Open Box Mackie Onyx8 8-Channel Premium Analog Mixer with Multi-Track USB And Bluetooth Level 2 197881291266

I saw this mixer had an average of 3 stars, and since I love it, felt I needed to add my experience so those considering it can get an honest, balanced perspective. I run a successful, weekly open mic night with it, and always get compliments on my sound. I studied sound engineering at UCLA extension for 2 years as a young person, so half of that success is that I understand how to balance everything, and the other half is that I understand how to get the best of my gear, the heart of which is this mixer. It does everything it is supposed to, and does it well. It is easy to massage a great overall sound. I read through the other reviews to see what the issues are, and here's my responses: (1) no, it doesn't have compression, true -- but it does have inserts on every channel, so you can add external compression easily. I put a compression on the main outs and that works just fine. (2) I think the FX are brilliant, and are highly customizable. Moreso than any other onboard FX unit I've ever used, and the sound is gorgeous. I use the delay mostly, adjusting the time, feedback, HPF, and using the fader to get it just adding sparkle. I run an outboard reverb separately, sending the signal from Monitor 1, and then bringing that back into its own channel (usually 11). I can then EQ that reverb and easily adjust how much dry and wet signal I include. There is absolutely zero hiss, not on my unit anyhow. (3) I think the last complaint was about build quality? The knobs weren't secure and a light showed? This is the FURTHEST thing from my experience. I've never come across a better quality build than this tank. All metal, with knobs and faders exactly how you'd expect them to be. Speaking of which, the EQ section is excellent. Sweepable mids make a huge difference, and a small but powerful feature, having 100Hz HPZ toggles on every channel makes the sounds very clean. I love that I can record the Master L/R in 96kHz 24bit uncompressed .wav files. I haven't used the USB feature so I can't speak to that. Everything that I have used, it straight-forward exactly what it should be, and the best I've used. There is something to be said for analog, and I don't mean that so-subtle-it-is-barely-perceptible element of warmth to the audio, I mean that it is reliable, everytime. No glitches. But there is something to be said for digital flexibility too, like FX and recording. This hybrid mixer combines the best of both; analogue sound through and through, with the digital extras you want. I recommend 100%.

Unfortunately this is just too much for too little. Terrible FX, no compressors, no FX return, stereo channels auto hard pan and therefore if you're returning a solo effect, you have to sacrifice an EQ channel... the support guy at Mackie said no one would ever use mono effects. Hmm.

When Fx & master knob is on unity 12 o'clock position, you hear a loud hiss ground noise compared to my yamaha MG series and even my cheap harbinger mixer. I thought mackie onyx was a low noise mixer?? I don't use cheap xlr but, mogami golds only. Will return it today.

Come on Mackie you make perfect products but not this time, red bulb on the meter is loose turns on but is loose, I was expecting a 5 starts product not happy with this

I wasn't sure this mixer was going to do what I wanted given there are no reviews or in depth videos yet, but I am very pleased. The fit and finish is excellent, everything feels solid and the knobs are nice. The Bluetooth works flawlessly and is a great feature to have. For me, this mixer checks all my boxes. Plenty of extras that will be nice to have in the future, I can't really think of anything they missed. My last mixer was a Mackie 802VLZ3 and it had seen better days. Knobs were a bit crackly at times and they spun too freely. This Onyx mixer feels like a Ferrari comparatively. If anyone has questions about inputs/outputs or multi-track USB, let me know and I will update my review.

Great pre Amps and EQ. Easy to use and setup!!! Main thing is I can produce a great sound easily.