Mackie Onyx Blackbird Premium 16x16 FireWire Recording Interface 

Comments about Mackie Onyx Blackbird Premium 16x16 FireWire Recording Interface:

I have had it for about two years. I use Pro Tools 9 on a MAC. The unit is unstable with it. It will run fine for months and then become unable to connect. Changing the clock settings in the MAC does not help. Right now I don't know if it will boot up immediately or if it will take 6 or 7 attempts to get it to work. Mackie (Loud Technologies) are useless to deal with. AVID was of more help. I am replacing it.

Comments about Mackie Onyx Blackbird Premium 16x16 FireWire Recording Interface:

I read a lot of forums on how to daisy chain two of these together in 96k and nothing worked. This is how I did it and works perfectly. Figured I would help someone out!

The onyx blackbird is able to do 96k daisy chained together. This requires 2 optical cables and one firewire cable. The first unit acts as the master and connects to the computer through firewire. Then from the second unit you connect 2 optical cables coming from the two optical outs to the two optical ins of the 1st (master) unit. You must turn on the first unit first and sync to your computer. You need to change the sync source of the master unit (the only one connected directly to the computer through firewire) to "ADAT" instead of "Internal". You will need to change the sample rate to 96k. Once this happens the master unit power LED will start to blink. Then turn on the 2nd unit and after about 10 seconds the 2nd unit will go into standalone mode. You will then have 2 units daisy chained in 96k.

I was able to mic my whole drum set with 10 mics in 96k and sounds great!

This unit is compatible with pro tools 10. Pro tools is very picky with the sample rate with the interface so make sure they match up or it will crash.

The only downside to the unit is that there is no MIDI input/output. If needed you would have to buy a different MIDI interface.

Comments about Mackie Onyx Blackbird Premium 16x16 FireWire Recording Interface:

I have been playing guitar for over 30 years.
I teach Guitar from my Home Recording Studio.
Everything Has to Work Every Single Time.

Any down time or slow setup is $$$$ walking out
the door. I am extremely picky about my sound.

I have tried out all kinds of recording hardware.
By Far, Mackie is the Best. I also own an older Mackie 1620 Firewire Mixing Board. I love the board, but it is too darn big. Even though I am Not the origional owner, Mackie has always helped me out. my older Mackie worked with Windows XP. It worked with Windows 7. Mackie has earned my repeat businuess and reference to my clients.

I needed more desk space and needed to consolodate my cords from my amps and mics. I decided to take a chance on the Mackie Onyx Blackbird.

I was worried that I would not like it as much as my older Onyx 1620.

I am Extremely Pleased with the Onyx Blackbird. You can control the Playback with the Master Volume on the Blackbird or on the Mixer Software.
It works with or without the mixer software.

Straight from the box, I had this thing fully hooked up, drivers installed and Recording in less than 5 miniutes.

If you want the Best at any price, get a Mackie.
If 8 channels is enough, Get a Mackie Blackbird.
If you need 16 channels, get another Blackbird.
The units can be plugged into each other so that it functions as a 16 channel.

The best part, is it is only 1 Rack Space. I have more valuable desk space where I can put my USB keyboard.

The unit sounds Great with Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Bass, Electric Guitar.

I can record anything that walks into my studio.

If you are looking for the Best for the least amount of $$$$, or if $$$$ is no issue, look no further.

Get a Mackie USB or Firewire Recording Hardware.

Comments about Mackie Onyx Blackbird Premium 16x16 FireWire Recording Interface:

I'm totally satisfied with my purchase of the Mackie Blackbird. A great piece of equipment I can rely on in my basement studio and not be afraid to take to on-site recording gigs.
The Mackie Blackbird is everything it's advertised to be and more. I had it hooked up and working in a few minutes. I downloaded the manual and software prior to arrival so I was prepared, but even those who aren't won't have a hard time configuring this unit. I love the 2 super channels on the front of the unit, making it easy and quite handy for simple recording jobs. The mixer software is attractive, well layed out and simple to use. I also appreciate the ability to save the mixer settings for each and every session I desire.
Plenty of headroom on the preamps and no noise until you reach the very top levels. I haven't run into a situation where I've needed to turn them up past 7 anyway. Controls/knobs are solidly built and well marked. I can't imagine damaging the unit unless you drop it from 10 feet onto concrete. Don't do that.
I researched several diffent brands of interfaces. Though the comparisons weren't of the apples to apples kind.....I believe I got a ton of bang for my $$$. And....I have other Mackie gear that I absolutely love and have depended on for more than 10 years without problem 1. That speaks volumes to me.

