Mackie 1608

[Pestie]

Hello Everyone

Has any body had any experience with the Mackie D1608 lightweight digital mixer? I have recently had heart surgery and really need to go lightweight and this has been suggested. I have concerns about it being Ipad based especially as I live and mainly play in the country often in a field. My concern is that if there is no efficient wifi signal, the Ipad won't work, therefore the mixer won't work. I don't know if this is true or it is just my concern.

Has anybody got the answer please?

Thanks

Mike (Pestie)

[Thunderbird]

Mike take a peek at the new Behringer mixers there is a lot of love for them and some very good reviews http://www.thomann.de/gb/behringer_pa_mixers.html

But Cant help you with your original question lol

[Pestie]

Thanks Paul. I hope all is good over in Northant's

Mike

[Dropzone]

I think you can wire the pad if necessary. Plus if you want to go wifi you need to plug in a router so it is local wifi not proper wifi (if that makes sense)

[Truckstop]

Take your own router with you to gigs!

[mrtcat]

Can thoroughly recommend the behringer X air / XR stuff. We use an XR 18 and it's genius. Has it's own wifi router built in so doesn't rely on you having an additional external router and it just sounds great. All the guys can control their own monitor mixes using their phones or ipads.

We used it a few weeks back to record a gig and it was so simple. We just plugged in a laptop running reaper, hit record at the start and spent no more than 10mins per track remixing at home afterwards. With less than 1 hour's work we have 5 demo tracks and no studio cost. Best £500 we ever spent as a band.

[url="https://soundcloud.com/sugargroove-137791/signed-sealed-delivered-live"]https://soundcloud.c...-delivered-live[/url]

[url="https://soundcloud.com/sugargroove-137791/i-saw-her-standing-there-live"]https://soundcloud.c...ding-there-live[/url]

https://soundcloud.com/sugargroove-137791/9-5-live

Edited January 6, 2016 by mrtcat

[Geddys nose]

I keep my iPad fixed to the Mixer most of the time and it works great, does not need a Wifi connection, I'd recommend a Apple Airport router for the roaming wifi bit and it connects instantly as a local connector.

If you buy the Case and mixer from Thomann there's a space under the mixer for the airport router.

[Lee-Man]

I have one. Its awesome. So good to have all that functionality in a small box. I use an Airport Extreme and have never had any issue with the wifi. There are newer models on the market, but there are some great deals to be had on the Mackie.

[Lee-Man]

BTW you have to supply a wifi router which you connect via cat 5 to the DL1608. Personally I thought this was a pretty good solution as I could use a far better wifi router an place it where I needed it.

[BigRedX]

Surely you shouldn't need a router as the mixer base and the iPad ought to make their own one-to-one network? In which case using it somewhere where there isn't "conventional" WiFi will actually be better since they won't be competing with everyone else's devices for channel bandwidth.

[LewisK1975]

The Mackie doesn't have an internal wifi router so unless you add one, you can only control the mixer by docking your ipad.

[Pestie]

Thank you all, this is really helpful and helps with my concerns around wifi reliability.

thanks

Mike

[Blink]

I have used the 1608 for over a year and I can't fault it. I use a standard small router which I have on longish cables so it can be mounted on a speaker pole to give good coverage on stage and in the hall.

No one has mentioned he My Fader app which can be down loaded onto an iPhone. I usually have someone in the audience who can fine tweak any balance issues (Drums and guitars getting louder during the gig). Also the band can have individual monitor mixes which they control.

The Thomann case is, to the best of my knowledge, the only bespoke case for the 1608. highly recommended.

B

[Lee-Man]

The 'My Fader' app is great. I use it so everyone can have their own discreet IEM mix and control it. Works a treat.

[the boy]

This all sounds very hi tech. I need to get up to date on all this gadgetry.

[BigRedX]

[quote name='LewisK1975' timestamp='1452081097' post='2946137']
The Mackie doesn't have an internal wifi router so unless you add one, you can only control the mixer by docking your ipad.
[/quote]

If that really is the case then IMO that is one of the most stupid design flaws I've ever come across.

To get the best out of the device you are either dependant on whatever WiFi network exists at the venue (a really dumb idea) or you need to add your own router which kind of defeats the simplicity and elegance of the unit and adds another unnecessary level of complexity to your setup.

[Geddys nose]

The 1608 and the Line 6 M20D (Far better than the 1608 but the Line 6 breaks down when you look at it!) and the Presonus all came out around 2011-2012 and non had built in wifi, Seems a bit stupid now but thats progress I guess.

[Lee-Man]

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1452096473' post='2946365']
If that really is the case then IMO that is one of the most stupid design flaws I've ever come across.

To get the best out of the device you are either dependant on whatever WiFi network exists at the venue (a really dumb idea) or you need to add your own router which kind of defeats the simplicity and elegance of the unit and adds another unnecessary level of complexity to your setup.
[/quote]

In reality it works really well. Using a venues Wi-Fi network to run a PA wouldn't be ideal IMHO. In this scenario you're not bound by the manufacturers Wi-Fi router card (which could be of unknown provenance). This can be upgraded as and when needed. As the post above suggests it also means you can place a router exactly where you need it to minimise any interference issues etc. Its one of the reasons I went with the DL1608 over a B[font="helvetica, arial, sans-serif"][color="#282828"]ehringer unit. The ability to control the unit while the iPad is docked is also useful incase the [/color][/font]Wi-Fi does drop out. It also has physical gain trim pots, which also provided some level of safety net if it went wrong. The other thing about the DL1608 is the cost; there are some great deals to be had on the older 30 Pin dock connector version.

I've used the Behringer X stuff and its great. One of the bands I work with is upgrading to an X32 Rack. It should be fun when it arrives.But, I'm a bit smitten with the Mackie to have gas to upgrade mine.

[Lee-Man]

Incidentally I wasn't keen on the Presonus, its a great little unit. But, if your running without an engineer I found it a little clunky.

[Blink]

Mackie do a conversion kit to change the 30 pin dock to the Lightning dock. Not sure how much but all you need is a screwdriver.

B

[gelfin]

You could also consider the Soundcraft Ui 16

http://www.soundcraft.com/products/ui16

[tauzero]

I think the Mackie is still Apple only whereas the more enlightened manufacturers cater for both iOS and Android.

[LewisK1975]

[quote name='Blink' timestamp='1452174484' post='2947262']
Mackie do a conversion kit to change the 30 pin dock to the Lightning dock. Not sure how much but all you need is a screwdriver.

B
[/quote]

£36 from thomann..

http://www.thomann.de/gb/mackie_dl_lightning_dock_service_kit.htm

[mrtcat]

[quote name='gelfin' timestamp='1452175370' post='2947273']
You could also consider the Soundcraft Ui 16

[url="http://www.soundcraft.com/products/ui16"]http://www.soundcraf...m/products/ui16[/url]
[/quote]

I looked at one at the time as the price is good but it only has 12 inputs and 4 aux sends. The behringer XR18 has 16 mic inputs, 2 line inputs and 6 aux sends. What sold it (and what convinces me we made the right choice) is that essentially it has the same brain and wifi as the X32 and that's been a huge hit with engineers.

[chriswilliams666]

My band uses the 1608 with the Apple router and has been flawless for a lot of gigs. The iPad is generally used I front of house while the guitarist mixes the band and plays at the same time. Then we all use our individual phones to do our individual monitor mixes. It saves settings too so you can recall next time you're at the same venue. Also has a recording function!