MACKIE ONYX 1220i REVIEW
Posted on Mon 16 May 2011 in entries
Yes, it’s Mackie again! My blogs have gone a little Mackie crazy recently, but it’s for good reason… there are just so many awesome Mackie products that are begging to be reviewed! And I will let you in with a little secret…I’m planning on creating a fair few more Mackie product reviews over the coming weeks as I want to take a detailed look at the fantastic Onyx range of mixers, starting with the 1220i…
MACKIE ONYX 1220i – INTRODUCTION
The Mackie Onyx 1220i is a 12-channel mixer that is designed to sit unobtrusively on your studio desk, whilst providing your work with stunning, professional performance! Like all mixers in the Onyx range, the 1220i features premium analogue features, such as boutique-quality mic pres, smooth 60mm channel faders, and the tried and tested Perkins EQ. What’s extremely impressive about the Onyx range is that despite essentially being an analogue mixing desk, you can connect it up to your computer with a single Firewire connection, to simultaneously deliver all 12 channels, all auxes and the master stereo signal straight to your DAW of choice without having to do any additional routing – it's all done through one cable! If you want an analogue mixing desk and don’t feel particularly confident at hooking one into your current set-up, then an Onyx mixer should definitely be on your shopping list! Plus, it saves you money on loads of additional cables! I should probably also mention that you can even return a couple of channels from your DAW back into a channel strip on the Mackie Onyx 1220i for mix integration! You’re honestly not going to find a simpler analogue mixing desk solution…
MACKIE ONYX 1220i – YOUR DAW WILL LOVE IT!
Mackie state that their Onyx interfaces are more DAW friendly than ever, and they aren’t lying! If you are running ANY major DAW, then you can be sure that you won’t have any problems incorporating the Onyx 1220i (or any other Onyx mixer for that matter). One little word of warning though… if you are planning on using the Mackie Onyx 1220i with Pro Tools M-Powered 8, you will need to purchase the Mackie Universal Driver Upgrade for \$49.99 from the Mackie website.
MACKIE ONYX 1220i – PURE FIREWIRE
It is the 24-bit/96kHz Firewire capabilities of the Mackie Onyx 1220i that sets it apart from other analogue mixers on the current market. If you every purchase, or get the chance to use an Onyx-i Series mixer, you will be blown away with the powerful routing capabilities on offer…
For starters, every channel on the mixer can be routed pre (before) or post (after) EQ to the computer. Plus, all aux sends are routable to your connected computer, meaning you can use your computer as a powerful FX engine by implementing your plug-ins in a live scenario. On top of this, the Master L/R channels are routable to your computer, allowing you to record your analogue mix, or burn and sell CDs of the mix at the end of the gig! You can even get a stereo return from the computer, which can be routed to either the control room (for instant monitoring), or to a stereo channel for mix integration. Plus, it is easy to perform latency-free overdubs as you are using a completely analogue mixer with no digital signal paths!
MACKIE ONYX 1220i – MAXIMUM ANALOGUE!
If you have ever used a true analogue mixer before, the chances are you had a whole load of fun! For live performance situations, they are pretty much essential… and in my opinion they are superior to digital controllers for studio recording sessions. Plus, they are more exciting to play around with and they also sound brilliant!
The Mackie Onyx 1220i features a number of analogue features, all squeezed into a unit that won’t require a massive custom-built desk to set-up in your studio, or a transit van to take with you to live gigs... from the boutique quality preamps (which sound excellent by the way) to the analogue Perkins EQ... you won't be disappointed with what the Onyx 1220i has to offer!
MACKIE ONYX 1220i – CONNECTIONS
Let’s start at the back first, where the Mackie Onyx 1220i offers a power cable connection (next to the unit’s On/Off switch), two Firewire 400 connections, two main XLR outputs (L and R), two 1/4" jack Aux send connections, four 1/4" jack Channel Inserts, and four mono 1/4" jack Aux Return connections (giving you two stereo pairs of Aux Returns).
And on the main surface of the Mackie Onyx 1220i??? Yup, there’s LOADS more! The first four channel strips have four microphone XLR connections with four 1/4" jack input connections (the first 2 of which also feature a Hi-Z switch for connecting an electric guitar). The last four channel strips each feature two 1/4" jack line inputs, which correspond to inputs 5-12. Finally, the Mackie Onyx features two 1/4" jack Control Room outputs, two 1/4" jack Main outputs, two 1/4" jack Alt outputs, stereo RCA tape inputs and outputs, and a 1/4" jack headphone connection.
