Mackie 32x8x2 mixing console update

MAckie 32x8x2 mixing console update

Ok, I got the Mackie sr 328b 32x8x2 mixing console and it was huge; I was in awe of the sheer size of the mixing console, all those knobs!!! wow, but why did I get this board? Well, I have a 14 ch mackie 1402 provlz board and it was to record my albums, 127 so far (you can hear samples at my website http://wwww.dtguitar.com).

So this board has 32 ch's and more importantly 8 busses. What I was not expecting was the amount of cables needed to rewire my home studio to incorporate this board. I mean it's unreal really. It took at least 15 new cables and ultimately about 40 cables overall. Secondly, I assumed I knew how to hook this board up and use it. I thought it was like my 14ch mixer4. totally wrong!! It took me three days of hair pulling frustration to get it wired right and that is just to one of my digital recorders. Just figuring out which jacks to plug in my speakers/monitors was a challenge, do I use the min studio outs? The control room outs? The aux outs? How do I avoid running into problems with the digital outs of my PC? more on this later...

Ok, so, like all used big consoles, upon first hooking it up you get crackly potentiometers,knobs, eq switches turned on or patched incorrectly,etc...I got burned on big mixing consoles before such as a wheatstone tv/radio board where the cables to hook it up cost more than the board, it used amp connectors which are obsolete and hard has hell to find and expensive as can be, I had another board and it was no good ,too noisy, so at first I was losing patience with this used mackie board. however, I have used mackies in the past and they are great sounding boards. Finally, after some trial and error and reading manuals, I did get the board hooked up and the kinks worked out. I had to make my way passed the spaghetti of wires to actually get to my guitar and try my first guitar. I was using the inserts of the busses to go to my recorder..Ok, RECORD!! ..upon playback I got this crappy sound, worse than my 14ch mixer, sound muddy and just lousy. Ok rewire the board and try again, this time I used the tape sends/returns to go to my recorder (conveniently located on the back of the board.NOT!!).well hidden...ok RECORD!! This time the recording was clean and sounded amazing!!! I didnt get any extra noise from the board I could hear, the digital inputs of my recorder took care of the digital drum samples, the mackie handled the mic's and line level analog stuff.

Ok, the recording was clean and heavy; guitars sounded like miked guitars through the 32 ch mackie mic pre's,plenty of headroom and the eq is amazing, like a blanket was removed from the microphones. Very nice!!! Also, the mic pre's and the eq ch sound more defined than the mic pre's and eq on my 14 ch board (almost like the 14 ch board was a similar to the 8 buss which sounded like the real deal).Also, for a digital recording , to my ears, the board sounds almost "vintage", that is the be the word to describe the sound, vintage as in warm sounding. I could easily hear more depth and warmth in my digital recording compared to my 14ch mixer to digital recorder which sounds much more modern ,no warmth at all, and themic pre's on the 14ch are the vlz pro mic preamps I felt they lacked detail compared to the 32x8 mackie mic pre's.

To explain the mike pre's, the mckie 32x8x2 mic pre's have depth and detail, when you mike a sound cabinet, it sounds like a miked cabinet, on the 14 ch mackie, you get the guitar sound but you dont get as much depth and you can't really tell its a cabinet being miked. Overall, my recordings sound much more like a band recording with the mackie 32x8x2. Just the real deal in my recordings where as the 14ch sounded good but not as much depth.Also the 32x8x2 has 100mm long throw faders and they are nice compared to the 60mm faders on the mackie 14 ch board which are crappy. SO, its a great sounding board, and granted there are better sounding boards (up to $250,000 hah or more), but for a home studio, this board is a really great.Its analog but plenty clean for digital.

The 14ch mackie gave me some good recordings and sounds more modern in a way, but the mackie 32x8x2 does give you a warmer "big" studio sound I have found.The trade off, is the 14ch has simplicity when recording that is great compared to the 8 buss 32ch mackie. I mean it can be really complicate to setup, but after its setup and then recording is easy. I guess its getting there which was tough.Now I know how to record with the 8 buss mixer so that it makes it as simple as the 14ch mixer. What I discovered is how I was used to having my gear setup a certain way in the studio ,even guitar cabinets, moving them caused chaos for a few hours trying to get the sound I am used too.

I will post some recordings of the mackie 32x8x2 on some tracks I did with it. I was tempted to sell the board as I was getting frustrated with it and figured why make the recording process more complicated. But, now that its setup and I understand it ,I think I may keep this board.The sound quality and ease of use should be the determining factor and so far, compared side by side, my new recordings with the mackie 32x8x2 are simply better sounding than my previous recordings.

I also learned some important lessons,one, you have to patient with new gear, especially one as complicated as this board, secondly, to improve musically,you have to be "brave" enough to take the risk of changing things. This is a tough one mentally,as when one is used to having things sound a certain way and it sounds god, then why mess with it.I felt this way, but now I am thrilled I took a chance and worked with it. So we will see.

My friend PSB , who is a great musician with good ears and a studio of his own, will come to check out the board and the recordings I made with it. I wonder what he will say about the old vs the new board and the sound quality. Wow talk about growing pains, incorporating this board was really difficult to do. I was so used to doing my thing with the 14ch mixer.I guess its called change, and to change the way you record your music is really a tough thing to do, it was a mini crisis in a way for me. Thoughts of "oh no, why did I change anything I was getting a great sound,now its ruined" or "now, I get a worse sound than I had",etc.. But, I think I made a good choice in working with the bigger board and the sound is better. So anyone out there who is comfortable with the way they record, it pays to take a chance and force yourself to try to keep improving your recordings!! Happy thanksgiving by the way!!