Well, if putting up the cash for the mackie is no big deal then i would say do it.......the preamps in the mackie are alot better then the firepod. It would improve your quality a decent amount as long as you are using decent mic's

xX5thQuarterXx wrote: Well, if putting up the cash for the mackie is no big deal then i would say do it.......the preamps in the mackie are alot better then the firepod. It would improve your quality a decent amount as long as you are using decent mic's

the mackie has preamps and the firepod has preamps. Will this present a problem? Thanks!

Nope, What ever Pre's the mic is entering first are the ones used...they just kinda bypass any after that i believe!

Not really the case.

If you come out of the Mackie pres into the Presonus preamp inputs, I believe you will in fact be cascading pres.

As for the Mackies being better than the presonus....that's quite subjective and I feel otherwise.

My thoughts would be...sell the Firepod and take that money and the money that you would have spent on the Mackie mixer and buy a Mackie Onyx. It has a great preamp section and a firewire output.

In answer to your question - no, having a mixer will not make your mixes sound better. In fact, the VLZ series of mixers has very little headroom and you will definitely notice it. (The Onyx line is not plagued with this as much as the VLZ series).

Also, the VLZ doesn't have direct outputs on all channels just on channels 1-8. It has insert outputs on the rest of the outputs, but that's it.

From what I have read, using the Firewire card with the Onyx boards bypasses the Perkins EQ's. Any reason this is done? I would think you would definitely want the ability to use the EQs (or at the very least an option to switch between pre and post EQ)..

Some people like to go to disk with a clean signal which they can manipulate after the fact. That being said, someone here has mentioned that Front End Audio offers a mod for the Onyx boards.

The idea is rather simple behind Mackie's decision (and I think it's a great concept.)

The idea is that the Onyx board can be used as both a livesound board and a recording board at once.

The firewire merely passes the signal pre-fader/pre-eq/pre-effects so that you get the signal unaffected by any changes made while mixing the live show.

By all accounts, this is preferred!

I like the "Perkins" Eq, but for recording, there are about 5 digital (plug-in) EQs that I prefer MUCH more. (The UAD Pultec Pro is, IMO the finest EQ for anywhere under $1K and it's only $79 as long as you have the card already...)

Thanks!

carpcake, or is that Mr. Gefilta Fish? I think I already answered your question in another thread.

Cucco just said the same thing I said. Plugging a microphone preamp into a microphone preamp is so gay. He

OK, this thing with the Mackie Onyx series mixers that feature the "Perkins" equalization and the FireWire output of..... Much has already been discussed about the fact that when tracking on these particular FireWire mixers, the equalization is bypassed! Some folks have been upset with that and I have read numerous articles in the trade publications about modifications being done so that one can utilize the Mr. Perkins' equalization while tracking. Mackie has allowed this to be done, without voiding the warranty, when performed by an authorized dealer. Personally, I like to have some equalization on hand while tracking but not everybody does. Some people just don't have the balls to do that.

Ballsy Broad
Ms. Remy Ann David