Mackie Onyx Satellite

[denmanjum]

DOES NOT PLAY WELL WITH WINDOWS!

The pres on this unit are exceptional but the drivers are unstable with Windows.
Cubase crashes every other time I use it. Guitar Rig does not work with this.
I suppose if I spend $3000 on a mac it will work fine.
I'm tired of companies saying that their systems are compatible with Windows when they are not.
I'm returning this and buying the Motu 8 pre.

[Tweak]

Thanks for the heads up.

[nanashiwanderer]

I havent heard a single good thing about this unit mac or windows. I've just heard its quite unreliable.

[xprow]

I have used the Mackie unit for awhile and have yet to have any problems with it. The pre's sound great and the software has been stable so far. I'm using Sonar

Forgot to mention *even though i said I use Sonar* - I am using Windows XP.

[trancexcore]

mine works great. i do have a imac g5 though. i use it with garageband and logic express and it works perfectly. really nice sounding pre's too.

[Sascha B]

I've heard a few people having difficulties with the Mackie but I've been using it for 3-4 months now [on a PC] and haven't had a single problem. I use a bunch of different programs, including Audition, Reaktor, FL Studio, Live, Tracktion plus a couple video editing programs and not one has had problems with the interface. I have no problems with Guitar Rig 2 either.

What exactly goes wrong with yours?

[mindabsence]

anymore goods or bads on this unit? I just had one transfered to my local music store, I'm thinking of using it to replace my Tapco Link.Firewire as my portable interface - good or bad move do you guys think?

[mindabsence]

anyone for my post above?

[nanashiwanderer]

tapco and mackie are the same company it may be safe trade. it may not but the satellite will definitely be the stepup in sound quality.

[rbsbeatz]

DOES NOT PLAY WELL WITH WINDOWS!

The pres on this unit are exceptional but the drivers are unstable with Windows.
Cubase crashes every other time I use it. Guitar Rig does not work with this.
I suppose if I spend $3000 on a mac it will work fine.
I'm tired of companies saying that their systems are compatible with Windows when they are not.
I'm returning this and buying the Motu 8 pre.

i dont have those problems with it and i run cubase alot.

i have one, and i had problems at first but they all have been resolved for me for some odd reason.

[Tweak]

Good to hear that. At its current price if the drivers are good its an exceptional value.

[brindle]

This unit has worked flawlessly for my home studio work for the last 1+ years. Recently I bought a SP B1 condenser mic. When I plugged it in, there was a high-pitched whine. I isolated the problem to be the Satellite. I called tech support and we did an exchange and everything is working again within a week.

I have seen a lot of bad press on this unit. I think there may be a lot of misinformation floating around. If you use windows there will always be a chance that your "rig" has conflicts between software/drivers and components. Thats the downside of using an open hardware platform.

This piece of equipment gets two thumbs up. I'd like to bring the "satellite" out to a gig to do some recording. Its on my to do list.

-b

[mindabsence]

Though not quite a year, I've had nothing less than stellar results using my Satellite on my PC system for over a week now. It's gotten fairly heavy usage each day, mostly playback but also a bunch of recording as well. I've made sure to play around with all of it's features at least more than once.

Installation was problem free. Firmware update also went without a hitch. I've had no conflicts or problems with it yet so hopefully it'll stay that way.

As brindle said, I think there's a lot of misinformation floating around with this unit. I read a lot of forum discussions about it prior to buying and even though it's gotten a lot of wishy-washy comments from people, I still decided to go for it and am extremely glad I did. Two onyx preamps in a feature-filled unit like this one is certainly something to drool over for the mere $280 I paid for it with taxes in.

My ONLY complaint with it is the docking connector used, I don't like knowing it has an average lifespan of 500 uses before wearing out. I think mackie could have designed this feature better. Considering I bought it solely to use on my mixing rig up in my room, it won't be leaving here anyways. The MOTU is housed nicely in the studio room downstairs.

..my two cents

[nanashiwanderer]

the tracktion bundled is a pretty killer offer for a start up system.

[strangefool]

I received my Onyx Satellite in the ail this week, and this thing is such a great value for the money it's like stealing.

Granted, I haven't been testing it for months, but so far, so good. I realy don't understand why it's reception has been so lukewarm. I guess it probably has something to do with the abundance of interfaces glutting the market right now, as well as the fact that (from what I read) it had quite a few driver issues when it was first introduced?

I am running it on an XP sp2 desktop and laptop. Runs great. Onyx preamps are worth the price alone really. No MIDI input though, but this doesn't affect me too much as I have a USB MIDI controller. Also this thing is built like a TANK. Very, very solid.

THIS THING IS A STEAL. I am pretty damned happy with it.

DISCLAIMER: I am pretty much a recording noob though, so take my opinion with a grain of salt.

