seanwoods, post: 297759 wrote: Hi , I'm currently look at buying a Soundcraft 2400 it seems to be well looked after but i need advice on whether i'm throwing my money away. The desk is £2.000 or a Mackie D8B with all the gear @ £2.500
can anyone help please...

Sean

Well I'm sorry but I know nothing of the Soundcraft line period.

But I do know Mackie and Mackie d8b's.

I do know one thing for damn sure as well, 2,500 lbs Sterling or $4,057.87 US dollars is DAMN high for that board even if it is loaded.

If by "All The Gear" with the d8b then I assume All Mackie available add ons, MFX cards needed for effects but at least cheap.

Then of course the UFX cards that are not cheap, you need several of, I think the d8b holds 4 cards total, so maybe just 1 MFX and 3 UFX cards.

Then of course the cost of all the plug ins available for and needed for the UFX cards used in the d8b.

ADDITIONALLY, sorry for what appears to be yelling but this is the most important card on any good functioning d8b.

Does this d8b you are pondering have the optional Apogee Clock Card or the stock d8b card?

If not the Apogee it will be the 1st thing you need to buy, WORLDS of difference and no clocking issues at least.

Then you may and a few others may like plugins and with the UFX card one can buy Acuma, Antares, Drawmer and Oh my a plug in from the King of Eq's, Massenburg.

All are very pricey, to pricey and although as stated above some like Plugin's, they all seem to like "Good Plugin's".

The consensus is the above plug ins for the UFX and the d8b AND including the plug in from the Great Massenburg,

SUCK, and I agree, not even on par with cheap Freeware Plugs, that won't work on a d8b.

Then damn this dollar to the Lb. is nuts, $4,057.87 US dollars?.

Here in the US, I guess useless to you the same damn loaded Mackie d8b would maybe fetch $1,800, $2,000 tops US.

Hell if shipping as an option to get you a Perfect Mackie d8b I'd sell you mine for $1,600.00, NO UFX CARDS OR PLUGS.

Being worthless and the cost of the needed multiple UFX cards and the cost of the Plugs FAR exceed the cost of a d8b.

2 further things that are important, very important.

1st keep from excessively moving any d8b and never think doing Live Gigging with it. The Ribbon Cables and the Frame will give you nightmares.

2nd USE THE FOLLOWING LINK to the many men responsible for allowing ANYBODY to be able to use a damn Mackie d8b.

[[url=http://[/URL]="http://forums.macki…"]Mackie Forums Home: Digital 8 Bus[/]="http://forums.macki…"]Mackie Forums Home: Digital 8 Bus[/]

It's a forum, yes, it's a forum that says Mackie, but they don't know squat about their d8b, it's the guys on that forum that not only know the d8b but had to rewrite the damn Mackie Manual and figure out 100's of work around's and fix's to have a good functioning d8b, NOT MACKIE.

So I hope all of the above helps, buying mixers are a pain, buying a mixer thats affordable but worthy, damn near impossible.

I have 7 mixers YET I am still looking for the "Holy Grail" BUT for far less than the $150,000 required at this point.

Good Luck, regards, ,,deda,,

I have a Soundcraft 1600 and I love it. Good usable pre's and a surprisingly good EQ section. You can't get that detailed with them but for musical shaping the are great and IMO a lot more natural sounding then any plug in. If you already have good conversion, the 2400 is great for summing and even mixing OTB. Having a console like that I think is a huge plus when tracking full bands live for the routing and que'ing options. Br prepared for maintenance though. But the nice thing is, they are modular in design and very easy to work on. I would say, and nothing against mackie's, but get the 2400 hands down!!!

I'd snatch the Soundcraft 2400 in a heartbeat...but, like Brandon said, be prepared for some maintenance. Regardless of how pristinely that desk was treated, it's over 25 years old. Someone was bound to have spilled a beer or 2 into the fader pan!