Members GigMan Posted August 24, 2004 Members Share Posted August 24, 2004 ...and I'm just "Glad All Over" !! ha ha - Saw it as a "Non-Factory Seal" at the AMS web site tonight + couldn't resist - all this talk about mixers and Aux Sends, pre-post faders, etc... got me all hot + bothered. Not as good a deal on the Mackie DFX6 as eric, apparently - 89 bucks at Gtr. Ctr. for a used one, was it? But I couldn't wait for his report - so when I get this sucker, I'll file mine (report, that is). Oh, and wheresgrant3 (or is it "4" at this time? ) - there IS a dedicated, pre-fader Aux. Send knob on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members eric Posted August 24, 2004 Members Share Posted August 24, 2004 Ok, so I did get a killer steal on the DFX6 today, totally unexpected to me. GigMan, the planets must be aligned for us, since we both bought one today. Mine was $89 used at Guitar Center. I tried to haggle it lower and they said it was already bargain basement, because it came with no box, no manual and the little knob for changing FX is missing. No big worries. I can download the PDF from Mackie's site and I sent them an email asking for the knob. I'll get a Radio Shack knob if I need to - or I'll show up at one of GigMan's gigs and steal his FX knob;) I just fired it up and ran a couple of channels into it. I'm just doing mono at home into my home rig (KB300 amp), so I'm not getting the full stereo spread like I use on the gig. This thing looks like a winner so far. The FX are fairly limited...there are 4 delays and I cannot tell much difference between them. But it is a usable slapback. The Hall reverb sounds good. One of my objectives in getting the mixer was to simplify my wiring of 3 keyboards into stereo amps. The Before picture had me sending 3 separate, LONG patch cables to two amps (6 long cables total). After, I should be able to send 6 short cables to the mixer (hopefully snaked together) and then just 2 long ones to my amps. I was also trying to eliminate an FX unit, too. I use an Alesis Wedge and was tired of the wall wart. So my hope is that the Mackie can take care of both of these needs. I'm not real jazzed about the un-editable FX, but for a little verb and delay, I'm not going to sweat it too much. I am also a bit thrown off by HOW BIG this thing is for a 6 channel mixer! I was ULTRA pissed when I found out it is about 1" too tall to fit into a standard Anvil briefcase. I had one sitting around and my plan was to use it to carry the mixer. Not a chance. I can force it shut with the mixer inside, but it is putting considerable strain on the knobs. So I'll have to figure out some other way to tote it around. That really bummed me out. Otherwise, I'm stoked about the deal I found and looking forward to using it on a gig! I'm especially excited to not have a wall wart and maintain my wall wart free rig! Regards,Eric Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GigMan Posted August 24, 2004 Author Members Share Posted August 24, 2004 Hey Eric - Alignment of the planets, indeed! Maybe the Mackie DFX6 can be rackmounted in this little baby - http://www.americanmusical.com/item--i-SKB-82DJ.html ...a small, lightweight SKB shuttle case. I think mrcpro said he uses that rack? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GigMan Posted August 24, 2004 Author Members Share Posted August 24, 2004 Also, Eric - If you use a snake you can save yourself from dragging those six cords with you each time - http://www.americanmusical.com/item--i-HOS-CPP804.html ...it's color coded, so you plug the same colors in at both ends - ie, if Blue + Red at one end of the snake are plugged into your S90 L/R main outs, then you make sure to put Blue + Red at the other end of the snake into L/R of the same stereo channel on your mixer. Then you just run the two cords from the Main Outs on your mixer to your two amps. One caveat is that you may have to actually slice away some of the heavy rubber molding on the end of the snake that goes into your keyboards - to gain some slack, in order to make the physical connection into each keyboard/module's L/R jacks. I have this model snake and that's what I wound up doing - since the L/R outputs of my two keyboards and one MIDI model are not in close proximity to eachother. But you slice carefully, and then you have more slack on the individual colored wires that the rubber casing actually covers - and voila! Instant "Gig Snake." Hey, that could be a good pickup line for the single gig man - "Excuse me, but would you like to check out my Gig Snake?" BTW - You can also get snakes smaller in length (though I wouldn't recommend it - you always want to have a little extra slack just in case) or with less connections. I even use this snake when NOT running in stereo - on gigs where I only have one of my JBL EON15 G2's and that is all (and I'm NOT running a stereo feed to the main PA). After all the back + forth comments posted here on KSS + elsewhere about the pros + cons of running or not running in stereo live on a gig, I still don't know what to believe, so I figured why not? I have cables running from all my L/R outs on all my keys/modules and then I just Y-jack it from the output on my mixer. I don't know if this actually accomplishes anything or if it is ANY different whatsoever from just running 1 monaural cable from each keyboard/module - but it makes me feel and warm + fuzzy inside... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members eatsdrummachine Posted August 24, 2004 Members Share Posted August 24, 2004 Originally posted by GigMan ...and I'm just "Glad All Over" !! ha ha - *best napolean dynamite impersonation*: "lucky!" /johnny l mix r:) ps- my mackie is bigger then your mackie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jigg Posted August 24, 2004 Members Share Posted August 24, 2004 Sounds like GC is trying to dump some gear. I may have to look into this... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members eric Posted September 18, 2004 Members Share Posted September 18, 2004 GigMan, How do you like your Mackie? I am getting ready to use mine on its "first real gig" tomorrow. I picked up the custom Anvil case earlier today - SCHWEET! Regards,Eric Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GigMan Posted September 18, 2004 Author Members Share Posted September 18, 2004 Originally posted by eric GigMan, How do you like your Mackie? I am getting ready to use mine on its "first real gig" tomorrow. I picked up the custom Anvil case earlier today - SCHWEET! Regards, Eric It's cool! It does the job - I used mine on 2 gigs so far + no problems. The built-in effects are very useable for vocals - which is why I was attracted to the DFX6: to use mainly as keyboard submixer and occasionally as a main PA mixer for small PA setups. Last weekend I used it for everything, all at once, ran keys, mics, + a laptop playing mp3's on breaks into it, ran it to my 2 JBL EON15 G2's up on spkr. stands (for a backyard party) - the sound was awesome! The "band" (it was a pickup gig - I had never even met or played with the drummer before) thought it sounded tremendous, there were 4 of us: gtr., sax, drums, + me on keys, doing left-hand bass, grudgingly... ha ha I also have an older Mackie 1202 (original series) and a rackmount mixer that I use for the "big rig" (rackmounted in a Raxxess ConvertaRack 10/6), with which I use a Lexicon MPX110 effects unit (nice) - I usually use that for gigs where I supply the PA + it's more than 2 or 3 people on the gig... In fact, will be looking to sell the rackmount and old 1202 at some point - to consolidate to one big mixer for the big rig: a Mackie 1402VLZ Pro. More to follow - I'll offer up here (anyone interested in a good deal on a rackmount mixer or a Mackie 1202 PM or email me before I go public, and then go to Ebay if no bites... But the Mackie DFX6 does what it does nicely - especially for the price: I got a Non Factory Seal unit from American Musical Supply for $169.99 - can't beat it! The one thing I do not like about it is it is HUGE for a little 6 channel mixer! Well, let's face it - it's really a 4 channel mixer: 2 Mono + 2 Stereo channels. That always bugs me when mfgs. do that... I am considering the SKB case that runs about 100 bucks - right now am using a Dell laptop softcase. It's tight, but fits: however, it occurs to me that people might see that case and be tempted to get "light fingers" - thinking I had a laptop with me (even though sometimes I do, but now in a different case!) - so I should really invest in a generic case for the DFX6. Eric - One thing you MUST be aware of (I learned this the hard way): each of the 4 channels (not six, dammit!) on the DFX6 has a MUTE button. If that button is in the Down position, you will not get any signal on that channel. We had a sax player on the gig last weekend - couldn't figure out why his mic., his cord, my mic., my cord, etc... nothing worked - I though I had a bad channel on the brand new mixer! Then realized - d'oh! - I had inadvertently pressed down the Mute button on his channel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members WhinyLittleRunt Posted September 18, 2004 Members Share Posted September 18, 2004 I use a DFX-12 as my main mixer in the studio and for what it is, it's not bad. I can see it better as a DJ stage mixer though, because of the effects, but the pre's are ok and when you use it live the effects can come in handy. I would have preferred to get a VLZ pro by Mackie but I saw this one in GC as well and I liked it. Hopefully no one from the recording forum will bash me for this because they told me I'd be better off with the VLZ and I ignored them and bought the DFX... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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