Stupid Shit I Get In The Mail...
From the original Analog Industries archive. Some links and images from that era no longer resolve.
And it came to me, for some odd reason. (The word I’m searching for is “natch.”) I’ve never owned/purchased/wanted a Mackie product, yet I get this just now:
Every day, millions of unfortunate souls are subjected to the devastating effects of bad sound. But here at Mackie, we’ve decided to do something about it. This year, we’re proudly sponsoring the Coalition to End Bad Sound. And we’re giving you the tools you need to end bad sound in your own neighborhood.
It goes on to talk about rebates or some other blather. I could think of many ways to “end bad sound,” (assuming my definition and Mackie’s are the same) but buying Mackie loudspeakers is really fucking low on that list. Seriously.
14 comments
so, who are they bragging about being better than...
Phonic, Rolls, Nady, & Samson?
In my incredibly humble opinion, Mackie is considerably better than Behringer.
For what that's worth.
-CR
In my incredibly humble opinion, Mackie is the same fucking shit as Behringer!
Although I've never owned _anything_ Behringer and I hate to confess that I once owned a 1202 for two weeks! which was THE worst purchase of my life and gave me more than 1202 reasons to diss the fuck out of _anything_ Mackie...
- BMU
...And I heard such behaviour is called 'generalization'. Other people are not even close to being able to buy Behringer... (well actually this is untrue, I recently sold Behringer stuff because I'd rather be without it... it actually really sucked)
I had the displeasure of playing a show a few weeks ago where the live sound board and monitors were all Behringer. I'm assuming they purchased it because it was cheap and the guy didn't know what he was doing (which I and about 4 other bands found out when we played).
Let's just say it was the worst live sound I've ever had.
Let's just put it this way: if your shit is _actually_ good, you don't have to put the word "Pro" on it. So, the safe rule of thumb: if it says "pro," it isn't.
I've had to do FOH where I show up to an FOH rack full of Behringer comp/gates, FX, and whatever that ridiculous feedback thing the make is, a Peavy console and stacks, and boxes of Nady microphones. Let's just say that, while it is unpleasant for the bands, it is much more unpleasant for the FOH engineer.
I want to add at this point that I got off on this whole Mackie-hating tangent not because of their Campaign To End Bad Sound, ads for which I've been seeing in Mix for months, but rather their Onyx series ad campaign. For some reason, those ads just offend me, especially the bit about the "outperforms 'tweaky' boutique mic pres costing four times as much" and all that. I mean, come on. If you're going to compare your SMP Chinese-made pres to hand-wired American Class A mic pres, you should at least have the honesty to say "our shit doesn't cost as much, but it'll get you in the ball park," rather than this "outperforms" bullshit.
People that own studios are (a) lemmings, and (b) _always_ looking for a good deal. If the Onyx pres _actually_ outperformed "tweaky" boutique pres, believe me when I say we'd all know about it. So shut the fuck up, already.
-CR
mackie has always been shameless in their claims.
when the vlz series came out they did a mic pre shootout with engineers supposedly picking mackie over V76's, etc.
i think the campaign was withdrawn after much public derision.
personally, I like mackie 450s for live sound. they are loud, they sound good in a wide variety of rooms, and they are easy to carry and set up. thats just me, though.
Mackie SR1530s are pretty good self-powered fullrange speakers ...
if they show up in one piece. they kind of wrap them in butcher paper and then use an endloader to push them into the container. well that was when they were italian-made. now that they're made in china they have a bucket-brigade of guys in coolie hats tossing them into the container. i had to send mine back when i got them ... one of them didn't even work and the tweeter was fried in the other one. they also looked as if my description of their shipping technique was not hyperbole but conservatively-stated fact.
RCF in italy still make that speaker, and they pack it correctly now that they're back on their own. i've been told the return rating on them is very good.
i actually use them as the far-fields in my studio. (stop laughing Randall ... if you mix or master dance music then working with it on a PA is not really a bad idea: it will hopefully wind up on a PA.) my Tannoy coaxial speakers are great but are now relagated to my home theatre for watching my A-Team and Kolchak DVDs on. they still get used as nearfields when my PA is elsewhere. Grados are for critical listening. like anyone cares what i reference on.
Can't go wrong with Grado headphones, I'll agree with you there. For recording, they're virtually useless (open air and all) but for mixing, they're an excellent reference source, especially if you want to tell whether, e.g., the kick drum pedal is squeeking and stuff like that, which Grado headphones really pick up.
Grado products are the best bang-for-the-buck of any audiophile gear, hands down. The SR-80 model can be had for like $65 here and there. Granted, they aren't the most comfortable things in the world. They look like old ear test lab headphones.
I concur about doing a reference pass on a big system, no matter what kind of music you do. When I worked at the Metro in Chicago, I'd take everything I mastered down there and listen on the big X-Array. Nice system in that room.
-CR
I've recently gotten into the habbit of iPod referencing, where I actually go through the bitch fo encoding to AAC, dumping it on my iPod, and seeing how everything sounds through those crap-ass stock white earbuds. I do this not only to make myslef feel bad about my mixing skills, but also to see how it might sound to a hypothetical projected 100 million people. Seems like time better spent to me these days than running it through some cheap Aiwa or Sony boombox, as was my former protocol.
Anyone have a mackie or berhinger they're willing to torch or violently destroy in the name of a new photo/video thread? Just curious. It might be exquisitely satisfying.
Mike
I dont own and have not used Mackie mixers or speakers, but the MCU is a great thing.
sad to say I have a berhinger, I maybe willing to torch it on video, but only if CRandall asks me real pretty like. :)
weird tangent: there's a reggae track out there where the toaster says: "I'm fat like Neve, you thin like Mackie." Anybody know it? I want to say Big Youth, but not sure.
I think the small Mackie mixers are pretty useful. They travel well and seem to hold up, and they don't f- up the sound too much.
I like the Behringer measurement mic. I've got a pair, and I use them with a home-made Jecklin disc (two thrift shop LP's glued together and covered in velvet). For $40 a crack, they catch a lot of sound.
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