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[Nathan DePaulo]

Do I hear an amen my brothers.
I can run my APB with a bad channel, I can replace a failed power supply in less than 5 minutes, it won't fit inside someones jacket, and if I drop it chances are nothing will be wrong when I pick it up again.
I carry two DSPs AND a crossover. Why would I put all of my faith in a single Ipad. Is there a belief they never fail?? I see DJ apps written all over this and that would be fine as long as it doesn't shit the bed at my daughters wedding.

I think you're overlooking the ubiquitous nature of the ipad.  Obviously Mackie isn't trying to penetrate the touring audio market with the product, but if we're talking about bar gigs... well, if you drop your ipad you can always run to 24 hr walmart and get another one.  Can't do that with any other component in a digital mixer.  I wouldn't even have to go that far, I've got 3 friends I could call that would be up, and maybe even already at my gig.

I'm not saying it's perfect, I just think it's not that critical an issue since it's easily replaceable. I take more issue with the knobs for preamps, instead of re-callable preamps. I think a better take on this product would be a rack mountable device with a built in wireless router.  You never need to physically connect your ipad/pc etc...

[Brad Weber]

I think you're overlooking the ubiquitous nature of the ipad.  Obviously Mackie isn't trying to penetrate the touring audio market with the product, but if we're talking about bar gigs... well, if you drop your ipad you can always run to 24 hr walmart and get another one.  Can't do that with any other component in a digital mixer.  I wouldn't even have to go that far, I've got 3 friends I could call that would be up, and maybe even already at my gig.

Let's see, run to the WalMart and get the iPad, configure the iPad, load the related apps, probably lose any presets, etc.  I don't really see that being less of a show stopper than a power supply failing and you still also have a mixer power supply that could fail.  I just don't see reliability being a positive unless you actually have a second backup, preconfigured iPad ready to go.  In addition, for people using the mixer for their own personal use it doesn't matter but there could be potential issues with using someone's personal iPad for a company's work, so for venues, sound companies, etc. these mixers would likely mean purchasing at least one dedicated iPad per mixer.

I definitely see these mixers having a place.  I also see it quickly getting to where you have people that talk about all their mixing experience and are totally at a loss when presented with a MixWiz or similar.

[Bob Leonard]

Provider: "Here's the board. It's a very simple APB Pro House. 20 channels, 4 bus, 6 aux sends, L/R/C output, high pass on every channel, 4 band EQ. Any questions?

BE: "Where do I plug in my Ipad, and what's L/R/C output?"

Provider: "You don't plug it in, you search the web with it for the APB manual and a good book on basic mix technique."

BE: "What if the battery dies."

Provider: "Call your friends and see if they'll lend you their's."

[Steve Hurt]

Provider: "Here's the board. It's a very simple APB Pro House. 20 channels, 4 bus, 6 aux sends, L/R/C output, high pass on every channel, 4 band EQ. Any questions?

BE: "Where do I plug in my Ipad, and what's L/R/C output?"

Provider: "You don't plug it in, you search the web with it for the APB manual and a good book on basic mix technique."

BE: "What if the battery dies."

Provider: "Call your friends and see if they'll lend you their's."

The charger is built in, no dead Ipad batteries.
Works with up to 10 Ipads (take a 2nd one if you mix wirelessly)

It is most definitely not an APB replacement.
(But if they put FOH behind the stage, the Mackie might allow for a better mix)

Depends on what you need.  There are places this thing will fit nicely in.
(However, I doubt that Bob works that type of show!)

[g'bye, Dick Rees]

The charger is built in, no dead Ipad batteries.
Works with up to 10 Ipads (take a 2nd one if you mix wirelessly)

It is most definitely not an APB replacement.
(But if they put FOH behind the stage, the Mackie might allow for a better mix)

Depends on what you need.  There are places this thing will fit nicely in.
(However, I doubt that Bob works that type of show!)

I can see this thing coming in handy when you have to go in and do a special event on an installed system of limited capability/access at a church, school or small "corpy" gig where you set it up @ the house mixer, then go out and run the little "show" from out front without having to haul in more than a briefcase.  As such, I'd classify this as a "wrench" rather than a "tool kit".......

