Mackie Onyx 1620 & Firewire Card

Onyx 1620 16-Channel Mixer 630144
The premium, small format, analog Mackie Onyx 1620 16-Channel Mixer features all-new circuitry. Included are 8 boutique-class Onyx mic preamps with 4-band Perkins EQ plus sweepable mids on mic/line channels, four aux sends with pre/post switches, four stereo line-level inputs, and a built-in talkback section for use with internal or external mic. True hardware EQ bypass and "Planet-Earth" switching power supply allow for worldwide use. Other features include individual 48V phantom power switches on all mic inputs. 60mm logarithmic taper faders for smooth, linear fades. Balanced direct outs for every channel via DB-25 connections. Selectable instrument inputs on the first two channels means no DI boxes are needed.

Onyx mic preamps
Because a great music mixer starts with great mic preamps, Mackie invested significant R&D efforts into developing our new flagship Onyx mic preamps. These preamps build upon their already-impressive XDR design to meet or surpass expensive esoteric standalone mic pres in terms of fidelity, headroom and transparency”as well as improved radio frequency (RFI) rejection and wider dynamic range.

Perkins eq circuitry
When it was time for the Onyx EQ section, Mackie turned to veteran audio engineer Cal Perkins to develop their new Perkins EQ circuitry”a "neo classic" 3- and 4-band design based on classic "British EQ" circuitry from mixing desks of the '60s and '70s. Cal devised a way to give Perkins EQ that sweet "British console" sound, but with greater filter control and minimum phase shift

Listening to our customers
Mackie rounded out the Onyx 1220 feature set by answering some common requests from our compact mixer customers: adding individual 48v phantom power and balanced direct outputs on every channel; a full Auxiliary section with Pre/Post control; and a new Talkback section with a convenient built-in mic. They even developed a "Planet Earth" switching power supply for worldwide use.

Onyx 24/96kHz Firewire I/O Card

The included Onyx FireWire Card is a true first. This user-installable 24-bit/96kHz card transforms the Onyx 1220, 1620 and 1640 audio mixers into fantastic-sounding digital audio interfaces capable of sending up to 18 channels of audio to your Mac or PC ” without the need for additional converter boxes or hardware. Thanks to the use of flagship Onyx mic preamps, superior analog circuitry, and class-leading A/D converters, Mackie Onyx mixers with FireWire rival the sound quality of dedicated audio interfaces costing many times more. Not to mention the simplicity of plugging in up to 16 microphones and sending them directly from the mixer to your computer... and monitoring a stereo mix back through the mixer.

Up to 18 channels w/ adjustable sample rate
The included Onyx FireWire Card allows you to stream up to 18 channels of 24-bit digital audio to your Mac (OSX 10.3.5 or greater) or PC (Win XP). These show up in your audio software as 16 individual audio inputs, plus a stereo L/R mix. You can also send two channels of audio back from the computer to the mixer for monitoring purposes.
Audio coming back from the computer is conveniently monitored through the Control Room Source matrix, where it is routed to the Phones, Control Room, or Main Mix outputs. Additionally, you can select the sample rate for the analog-to-digital converters in either the Onyx Control Panel (on the PC) or directly from your audio software (on the Mac ” no control panel needed). Sample rate options include 44.1 kHz, 48 kHz, 88.2 kHz, and 96 kHz at 24 bits.

A hub of activity
The Onyx FireWire card features two 6-pin FireWire connectors that each supply all 16 channels plus the L/R mix. Having dual connectors allows you to place the Onyx sound mixer anywhere within a chain of FireWire-equipped devices. You can even daisy-chain two 16-channel Onyx mixers via FireWire and send a whopping 32 mic signals right to your laptop. (PC only; Mac support for mixer chaining coming soon.) This makes for a very high-quality live recording rig that conveniently fits in the back seat of your car.
ADJUSTABLE MAIN MIX TRIM

The Onyx FireWire card has a small rotary knob that provides boost and cut for the L/R mix signal being sent to your computer. Since the L/R mix signal is tapped prior to the Main Mix fader, this rotary knob gives you control over the signal level going to your audio software application without affecting your main mix level ” a very convenient feature for live recording.

Everything you need to get recording
The CD-ROM included with the Onyx FireWire card contains all the necessary drivers for PC, plus a software Control Panel. On a Mac, just plug in the FireWire cable and Onyx mixers will immediately show up as a 14x2 or 18x2 Core Audio device. (How's that for plug-and-play!)