Mackie Onyx 24.4
by Jamie Rio
Everybody needs a mid-format, midsized board. Well, maybe not everybody. My grandmother doesn't need this size of a mixer, but you know what I mean. If you supply sound reinforcement for some of the millions of school, city, church, club, park, small fair and carnival shows that happen every year in this country, then you need a midsize board. For myself, the aforementioned events make up more than half of all my shows every year. When you think about it, this niche of the market makes up the majority of events that happen in the USA on a yearly basis. There are probably a thousand times more schools, churches and parks than arenas. Now, it almost goes without saying that you do not want to drag out your large format mixer for one of these smaller events. Especially if you are working as a one-man operation.
O.K., have I made a case for the mid-size console? Good! Now let's get on to the Mackie Onyx 24.4.
The Gear
This is an analog 24-channel (also available in a 32-channel model) 4-buss board with buckets of cool features. The only thing it has in common with the previous Mackie mixers is the name "Mackie." In fact, they could have just put up the Onyx logo, left off Mackie and created a whole new console company.
In other words, this board is a total departure from their previous models. The most notable new features are the 4-band Perkins EQ, the new Onyx preamps and the 100mm faders. The new EQ is very musical and fun to use, and when you crank a knob, you really hear and feel the sweetness of this new circuitry. The preamps are smooth, pleasant to the ear and clean as a whistle. I own two Mackie mixers that have been real workhorses for various situations over the years. However, if I have one complaint, it would be that the preamps are brittle and harsh. That description is definitely a thing of the past with this new board.
Each of the 20-mono-channel strips starts with a -20dB pad button, a 100Hz low frequency roll off/high pass filter button and gain knob. Also, each mono channel gets its own phantom power button with a light; this feature is so very cool and unusual in a board of this size. Next, we have the Cal Perkins 4- band EQ. Sporting a fixed high knob at 12Khz, a fixed low knob at 80Hz and sweepable low and high mids, Cal built upon the old classic Wein Bridge circuitry used in British boards of the '60s and '70s. Let's just say it's really good. We can engage the EQ via an on/off button. Six aux sends are on the board, grouped in colored pairs. The pre/post, AFL and mute buttons are over in the master section of the aux sends. The pan knob sits in back, right above the 100mm Panasonic fader, separated by a large mute button with a red LED. Next to the fader you have 4 LED signal strength lights, buss assign 1-2 button, buss assign 3-4 button and a main mix button. The channel strip is finished off with a large PFL button and a green LED.
The master section gives you a 6 x 2 matrix mixer, which opens up additional outputs for PMs and a variety of monitoring scenarios. There is an on-board assignable stereo compressor/limiter. The routing for the compressor changes depending on how you use it. On a subgroup it is pre-fader, but if you assign it the mains it routes post fader for overall system limiting. (Now if we could turn it on as a system limiter without anyone knowing it was on, it would be real handy for those band engineers who seem intent on blowing your mains…)To the left of the 100mm main mix fader sit four 100mm buss faders with signal strength lights, mute and AFL buttons. There are solo level knobs, talk back buttons, stereo returns and routing buttons. I am glossing over these features because I need to get into the live performance of this mixer. That is the real point of this review anyway.
The Gigs
I took the Onyx to a two-day church festival/ carnival event. The roster included two blues bands, the typical deluge of local and school dance, acting and talent acts and our own fearless leader, Bill Evans, fronting Reverend Bill and the Soul Believers.
The first group up was the school jazz band. I put a mic on the drummer's kick, ran the bass direct and area miked the brass sections. I bussed the area mics and hoped for the best. If you have done this type of miking, you know that the main challenge is getting maximum gain without feedback. This is where that Perkins EQ really shined. If you can hear the problem, you can affect it positively and very musically with this EQ. All in all, the Mackie and I made the jazz band sound great. However, I did not have a talent filter in my rack, so the clinkers and clams sounded just as perfect as the sweet notes. Next up was the local hip-hop dance troupe. Once again, I area miked the floor to get the stomps and slaps and ran tracks for the music.
It wasn't until blues singer Marcy Levy brought up her group that I had a real chance at a mix. The EQ worked very well on the drums and bass. I got lots of punch and thump out of the kick and a nice clean crack out of the snare. I easily peeled the flab out of the bass bottom and added a nice punchy presence. The best parts of this band were Marcy's vocals, and the Onyx preamps allowed her voice to come through smooth as glass and crystal clear.
Reverend Bill's nine-piece group was up next. They used 17 mono inputs and one stereo. I bussed the vocals to 1 and 2 and sent the horns to 3 and 4. I also assigned the compressor to the horns and was surprised with the results. I originally looked at the on-board compressor as more of a gimmick than a real tool, but it sounds great and is extremely simple to use. It smoothed out and contained the brass without sounding artificial.
The Mackie Onyx performed equally as well the following day. This is truly a leap forward for Mackie and a great tool for any midsize gig. The bottom line is that if you are looking for this size of a board, you just found it.
Face Audio 1200TS Power Amplifier
By Mark Amundson
Face Audio has begun offering a line of newly designed power amplifiers, and is promising to offer the best customer service of any amplifier maker. Of the four lines of amplifiers they make, I was asked to review Face Audio's popular TS (Titanium Series) line and the flagship 1200 model. The Titanium Series are conventional power supply (transformer based) audio power amplifiers with class H amplification and two rack spaces in height.
The front panel of the 1200TS is basic, with its center power switch and two-channel attenuator controls. Flanking each control are five LEDs for Active, Signal (two levels), Clip and Fault indications. Two beefy metal handles and a top air filter inlet plate complete this amplifier.
On the rear panel, the black metal panel has two screened fans on the outside with all the controls and connection in between. A standard IEC inlet and two fuse holders make up the power supply section next to pairs of Neutrik NL4 connectors and binding posts for speaker connections. For signal inputs, the 1200TS has both XLR female and TRS jacks. Completing the rear panel are three switches for chassis ground lift, stereo/parallel/ bridge mode selection, and on/off limiters selection.
With its toriodal power transformer design, the Face Audio 1200TS weighs in at 49 pounds and 17 inches deep when including the rear rack ears. Popping the cover off the 1200TS was partially like a time warp, because the sturdy construction had circuit boards populated with leaded through-hole components, and not the typical surface-mount components most manufacturers use. But this construction allows for better component cooling, and once they add in the modern wind tunnel heatsinking and a beefy toriodal transformer, this amplifier lands squarely in the modern era.
Checkout Time
The Face Audio 1200TS audio power amplifier looked mild and meek on the outside, but once powered up and operating it delivered very nice performance to my ears. Operating in both sub-woofer duty and on top-box speakers, the 1200TS handled the tasks nicely, providing the push of 60Hz transformer-based amplifiers with the clarity of conventional analog amplifier stages.
Out on the gigs, the 1200TS slipped into various roles with ease. The only item needing adjustment is the 39dB of full up gain that needed backing off 7dB, for my 32dB system gains on my other amplifiers. I could not find any niggles to speak of, but some users will not find the 1200TS a good fit due to its weight, especially with the new switcher supply amplifiers entering the market. The Face Audio 1200TS is a professional amplifier for a wide variety of customers.