MACKIE ONYX 1220i – CONTROLS
The main surface of the Mackie Onyx 1220i provides you with 9 faders (although remember that it is actually a 12 channel mixer!) The first fader controls channel 1, the second controls channel 2, the third controls channel 3, the fourth controls channel four, the fifth controls stereo channels 5 and 6, the sixth controls channels 7 and 8, the seventh controls channels 9 and 10, the eighth controls channels 11 and 12 and the final fader controls the main mix. Now that was a tedious sentence to write! Did anyone actually have the patience to read it all the way through?
Each of the first eight fader strips (used to control channels 1-12) also features dedicated Mute and Solo buttons, a pan dial, 2 Aux send knobs (with pre/post fader options across all channels, allowing for additional monitor/headphone mixes, or effect loops), 3-band EQ (the first four fader strips feature a sweepable Mid control), a pre/post EQ toggle (for when you send your channel signals to your computer via Firewire) and a dedicated Gain control. Plus, the first four channels also include individual low-cut buttons and a button to route phantom power to each mic input.
Finally, there are controls for Control Room and Headphone levels, Aux send and return knobs, individual 12-segment LED displays for the left and right channel and a few more physical controls, such as buttons to assign the Control Room and Headphones source and a talkback button next to a built-in microphone, with a level dial and destination select buttons (Phones and Aux 1-2). This means that if you are using the Mackie Onyx 1220i in a studio mixing room/control room situation, then you have all the controls you need to create professional routings!
MACKIE ONYX 1220i – THE BUILD
Like a lot of Mackie products, the Onyx 1220i is built to stand the test of time (it’s casing is almost armour-like) and its ergonomic design tilts it’s controls towards the user at a handy angle! If you are that way inclined (no pun intended), there is also a rack mounting kit available for the Mackie Onyx 1220i, but I have personally never understood this… I like my mixer to sit on a desk, not facing me in a rack!
MACKIE ONYX 1220i – SUMMARY
I have a sneaky suspicion that the Mackie Onyx-i series are going to take off in a massive way. I was certainly considering purchasing one a few weeks ago… although in the end I went for another Mackie product, the Control Universal Pro. My reasons? Well, I already owned a C4 extender unit (which has now been discontinued), and so it seemed to make sense to connect it with the Control Universal Pro (which it was built to work with). Plus, I really wanted a mixer that allowed me to control more than 16 channels. Am I regretting my decision… no, as the Mackie Control Universal Pro works really well with my Logic based set-up. Would my decision have been different if an Onyx-i 24 channel mixer had been available? Quite possibly. To tell you the truth, I still look at the Onyx 1640i, and think to myself ‘that would look amazing on my studio desk at home!’ In all honesty I would still love to own a true analogue mixer, as whenever I’ve used one in the past, it has just seemed to make my whole workflow seem a lot more natural. Plus, I have often found that the restraints of an analogue mixing desk are often a blessing in disguise. How tempting is it to load up a digital EQ and watch the spectral analyser as you sweep along to reduce that offending frequency spike. That sounds better doesn’t it? But does it actually sound better? Or is your brain tricking you because the visuals are indicating that you have fixed the problem? With analogue mixing, you don’t get this. Yes, you don’t get a visual display to indicate the frequency content of a sound, but this forces you to use your ears and search for what sounds ‘right’. I have no doubt that using your ears in this way can only be a good thing… after all, it is unlikely that your listeners will be buying your songs so that they can analyse its frequency patterns and admire the beautiful spectrum that you have created… they will be using their ears… and so that is what you should be using as well! Although if all else fails, you can still always load up a digital EQ or analyser within your DAW, and utilise the power of both the analogue and digital realms! I think the phrase here may well be, ‘the best of both worlds’… and they are a fair bit cheaper than building a Mackie Universal digital set-up!
Ah, I’m making myself want one again now, so I had better sum up quickly before I do something stupid and get my credit card out… you don’t need one Joe, get a grip! So, the Mackie 1220i is well laid out, easy to use, has a fantastic build, is a nice portable/desk size, it’s analogue circuitry makes it latency free and it features pure quality preamps and A/D convertors for a truly exceptional sound. The best thing about it? It’s got to be its simple Firewire connectivity which allows you to perform your mixdowns in true analogue fashion - brilliant! The worst thing? Can I say that I would prefer it to have more channels? Because if that isn’t a valid answer then I can’t really think of what to write! I have a feeling that some people will look at this product and say that it is expensive, as you can get 12 channel mixers for half the price, but I have to disagree with this argument. Yes, you can get cheaper 12-channel mixers, but do they feature the Firewire connectivity? And I bet they don’t employ the same quality as the Onyx 1220i! Basically, with the Mackie Onyx 1220i, you really do get what you pay for, and in my opinion, it is well worth the extra money compared to a seemingly cheaper, similar product. Whether you are running a Mac or a PC, if you have a spare Firewire 400 connection, and you are looking at purchasing a mixer for either live performance or multitrack recording/mixing, then you quite simply have to consider a Mackie Onyx-i series mixer…