[Steve Hurt]

I can see this thing coming in handy when you have to go in and do a special event on an installed system of limited capability/access at a church, school or small "corpy" gig where you set it up @ the house mixer, then go out and run the little "show" from out front without having to haul in more than a briefcase.  As such, I'd classify this as a "wrench" rather than a "tool kit".......

Some days you need this


Other days, this does just fine!

[Rob Gow]

I mix remotely all the time, via iPad, with my StudioLive 24.4.2 and I love it. I love the freedom to move around, checking the mix, and mixing from different parts of the room.

but

Every now and then you get a challenging band, some wonky instrument prone to feeding back (banjo through a guitar amp, lol wut) and during those times, it's nice to be at the desk.

Out of the last 6 bands I mixed, 5 I did roaming from the iPad, but there was one out of the 6 that I spent the whole set at the desk, just to be on top of things. So I like that the iPad is a tool, and a useful one, but when push comes to shove, it's nice to be at a desk with faders and knobs, and quick access to things, in the heat of battle.

The challenging band:

6 members

4 vox
2 guitars
1 accordion/washboard (which surprisingly wasn't hard too  keep a handle on)
1 banjo through an electric guitar amp (yeah all kinds of feedback, but from HIM feeding back through his guitar amp)
bass
drums

But the gig went without a hitch, the recording sounds great, except for the banjo, but I'm thinking a little judicious cutting and pasting will clean it up...


My next purchase, is going to be a StudioLive 16.0.2 for smaller gigs. I did an open mic, and to have the 24.4.2 there for 2 mics and 2 guitars seemed like a bit of overkill. The nice thing is that I can use my rack mounted Mac Mini & router with both mixers, for remote mixing and recording with both mixers.

[Randall Hyde]

Mackie sure made a bold decision with this one. It's unfortunate though that they didn't just go ahead and put the UI on the console itself and then integrate the iPad as a wireless remote unit. If the Mackie hardware in this mixer is going to list for ~$1,000, they could have added a screen and touch interface for another $500, and they would have killed Yamaha (they probably still will).

Lot of software to write to accomplish that. With the iPad, they get a lot of that software written for them (iOS, the iOS UI, and the iOS SDK). It's not "just add a touch screen and go." There's a lot of software support behind that.

Surely the iPad is just the interface , right? I mean it doesn't actually use the iPad for signal processing does it?

Yes, the iPad is just the interface. Also, you can store mixes, etc., on the iPad (I don't believe preamp gain settings are recallable, this is an issue). You can also play tracks from GarageBand or iTunes through the 1608 and record a stereo pair to the iPad.

The reliability of the network connection is what scare me most in this set up. If you lose the network connection from the iPad to the console, then you are hosed (until you plug it back into the mixer?).

True anytime you're doing wireless (Mackie 1608 or anyone else). Yes, plug it into the mixer and you're good to go. Of course, I'd recommend having two iPads with one permanently attached to the 1608 (using the locking block they have) and wandering around with the other one.

I'm sure there are going to be alot of ankle bitter club rats out there that are going to learn the hard way that tablets aren't always the best tool for every job.

Yeah, but they generally don't do *every* job, so maybe they'll get by

Seriously, I don't really like virtual mixing (using a mouse or touch screen), but I can get by on it. I suspect that if someone cuts their teeth on something like the 1608, they'll think it's perfectly natural.

Though I hate virtual mixing environments (no physical faders), I certainly see where this rig would be useful when you're a journeyman and you walk up to a venue, plug in a few cables, and go. The thing almost fits in a briefcase. For some gigs, that convenience might win out.

Now for something really sick, I can hardly wait until someone reverse-engineers the wireless protocols and lets you hook up a Mackie MCU+XT to this thing (of course, Mackie won't publish that information, just try and get the MCU and XT protocols from them -- sheesh!)
Cheers,
Randy Hyde

[Jonathan Goodall]

Forget that, I answered my own question.

[Jim Rutherford]

One issue not brought up yet is wifii jamming.  Some one flips on a jammer, there goes your wireless mixer.  Not to even think about the possibility of it causing the system to lose total control and say go into uncontrolled feedback.

[ProSoundWeb Community]