowd, so you might get a few people asking if you are actually controlling things with that iPad, lol. 

You can get the DL1608 for much less than what you posted if you look around.  Overall, it works fairly well, but not sure yet about long term reliability or if there are any other glitches not yet discovered.  It would probably work well for venues that have no good place for a normal FOH, and feature smaller bands with 16 or fewer inputs to deal with. 

 

 

[dedmeet]

First, let's address the iPad 4 and Mini issue:

 

Short version - both can control the DL1608 wirelessly.  Mackie is working on an adapter for the iPad 4. 

Got to do a little hands-on with the DL1608 not long ago and it could be a great tool for folks who cannot run a mixer out a FOH.  I hope they make it so the auxes can be pre-eq and pre-comp eventually.  If they update this and add Windows PC support, I may grab one as my small-job mixer to complement my 01v96.

 

[heath_eld]

Do standard analogue mixers (say, a soundcraft fx series) put the inserts pre aux?

[ChiroVette]

 

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Art Flood wrote:    but didn't like that the aux sends couldn't be set to be pre eq and compressor. Not an issue if you use IEMs but a worry (for feedback) with regular foldbacks.  

 

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Actually, I was under the impression this issue was addressed and you can set the auxes pre EQ and pre  compressor. Perhaps it will be in Master Fader 1.4? Any of the 1604 users here know the answer to this? Because I agree that it is a potentially big issue, but really only if your band's stage volume is smoking loud. You want to know something?

 

I play in a Grateful Dead cover band and right now, in addition to the new IEM system I recently implemented, I use two JBL MR805 wedges, from the mid nineties! My band's stage volume has gotten so good (it wasn't always!) that I can run even those monitors with completely flat EQ's. So if you have a wild, out of control stage volume where your monitors literally have to fight tooth and nail to be heard, then I can see this being an issue.But my preferences would be to have the aux sent post EQ, because why wouldn't I want to send the same fine-tuned and EQ'd signal of the channel strips to the monitors that I am sending to FOH? The compression I understand, though, but again, with all these new speakers and DSP, I would imagine that stage volume will play a big role in even compression in the monitors.

[stangconv]

Haha true. I really love mine. Sold the mixwiz, and a rack full of outboard gear. Got more money for the old stuff then I needed for the mixer

[stevegarris]

 

Hi All - First post here.

 

I was skeptical about the 1608 when I first heard about it, but after 2 gigs I'm completely sold and planning to sell all of my analog gear. The Ipad mixer is a joy to use, and I had my best sounding mix in a room we've played before using the 1608. Here are a few key issues to consider:

Get an Ipad 2 or later. There is a known glitch in the Mackie software when using an Ipad 1. I found this out the hard way; I bought an Ipad 1 (used) and while testing the system before first use, it was freezing on me. I talked with Mackie support (excellent, btw) and was advised they are working on the problem and it will be fixed in the next firmware upgrade. I ended up buying an Ipad 2, so now I have 2 ipads at the gig - just in case there's a problem. The ipad 2 worked flawlessly with no issues at all.

The router set-up was not as simple as stated, but with help from Mackie support I got it set up. Once you have it set up, your done, and no further adjustments are needed.

Yes the channel EQ's, compressors & gates are pre-fader for the sends, but I had no problem using them. The trick is to use them gently - not too much compression and use the gates gently as well. On mic's, avoid adding high frequency's with the EQ and you'll be fine. The band I run for uses in-ears, except for the guitar player so I only have one live wedge on stage (lucky me!).

I run sound for cover bands in small rooms using JBL PRX portable systems. Until now I was using a A&H Mixwiz III, with Dbx EQ's, compressors, a 4 channel Behringer gate, and Lexicon MX20 delay. I used the on-board Lexicon reverb in the MixWiz. All those heavy boxes, and the snake, are now going away!

After hearing the 1608 effects I find them completely adequate, but I've read that Mackie is planning an upgrade to the effects in the software. Another upgrade I'm hoping for is to be able to switch the EQ's Comps & Gates so that they don't affect the sends.

 

I just had one of my best sounding mixes with this little device. I'm completely sold - but I'll also be taking a look at that new Berhringer copy that is due out this year.