Mackie Big Knob

by **lofi1990** on Wed Dec 14, 2005 1:30 pm

whoa! i can't believe this thing has been out for so long and i never took a good look at what it can do! i always thought it was just an overpriced volume control knob... but it has so many features that i am DROOLING over this thing now...

any other products out there that are similar?

by **MASSIVE Mastering** on Wed Dec 14, 2005 2:51 pm

PreSonus Central Station. Makes the BigKnob look (and sound) SmallTime.

by **lofi1990** on Wed Dec 14, 2005 3:06 pm

MASSIVE Mastering wrote:PreSonus Central Station. Makes the BigKnob look (and sound) SmallTime.

what do you mean by "sound" small time...?

could you be a little more specific? thanks.

by **MASSIVE Mastering** on Thu Dec 15, 2005 12:52 am

All passive signal chain - Less "junk" in the way.

And [darn] decent D-A converters... That was quite a surprise (as I didn't even know it had built-in converters before I had mine).

I don't have one anymore, but definitely a 9.6 on the "bang-for-the-buck" scale.

by **lofi1990** on Thu Dec 15, 2005 9:53 am

MASSIVE Mastering wrote:All passive signal chain - Less "junk" in the way.

And [darn] decent D-A converters... That was quite a surprise (as I didn't even know it had built-in converters before I had mine).

I don't have one anymore, but definitely a 9.6 on the "bang-for-the-buck" scale.

why did you get rid of it?

by **MASSIVE Mastering** on Thu Dec 15, 2005 12:11 pm

I needed a slightly different feature set, so I grabbed a Crane Song Avocet. My apprentice bought my Central Station from me and still uses it with his home rig.

Which reminds me - I recently found the manual for the CS... I have to give it to him.

by **lofi1990** on Thu Dec 15, 2005 1:09 pm

MASSIVE Mastering wrote:I needed a slightly different feature set, so I grabbed a Crane Song Avocet. My apprentice bought my Central Station from me and still uses it with his home rig.

Which reminds me - I recently found the manual for the CS... I have to give it to him.

i see... seems like quite the upgrade!

by **lofi1990** on Thu Dec 15, 2005 2:25 pm

also... one other thing... can you monitor more than one source at a time with the big knob? i would like to use one for monitoring and splitting the signal to a spectrum analyzer... is that possible with this device?

by **MASSIVE Mastering** on Thu Dec 15, 2005 3:09 pm

Don't know about the BK... The CS does have "A or B plus C" switching - Allowing you to use either of two outputs (A or B) along with a third (C). VERY handy if you use a common sub (or need a send for a spectrum analyzer - Sidenote: People still use spectrum analyzers?!?).

I believe simultaneous monitoring (two sources at once) is not possible on either unit.

by **lofi1990** on Fri Dec 16, 2005 2:37 pm

i was just doing a little more reading up on the bigknob and it says that it has a feature where you can monitor with or without a sub, and few other monitoring options, which seem as if it would be possible to send an output to an analyzer... and yes, i still like to have an analyzer under my video monitor at all times, call me crazy, but i like it!

by **MASSIVE Mastering** on Fri Dec 16, 2005 5:13 pm

Well, it certainly doesn't suck. The only other "warning" I'd mention that I hear from users is the desk mess - The CS's connections are basically in the rear of the unit and most people use the remote. The BK has all of those connections sitting on top of your desk. You move the unit a little, you move all those cables (and loosen some of them occasionally no doubt).

Otherwise, it's not a bad unit from what I understand. A little less transparent than the CS (but I'm all about transparency).

by **Ashermusic** on Fri Dec 16, 2005 7:39 pm

After checking out both the Big Knob ( too colored for me) and the eentral Station (I was unimpressed with the build quality) I ended up with the little known Furman SRM-80a Signal Router/Monitor. A lot of bang for the buck.

by **Blue Bear Sound** on Fri Dec 16, 2005 7:45 pm

Build-quality aside - the CS is very transparent and the on-board D/A converter is excellent... almost on par with my Lucid!

by **lofi1990** on Mon Dec 19, 2005 9:39 am

Ashermusic wrote:After checking out both the Big Knob ( too colored for me) and the eentral Station (I was unimpressed with the build quality) I ended up with the little known Furman SRM-80a Signal Router/Monitor. A lot of bang for the buck.

you're telling me that the big knob colors the sound too much?

by **Tweak** on Mon Dec 19, 2005 11:00 am

Hmmm. By using s/pdif one could free up an analog pair of outs and get a better d\a converter.

2 digital inputs via S/PDIF or TOSLINK providing D/A conversion up to 24Bit/192kHz.

http://www.zzounds.com/a--3745/item--PRSCENTRAL

by **MASSIVE Mastering** on Mon Dec 19, 2005 11:36 am

lofi1990 wrote:you're telling me that the big knob colors the sound too much?

The BK doesn't really color the sound more than the master section of most inexpensive consoles. But ANY sort of color in the chain on the way to the monitors is best to be avoided if at all possible.

by **Ashermusic** on Mon Dec 19, 2005 12:10 pm

lofi1990 wrote:
Ashermusic wrote:After checking out both the Big Knob ( too colored for me) and the eentral Station (I was unimpressed with the build quality) I ended up with the little known Furman SRM-80a Signal Router/Monitor. A lot of bang for the buck.

you're telling me that the big knob colors the sound too much?

IMHO, yes. John Scrip stated it well in the post before me.

by **Ashermusic** on Mon Dec 19, 2005 12:15 pm

Blue Bear Sound wrote:Build-quality aside - the CS is very transparent and the on-board D/A converter is excellent... almost on par with my Lucid!

True. The Furman doesn't have D/A but I didn't need it to as I have been happy with my Layla's D/A. akthough now I am getting a Lavry Black.

But Bruce, I take it that you agree with me that the CS build quality is a little iffy?

Mackie Big Knob

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