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Author Topic: Refurbishing a Mackie?  (Read 8375 times)

Wayne Smith2

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Refurbishing a Mackie?
« on: December 04, 2016, 02:26:55 PM »

I have a good old Mackie 24-8 bus mixer which I'd like to have cleaned up'.
It's basically providing everything I need of it as an audio monitoring platform in my home studio, but as typical with these.. have the sometimes intermittent poor internal connection noises and troubles.
I'm wondering if there might be a good tech that could bring the thing back up to solid clean operation. Hopefully this would need to be in the central / north Cal region. I would rather drive a hundred or more miles (from Sacramento) than shipping it out.

I'm well aware of the 'ribbon connector issues -and I've already been through the replacement' runaround quite a wile ago. So rather than just another 'reseating etc, I'd like to inquire about having them fixed permanently -perhaps the contacts can be improved, heck I wouldn't care if they were soldered on!
So, this is basically a last ditch call. Sonically, feature wise, it does all that's needed, and it would appear -but I haven't done a whole lot of looking into alternatives.. the alt' would be a few $K for a new digi board.
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Kemper Watson

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Re: Refurbishing a Mackie?
« Reply #1 on: December 04, 2016, 11:25:43 PM »



. the alt' would be a few $K for a new digi board.




But worth the price of admission. The Mackie was an average console new
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Derek Neu

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Re: Refurbishing a Mackie?
« Reply #2 on: December 05, 2016, 01:59:53 AM »

Definitely look into newer digital boards.  You would be amazed at the quality and features available in affordable digital boards.  I still mix sometimes on analogs, but when I do I sure miss my soundcraft performer.  If you really like your mackie and get good results from it, A refurb might be worth it.  If it gets into the 1000.00 range, I would definitely look at alternatives.  Even if you don't want to go digital, there are some really nice analog boards on the market due to everyone upgrading to digital consoles.
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Tim Weaver

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Re: Refurbishing a Mackie?
« Reply #3 on: December 05, 2016, 02:18:04 PM »

If you can live with 16 channels the Behringer XR18 or X18 are pretty much unbeatable in my opinion. They are 500-600 bucks and are tiny compared to what you've been using. Plus they are packed with features.

You can take the 24 channel console, it's case, and the 16 spaces of outboard gear and cabling to make it all work, plus the snake to get it to FOH and replace it ALL with a 3 rack space box that you can drop on the floor by the drummer.
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Stephen Kirby

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Re: Refurbishing a Mackie?
« Reply #4 on: December 05, 2016, 02:30:57 PM »

If it's just for monitoring in a recording studio you can get an old Allen & Heath or Soundcraft analog board that sounds much better for a fraction of a new digital board.  And for monitoring multiple outs from a DAW, you don't need all the power of a digital board.  The only modern thing would be if you were using it for mixdown and wanted moving faders and DAW control.  There aren't really many low cost options with more than 8 faders.

Mackie was an early adopter of SMT.  I think they were the first installation of the Philips 16 head FCT placement machine back when they built their own stuff.  So the old standby of trying to reheat and reflow all the solderjoints would only make things worse.  For various reasons including metallurgical I could elaborate on if folks are interested.  So, do the clean and reseat all the connectors thing and if it meets your needs, use it.  Otherwise there are better places to put your money.
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Wayne Smith2

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Re: Refurbishing a Mackie?
« Reply #5 on: December 06, 2016, 12:04:39 PM »

Well I'm to the point of seeing what you're all saying sums it up pretty well. Thank you all for the advice. I did speak to a tech and nixed the repair route. Other than replacing the ribbons -again!, there is soldering them on LOL, but then the labor would be absurd.. and not much dif than the money for a decent new board.
Wayne2 grins ..the other one'
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Chrysander 'C.R.' Young

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Re: Refurbishing a Mackie?
« Reply #6 on: December 06, 2016, 02:09:54 PM »

Wayne,

Good on you for coming here for advice first.  I second the notion of a good digital board.  I have and use the XR18, but lots of options can be found for under $2k that would suit your needs.

As for the old Mackie, let me share a story.

A local venue I used to help with was interested in possibly renting an analog mixer for a show and needed about 20 channels plus a CD input.  I called my buddy who runs a sound co and he said he had a 32-8 I could use gratis.  The only condition was that I had to leave a $100 deposit, which would not be refunded if I returned the board to his shop.  :)
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Wayne Smith2

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Re: Refurbishing a Mackie?
« Reply #7 on: December 06, 2016, 02:43:15 PM »

Yeah -well it gets worse. :>) I also have an Onyx 24-4 bus 'live mixer, in a road case, purchased right before the digi transition.
I'll likely be selling that one for ..IDK, what 10 cents on the dollar?

(I considered swapping that one in place of the 8-bus, but it simply doesn't have record session' feature sets.
« Last Edit: December 06, 2016, 02:47:03 PM by Wayne Smith2 »
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Stephen Kirby

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Re: Refurbishing a Mackie?
« Reply #8 on: December 06, 2016, 05:17:34 PM »

Wayne, can you clarify your use case?  Is this monitoring a multi-channel interface in a project studio?  Or are you looking for something to use for live sound reinforcement?

Most folks here have jumped to the SR conclusion and are recommending their favorite digital mixers.  If you are looking for live sound, then I agree.  For any budget over $1500, a current digital board is the way to go.  But if it's going to passively sit there and sum Sonar or PT channels together for monitoring, then the advantages of a modern digital board would be wasted and you should go for the best sound quality you can find.  A buddy of mine uses an old Gamble SR desk for this purpose (as well as the mic pres for channels where he doesn't have a fancy outboard pre).  That thing is huge but he has the space for it and it never moves.  Plus it impresses recording clients.
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Wayne Smith2

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Re: Refurbishing a Mackie?
« Reply #9 on: December 06, 2016, 05:44:08 PM »

Wayne, can you clarify your use case?  Is this monitoring a multi-channel interface in a project studio?  Or are you looking for something to use for live sound reinforcement?

Most folks here have jumped to the SR conclusion and are recommending their favorite digital mixers.  If you are looking for live sound, then I agree.  For any budget over $1500, a current digital board is the way to go.  But if it's going to passively sit there and sum Sonar or PT channels together for monitoring, then the advantages of a modern digital board would be wasted and you should go for the best sound quality you can find.  A buddy of mine uses an old Gamble SR desk for this purpose (as well as the mic pres for channels where he doesn't have a fancy outboard pre).  That thing is huge but he has the space for it and it never moves.  Plus it impresses recording clients.
I used to do multi-track recording -direct outs, and mixing on the board. Now for the most part it's main function is doing is monitor (splits) off outboard pres, and phones mixes.
I could get by with a number of 'low ball or not solutions. But that doesn't mean I wouldn't always want to have a nice -and versatile mixer.
And to add, given my experience of 30 years of 'low end analog mixers.. and especially with how everyone seems to like the current digi solutions, I'm not inclined to go there again.
« Last Edit: December 06, 2016, 05:50:21 PM by Wayne Smith2 »
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ProSoundWeb Community

Re: Refurbishing a Mackie?
« Reply #9 on: December 06, 2016, 05:44:08 PM »


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