Anyone Using Mackie ?

[lightningbug]

It's time to change my stage setup and I've decided to dig a little and go with Mackie.

 

I was hoping to get some oppinions from anyone else using Mackie stuff.

 

This is the system I'm getting....

CFX12 mixer

2-1530 mains

1- 1801 sub (for now)

2- SRM450 monitors

and 100 ft. powered snake

 

I play mostly clubs and I was told that this set up will kick ass, I have a feeling it will.

[tremendo]

If you've decided to go with Mackie, I imagine you must like it. And if that's the case, you should be in good shape.

 

What's a "Powered Snake"?

[B. Adams]

A "powered snake" is one that has speaker lines in it, so as to allow you to make unnecessarily long speaker runs and waste power.

 

It also allows you to have your amps at FOH. Which is obviously the best place for them...

 

Personally, I've never been happy with any of the Mackie stuff you're asking about, but since you're asking for opinions from people actually "using" Mackie stuff, I can't offer mine, as I've only "used it before."

 

But FWIW, because I have used all of the Mackie stuff you're talking about, there's a reason all my powered speakers are Yorkville, and my mixer is not a Mackie.

[Unalaska]

The speakers are a good choice, the board is terrible though. Check out a Spirit M12, M16 (?), similar boards are out there but NOT the CFX or DFX.

 

Why a powered snake (speaker cables built into the snake)? With an all active system a standard snake will do. Check Audioplile.net for snakes, stay away from the crappy ebay ones or American Cable Co/Jade Audio stuff from MF. Rapco, Horizon, Pro-Co , EWI are all good choices.

[BillESC]

AJ,

 

You'll have a fine system for small to medium club work. A few comments and suggestions though.

 

As stated, you won't need a "powered snake" so just go with a quality standard snake. Some of the best are made by Whirlwind.

 

For monitors, take a hard look at the Mackie SRM 350's. They are smaller and lighter than the 450's and were specifically engineered for monitor usage.

 

Mackie's VLZ Pro mixers offer much better mic pre-amps and better dynamic headroom than the CFX series. Outboard effects will serve you better than the built in units.

[lightningbug]

Bill,

 

I was originally going to get the 350's, but I was told they did'nt have any bottom so that's why I chose to go with the 450's.

[BillESC]

I think you'll be surprised with the bottom they deliver.

[Greazygeo]

I have an older 1604VLZ. It works but I don't care much for the pre's in them...

[Randy Focht]

The Mackie 350's are very smooth, yet cut through very well. The bass cuts off at 70hz which is probably good, since you don't want to create more boom on stage, but want to hear vocals, etc.

 

I have a brand new pair of 350's for sale in Hawaii.

Randy 808 951-0448

[Audioeast]

The Mackie package is OK, but for the money you could do waaaay better,

 

the 1530's are really under powered, and have a history of thermal and shut off (same with the srm450) the CFX and DFX are really poorly designed mixers with tons of featurs but really "OK" quality and even fair to say "poor" quality.

 

for the record i'm a dealer and used to carry Mackie, but after the goldrush, their were alot of dissapointed customers and lots of service issues....heres a list

 

SRM450 - thermal Shut offs, a crapload with bad drivers (cracked magnet) + their heavier than most powered 12" + 1" active speakers.

 

SR1530 - thermal Shut offs, caps getting cold and needing to be "popped on"

 

CFX no service issues (except stupid break switch) but the EQ, and FX are terrible, the gain staging is silly (must assign to groups to get to Mains) FX clip waaaay to easily.

 

Mackie subs - not alot of service issues (except recones from people expecting way too much from the very little power and clipping them all the time)

 

but for the price of the sub you could have a sub with 2x the output.

 

Will it kick ass.........no. it will be an OK modest pa that will sound good at medium volume and will fall apart at loud volumes.

 

These are my observations and experience, we have had lots of happy mackie customers but they were mostly churches and soft music (country, folk, motown, DJ's) but IMO this is not a rock PA by any stretch.

 

 

 

good luck

[Circulogi]

Audioeast has some good points but didn't bring this up. Mackie moved all speaker manufacturing from Italy to China about a year ago and if you'll check the Mackie forum, its not the same stuff by any means. I've come across some Italian speakers that are the best I've heard called DB Technologies and more recently RCF. They use class H amps and are the most natural powered speaker I've heard to date.

[lucho_84]

Yes, we also have a bunch of 450's in our rental department which are Italian made and we have never blown one up:D I can't say the same thing for the 1521's and the 1530's made here in the us. We've had so many of those go down we don't buy them anymore. Maybe user error maybe not. I wouldnt' know because that was all before my time but aside from those things the cabinets are just not built tough enough IMO.

