Mackie Onyx 1620 Digital FireWire Mixer...

[newParadigm]

I was looking into simplifying the Audio box that i do recording for my churhces monthly meetings, and found the Mackie FireWire mixers.

As our church will be paying for all the Upgrades to the system, and I store* all the equipment at my home (we don't actually have our own building, we rent meeting rooms at a HolidayInn), I am weighing these options:

Building a SFF PC (proly a S939 XPC) or getting a Lappy (15" PowerBook 1.5ghz, SuperDrive).

The Problem is, I'm having trouble deciding if I want more portabilty via a Lappy* (and the proven stability of a Mac), or if I want to go with a More Powerful SFF PC.

The PowerBook has native support for this Mixer (via FireWire), and also, imho, they tend to be more geared towards multimedia applications.

The Shuttle XPC solution delivers less portability, but delivers more power, more HDD Space, and has a Digital Audio Interface (s/pdif I/O)


~new



* By store i mean have available to use. I am leaning more towards the Mac, b/c i already have 2 PC desktops, one a S939 system, but i don't have a lappy. I want a lappy, but not if its a big sacrafice of functionality for the recording system.

 

[halfadder]

If you have the money, go for the PowerBook and Logic Express!

It's really up to you. The PowerBook would be way more than powerful enough for your needs. If you want some variety, then go for the PowerBook and give it a spin. Apple products have really high resale value, so if you don't like it you can always get most of your money back via eBay.

BTW: Don't buy a PowerBook just yet. It is rumored that Apple is going to give the PowerBooks a speed boost in about a month. (And perhaps a PowerBook G5 towards the end of the year).

 

[newParadigm]

Thats good to know thatnks for the info halfadder

 

[tr1kstanc3]

Is there a specific reason you are going with the onyx? The onyx with the firewire card costs close to $1200.

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/1620/

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/OnyxFWCard

How many mic inputs do you need? If you are recording via the powerbook you might want to look at a different interface.

 

[newParadigm]

We need at least 14 mic/instrumental inputs, probably closer to the full 16 of the Onyx 1640.

If you can find me a better solution, I'm def open to suggestions, thats why I ask questions here. I just like Macki, we've had a godd experience with their equipment, but I do always like to try something new.


~new

 

[tr1kstanc3]

what program are you using to record? with 14 inputs the Onyx is a good choice. wasn't sure if you were going to do everything through a soft console but nothing beats hardware knobs.