Comments about Mackie Onyx Blackbird Premium 16x16 FireWire Recording Interface:

I like it; I'm going to get a lot of use out of this unit.
Good amount of I/O; I'm liking the sound so far (don't have any expensive mics).
Latency seems to be good; I haven't recorded much at 92k+, but I'm able to record 7 tracks at-a-time (drum kit) with no problem.
I kind of wish there were low cut filters on more than just the first two inputs, but I can get over that.
I'm not able to simultaneously monitor WDM audio sources (e.g. Windows Media Player) for listening to "reference" mixes; the matrix doesn't seem to be as flexible as other units in terms of WDM audio integration (my old E-MU 1212 for instance).
I've only had the unit for a few weeks, so I can't speak to it's long-term reliability or ruggedness. Based on the weight and feel of the unit, I suspect it's better than most at this price but could be tougher. No complaints, but time will tell.

The matrix mixer software does the job, but it's nothing amazing. It's a bit clunky, and doesn't leverage any keyboard shortcuts (I use my PC keyboard a lot in my DAW and other apps).
Overall, a good deal. Lots of I/O for less $ than other options.

Comments about Mackie Onyx Blackbird Premium 16x16 FireWire Recording Interface:

Best interface for its class and price. If you're on the fence with other interfaces, land on this side.
8 Pre's and 8 mo' in the back is awesome for recording a live band or simply live drum sets! I enjoy having the majority of connections in the back to conceal all the wires (opposed to the Focusrite interface(s)) I'm giving this a 9 for features for 2 reasons: 1) I was hoping the Alternative Mix was assignable - I was planning on using this for a LF feed for a subwoofer, so that would be user error.
2) I had to get a separate firewire card because my AMD motherboard firewire was not recognizing the Blackbird (according to Customer Support, its a common issue that is fixable)
It's pretty substantial but once you mount it, you dont haveta worry about it. but when unboxing it, you can notice the ruggedness of this unit.
Compaired to any interfaces with the same sample rate, i/o's WITH cost, the Makie Blackbird takes the cake. You can spend the same and get half the i/o's (and even half of the pre's).

Comments about Mackie Onyx Blackbird Premium 16x16 FireWire Recording Interface:

The drivers that are required to use this interface ARE NOT compatable with Mac OSX Lion. Got this a few days ago, and haven't been able to use it. I dug through Mackie's forums, and it seems like the only workaround is to install Snow Leopard on a separate partition, and then record in Snow Leopard. OSX Lion has been out for about 6 Months, you'd think Mackie could've updated their drivers by now. If this doesn't get fixed soon, I can't say I'll recommend buying any product from Mackie.

Comments about Mackie Onyx Blackbird Premium 16x16 FireWire Recording Interface:

i puchased this interface online through musicians friend. it arrived quickly. i always have a good experience with musicians friend. you have to download the driver/mixer software from mackie as well as the tracktion 3 software. no big deal there. gave it a trial run and it works great. i had to read a few minutes and fiddle a few more to work with it. not long at all. i am building a moster PC to use with this interface. right now i have a pentium4 1.8 gig/windowsXP/380 meg of DDR ram/ and a cheap add in pci firewire card. it works great with this set up so far. this is the minimun set up they recommend too. no problems so far. i use reaper recording software and it recognised the mackie no problem. so did Ntrack studio. i can stream/record all eight mikes and play back multiple tracks with no problem with my minimun PC set up. over all i am pleased with the mackie. the case is built pretty good too. i wouldnt drop it to the floor or anything like that but it is built pretty well. i give it 5 stars.