[Tobes]

I have two Mackie SA1521's and One SWA1801 Sub.

I really like them all, haven't had any trouble, but

I'm also not an experienced user. I really love the sound I get out of the 1521's, it's crisp and clean with a lot of bottom.

The sub is hard to tell, because the only time it's running full is when I'm on stage.

I will also say that I ordered the first sub from musicians friend.

they shipped one that didn't work at all, absolutely no sound.

They're jerks sometimes. I got another one shipped out,

I should have checked the serial number, but I think they sent the same one back to me because that one didn't work either.

It also looked like the box it was in had been around the world

20 times though every weather condition.

I returned it for a refund. Went to Guitar Center anf got the guy there to work out a similar deal. Got a brand new one off the floor that was in an unopened ox. That's the one I have.

 

If I was to do it again, I might look into the Yorkville powered subs. Check with Audio East. Although, I wish there was somewhere I could go and hear one of those vs the mackie.

Mackie sub seems to have good stats.

 

I use a crest amp (CPX1500)and two Yorkville Y150M monitors.

That I got from Audio East. I had never heard the stuff before I bought it. I'm not as happy with them as I thought I would be.

The sound quality is mushy to me, compared to the sound out of the mackies (even though the mackie 1521's have 500 per side, vs the 300 per side of the crest amp/yorkie monitors) But it's liveable. Bottom on them is better than I would have expected from the srm450's.

 

Again, just my inexperienced 2 cents.

Our band is mostly electonic.

roar84.com

We play new wave 80's.

 

Later,

Tobes

[Audioeast]

 

Originally posted by Tobes I use a crest amp (CPX1500)and two Yorkville Y150M monitors. That I got from Audio East. I had never heard the stuff before I bought it. I'm not as happy with them as I thought I would be. The sound quality is mushy to me, compared to the sound out of the mackies (even though the mackie 1521's have 500 per side, vs the 300 per side of the crest amp/yorkie monitors) But it's liveable. Bottom on them is better than I would have expected from the srm450's. Later, Tobes

 

 

Hi Tobes,

 

I think the 1521 was a new power amp and might be the best performer of the Mackie line.

 

however......

The Y150M is Yorkvilles entry level speaker, it cost about $300

where the 1521 claims to be a top end solution, I would hope the 1521 would sound quite abit better, and it definatly does, but if you were comparing the NX series to the srm450 (for monitors)you'd be comparing apples to apples, and the 1521 compares to the EF500p which even on paper is a slaughter at the same price. So my point is Mackie products (in the right combination) can be a good (even great) solution for modest smaller venues with a band that has a fairly controlled stage volume, but i dont think the words "kick Ass" could be used to describe it, which is what cought my eye in the original post.

[Randy Focht]

The best quality bass sound that I have ever heard is the FBT 9sa sub. The sound quality is superb and definitely better than the Mackie.

 

For medium sized venues it is great. If you have a super large venue, you will need multiple subs. But, it's easier to carry 4 subs that weigh 64 lbs each, than 2 subs that weigh 160+ lbs each.

 

Of course, unless you still have a good back. ha!

[lucho_84]

Anywhere I use subs I never carry them in. Use a dolly or a caster board. Save your back and you can have subs as big as you want. Don't cheap out on casters. Good casters go a long way!

[B. Adams]

Wow, I must be weak. I put casters on anything over about 40lbs that can't ride on something else. And I hate carrying anything, especially heavy stuff, so that means that just about everything that doesn't have casters rides on something. I can load in, by myself, from my trailer, and I don't have to carry anything.

 

Then there's those places with stairs...

[Guitar Charlie]

Do not get the CFX board, stay away, very far away!

 

The vlz 1604/1642 is okay except for the riboon cable issue, which is a headache so I guess stay away from them too.

 

I've had good experiences with the SRM450 and the SWA1501, I need another 1501 btw but I don't want to buy a chinese model.

 

Does anyone know if Yorkville makes a sub that would fit in well with a srm 450??

[B. Adams]

The LS800P is Yorkville's equivalent to the 1801, except the Yorkville's will blow the Mackie's out of the room. I've used them with similar speakers to the SRM450 (Yorkville NX520P), and while they're a bit of overkill, they worked very well.

 

I've never used the LS700P, but that would be the next step down from the 800, and people say good things about them.

 

Consider looking at Yorkville's powered subs, they're great.

[Blue Monkey]

My system was:

2 Mackie 1530s

3 SRM 450 as monitors

2 SWR 1801 subs.

 

After 50 gigs in 6 months, my opinion is:

-The 1801 subs are awesom

-The 1530's are OK, but too big and heavy and can't be pole mounted

-SRM450's were great monitors.