[alex_k]

I've been using this unit for about half a year now and i've really had no problems with it. I use windows xp with cubase and i do quite a bit of recording with it. Guitar rig 2 and 3 works great for me. So far no problems at all.

[fishhead01035]

I'm on my second Onyx Satellite. The first one had some really flaky issues.
I contacted Mackie and tried a few possible fixes which didn't work and they sent me a new pre-tested unit direct from Mackie. It's been working well with my PC (XP Pro) and also works well with my MacBook (Tiger 10.4.11). Using Tracktion because it's cross platform.
Although, I haven't used it much with my PC lately because my studio is up in my freezing cold attic. I've been using it down in the living room with the MacBook and a sort of "skeleton" setup. But smooth sailing for about 6 months now with the second unit.
The tech people at Mackie were very courteous and quick about sending the new one.

[pocketdrummer]

I have a Mackie Onyx Satellite and I'm not really sure how I feel about it. In order to use an SM57 (someone just talking into it) you have to almost max out the gain. Pretty much pointing at the 60db mark, but not quite to the +40dB mark (one's meant for line level).

On mine, there is a very audible hiss at 44.1k and 88.2k. I talked to support, they don't know why it does it and offered to replace it.

On my speakers, the volume knob is incredibly annoying. If you turn it up 25%, you nearly blow your ears out on my computer speakers. Also, even after the driver update, it doesn't mute the speakers when you turn it all the way down. The volume jumps up twice within the first quarter turn, then barely gets much louder after that. In fact, it starts to distort the audio if you turn it up past half.

If you use it with a 5.1 system, don't expect any programs other than your sequencers to recognize the other speakers. It will just be stereo.

Can only use a 256 buffer on my system without pops and crackles.
I have a 2.2Ghz Athlon X2, 2gb ram, DFI NF4 SLI-DR motherboard (VIA firewire), seagate 7200.10 HDD, windows XP home.


EDIT: It appears that it is muting now when turned all the way down... and I didn't nothing to change it. It also gets REALLY friggin' out after 1/4 turn. But it's still ridiculously loud at 1/4 turn. Just goes to show how unpredictable this thing can be.

[Tweak]

>you have to almost max out the gain.

That is the case with most audio interfaces. Dynamics like the SM57 need a lot of gain.

>On mine, there is a very audible hiss at 44.1k and 88.2k. I talked to support, they don't know why it does it and offered to replace it.

Make sure to set it to "internal" sync. But they should have told you that. Maybe they know that those rates are not as they should be.

>volume knob is incredibly annoying. If you turn it up 25%, you nearly blow your ears out

regrettably, manufacturers do that all the time.

>Can only use a 256 buffer on my system without pops and crackles.

If you optimize your DAW you might be able to get down to 128

[pocketdrummer]

That is the case with most audio interfaces. Dynamics like the SM57 need a lot of gain.

Make sure to set it to "internal" sync. But they should have told you that. Maybe they know that those rates are not as they should be.

regrettably, manufacturers do that all the time.

If you optimize your DAW you might be able to get down to 128

For the most part, I just wanted to give everyone a reference. I'm not sure how things are on others, but I wanted to give all the information I knew about it in case it raised any red flags for anyone.

I remember that you suggested that I use the internal sync. Is that in the sequencer software somewhere? I've searched my entire computer and the manual for other settings, but the only thing I could adjust on the Onyx Satellite was the sample rate and the latency.

Are there any specific guides for optimizing your system for audio? I've already done some. For instance, I checked for IRQ issues, set the processor scheduling to background services, I've disabled any unused services, and always keep my system defragmented. Is there anything else I can do?

[allantan]

Yeah the Satellite is a very good price for the features, I have an issue and wondering if you guys know about it:

I can only use my Onyx when running Traction. Like if I just want to play MP3s on Winamp or something it doesn't work.

Error messages include:

"Windows cannot play the start.wav file. The file may be damaged or may use an unrecognized compression format. To resolve the problem, replace the file or use Add/Remove Programs in Control Panel to install Audio Compression" (Playing a wav through "Sound and Audio Devices" in Control Panel)

"The specified format is not supported or cannot be translated" (XMPlay)

"Itunes has detected a problem with your audio configuration. Audio/Video playback may not operate properly" (Upon Itunes startup)

Sites like Youtube, or playing through VLC do not give errors messages, but there is no audio output.


After some failed troubleshooting (both on my own and with Mackie via email). So in the end, while I'm not using Traction, I simply use the Satellite like a mixer. I sent my computer's 3.5 TRS and split into 2 TS, one for each interface channel. Its not pretty but it works..

And then when I actually use Traction, then I plug in the FW cable and just use it.

Anyone else with a similar experience? It's a hassle to always have to switch things around.