pdherring Posted April 24, 2012 Share Posted April 24, 2012 Ok guys so I am in need of a new 24 channel desk (possibly the 32 channel variant) I have been looking at the mackie onyx 24.4 for a few months now and just as I was about to order I have noticed that nobody seems to have any stocks of it and as its around 5 years old now I am assuming mackie are about to replace it. I am a massive mackie fan and own pretty much the entire SRM range of speakers. So anyway mackie asside what would you spend your money on? Somewhere in the range of £1000-2000 is my budget and pretty much all my work is live theatre work so hopefully that will give you guys some clues as to what I need. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J Pearce Posted April 24, 2012 Share Posted April 24, 2012 I have an Allen and Heath Zed428 at work, and at £1000 for a 24ch 4 bus (plus mono and stereo) desk its really good. Nice quality sound to it, decent build quality, not much to fault. The crosstalk isn't amazing, but is definitely a step up from the cheaper makes. The outputs are significantly quieter than the outputs on our Mackie CFX12. They also make a 32ch model, which isn't much more; I went for the 24 as a 32 would be a very tight squeeze on our tech gantry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tolley1466 Posted April 24, 2012 Share Posted April 24, 2012 You could get a decent ex-hire (serviced too) Allen & Heath, Soundcraft etc for 1k - 2k. Maybe even a Midas Venice 32. Okay, the annoying feature is the 60mm faders however, the EQ is actually pretty tasty! The new Venice f has lots of new features but slightly out or budget. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pdherring Posted April 25, 2012 Author Share Posted April 25, 2012 Good ideas guys! Not sure the zed series has quite as many features as the quivalent onyx. But still a nice desk for the money. I like the idea of the Midas. Years ago I had for a short while the behringer copy the xl3200. Sound wasn't great but the desk was fantastically designed. Main problem was the classic behringer build quality and I ended up with 3 in 6 months so after that asked for a refund. I love the new Venice and actually now I have realised it has a full FireWire output on it it's not actually too far out of my price range (I was looking at some FireWire interfaces to use with the new desk too) As for second hand. Where would you recommend looking other than the obvious eBay. Thanks everyone much appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mkfs9 Posted April 25, 2012 Share Posted April 25, 2012 Sounds like you need a AH GL2400 great desk with loads of features. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobbsy Posted April 25, 2012 Share Posted April 25, 2012 Although I don't mind the SRM range of speakers (particularly the older ones) I seriously dislike Mackie mixers. I find their preamps "brittle" sounding and the EQ section fairly useless in a live sound situation. I just had to help somebody with an Onyx desk that had a serious problem with EM interference--a problem that seems to come around all too often with Mackie desks. I'd concur with the previous advice to put your money into whichever Allen and Heath or Soundcraft desk suits your needs and budget. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Alcock Posted April 25, 2012 Share Posted April 25, 2012 I keep seeing exceptional deals on medium sized A&H desks on eBay. Something like a ML3000 32/26 channels can be got within your budget, and that's flightcased too. If that's too bulky, GL2800 or 2200 are frequently seen in the s/h market. You'd have enough cash left for the firewire interface you mention. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pdherring Posted April 25, 2012 Author Share Posted April 25, 2012 Thanks guys I really do appreciate all your help I think the GL2400 is going to probably be the best for me right now. I suppose one last question based on my original. Does anyone know if mackie are discontinuing the onyx .4 series of desks? Thanks again in advance blue room always has the best advice going ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyMitchell Posted April 25, 2012 Share Posted April 25, 2012 I feel there will be quite a lot of bargains to be had in the way of s/h medium sized analog desks over the next six months, as the new A&H GLD80 will tempt many of those hanging on in there with analog, to take the plunge & go digi... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OllieDuff Posted May 5, 2012 Share Posted May 5, 2012 I feel there will be quite a lot of bargains to be had in the way of s/h medium sized analog desks over the next six months, as the new A&H GLD80 will tempt many of those hanging on in there with analog, to take the plunge & go digi... I'm currently overhauling the sound system at my home venue and I've been looking at the GLD80 with a 24/12 box to replace our aged-but-indestructible GL3300 - has anyone had a chance to mess about with one? If so any pitfalls I should be worried about? Given we have an entirely functional mixer, I want to be damned sure we put in a good replacement - we're only looking at digital because a digital desk saves £Ks in outboard and install multicores. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
durian Posted May 5, 2012 Share Posted May 5, 2012 Thanks guys I really do appreciate all your help How nice :) to see a thread the same as mine.... 'help me choose a mixer' I ended up changing my mind several times after my replies to the same question this week. Good luck in your search, hope it blows you out of the water whatever you get. I'm getting a big old yamaha thing :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.