 

I have sold the 1530's and plan to replace them with the Yorkie EF500P or Mackie 1521's.

 

However, the system (including the 1530's)was still better than most. I think a good soundman and reasonable stage sound level is key.

[kevinnem]

I used to use mackie stuff.

 

I used the monitors (450s) about 10 times on my own, and more times then I can count as frount end at an intstalled gig, they had thermal about 90% oh the time, I hate those things with a passion.

 

If you looking for advise, I would say get something else.

 

What, .. well the powered version of the u15 will be smokeing if you can get it. How about passive stuff like the u15, or EV qrx stuff is nice.

 

 

 

Any one used the mackie 3 way?

 

 

interesting how opinons can very eh?

 

 

Kev.

[BillESC]

We've recently switched to KV2... simply amazing.

 

Last Saturday night we did sound in a 500 seat venue for Beth Eunice and Band (she was voted Best Cabaret singer in NYC in 2005.)

 

The speakers we used were two EX 10's and one EX 2.2. The EX 10's are 10" 2-ways self bi-amped at 500w and the EX 2.2 is a dual 12" subwoofer with a 1000w amp.

 

Extreme resolution and clarity and any level is what these speakers offer and for this gig, we couldn't even turn them up all the way.

 

www.kv2audio.com

[Al Poulin]

 

Originally posted by B. Adams The LS800P is Yorkville's equivalent to the 1801, except the Yorkville's will blow the Mackie's out of the room. I've used them with similar speakers to the SRM450 (Yorkville NX520P), and while they're a bit of overkill, they worked very well. I've never used the LS700P, but that would be the next step down from the 800, and people say good things about them. Consider looking at Yorkville's powered subs, they're great.

 

 

 

 

A pair of LS700Ps or one LS800P would more than easily keep up with a pair of SRM450s. The LS700P is very compact and packs an amazing puch for it's size. It doesn't go as low as the Mackie or the LS800P though....

[deswahriff]

at last!!..something I can comment on,,( up till now on this forum its been all take, take, take..for which I'm so grateful!!)...

....fwiw...we've been using Mackie for nearly 4 years now, we play small bars and clubs, weddings and parties, usually easy on the ears, soft cover band stuff....

2 X srm450 tops and 2 X SWA1501 subs...( used only 1 'till recently)

they do the job fine for us, we're a 7 piece, all going thru the PA, ( kick drum only, though). We want good clarity at moderate volumes, which is what we get.....I come across similiar bands to ourselves regularly, and I think our sound is way better than most .....I know I'm an old git, but so much stuff, at pubs, parties and functions, is just soooo loud...us old folks like to have a chat at these things, don't we??...anyway, after gigs we are often complimented on the sound, and we never have a shortage of young things on the dance floor either. We were also warned away from Mackie mixers and use a Soundcraft one, which has been perfect.

I can echo the reliability issues of the newer units...three of the four items are the older, made in Italy, kit...they have been faultless...the newer sub is a made in China, ..its failed twice in its first year, but fair play to Mackie, they are replacing it, even delivering and collecting direct to me!..hopefully this will be more reliable.

Our other guitarist uses a SRM 350 with his Pod xt thingy, and he's very happy with it, and so far no issues with reliability.

 

Having said all that, with a few years of experience now, and a better ear for these things, sometimes they strike me , especially when playing the ipod at break time, as maybe being a bit brittle and sterile..so if I was to start over again, I would want to check out some alternative kit...

Incidentally, some young musician friends of mine ( totally different......., talented, indie, loud, hyper-active, original) use a SRM 450 for their vocals if their playing a small place and having to bring their own (crappy) pa...they simply plug the mic direct into the speaker and you can actually hear the vocals over the quite substantial backline!!! ..they use their powered mixer for BV's, and swap mics depending whose taking the lead vocal!!...rock and roll, guys, it works for them!

 

...so there ya go...some real life Mackie experiences for your consideration......

[abzurd]

Maybe I'm a bit dense, but I have some questions for you:

 

What do you mean by you did some digging? - If you mean your wallet, OK then. If you mean you RESEARCHED and came up with an all Mackie PA including their lowest line mixer, and one with a not so hot reputation if you dig a little - then you didn't dig much. In fact, you didn't have to leave the Mackie website.

 

I'm not really knocking Mackie but, any particular reason you're taking a "Garanimals" approach to your purchases? (In other words, how did you arrive at an all Mackie setup?)

 

 

Finally, and I'm not trying to chide you here but, what is the point of starting the thread? According to your post you've either already made the purchase and are waiting for it to arrive or your mind is dead set on this exact system. Why ask for opinions now? What do you want to hear?