NAD: Refurbished Mackie Reach

martingitdave · #1 07-03-2017, 11:26 AM

The refurbished Mackie Reach has arrived. I have made my XLR-TS cables and have my XLR pad on the way.

My Mackie FreePlay is already getting a surprising amount of use. I look forward to using the Reach for some upcoming summer events!

I hop it doesn't suffer from middle child syndrome between the FreePlay and the JBL Eon One. :-)

JakeStone · #2 07-03-2017, 01:05 PM

Nice .. Congrats.

The Reach should cover a lot of ground!

martingitdave · #3 07-03-2017, 01:42 PM

I just tried it out. Same preamp workarounds required as the FreePlay. But, once that's solved, it's awesome! Good power and great coverage. I had the SA220 for a while and I like this better. More power, a few more features, two more channels, and beefier sound. The only down side is it does not come with the fancy bag and speaker stand. But, I ordered a wheeled duffle bag on Amazon that should fit it neatly. The other plus with this pair is that the FreePlay works really well as a floor monitor, on battery if needed.

The tone reminds me of my Line 6 L2t.

lkingston · #4 07-04-2017, 09:42 AM

I'm loving mine as well.

martingitdave · #5 07-04-2017, 01:07 PM

My Aura Plus system sounds excellent straight in with flat EQ and some reverb. The K&K in my 12 string sounds marvelous through the cheap behringer DI box with reverb and EQ flat.

lkingston · #6 07-04-2017, 02:48 PM

The magic pedal for me is my Tech21 ParaDi with just a touch of saturation and a little cut at 200 Hz. It has buttons for 10db of boost from the 1/4" output and another button for 20db of cut from the XLR, so I can get perfect levels either way.

I ordered a Tech21 Q\Strip pedal using the July 4th 15% discount. That one basically emulates an old analog mixer channel with two sweepable mid frequencies. It has the same cut and boost options. The sound from these all analog boxes is just remarkably pleasing.

YamahaGuy · #7 07-04-2017, 07:20 PM

Is that a monitor (speaker) on the side of the unit?

lkingston · #8 07-04-2017, 08:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by YamahaGuy

Is that a monitor (speaker) on the side of the unit?

Yes, there are two monitors, one on each side. The play the same mix as the front speakers, but with their own volume. The can be enabled independently. They are good for use either as monitors or for wider dispersion.

DavidE · #9 07-04-2017, 08:24 PM

How much are these refurbs?

How loud can they get?

I think I remember reading terrible reviews of this unit but the general feature set seems to be good.

YamahaGuy · #10 07-04-2017, 08:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lkingston

Yes, there are two monitors, one on each side. The play the same mix as the front speakers, but with their own volume. The can be enabled independently. They are good for use either as monitors or for wider dispersion.

Thats too cool. I will be looking into these.

lkingston · #11 07-04-2017, 09:00 PM

There are a couple of caveats with this system. The "wide-z" input system is not hot enough to use with a standard electric/acoustic guitar, and the overall level is only sufficient for small to medium sized listening gigs.

Having said that, the refurb deal is pretty sweet, and they will accept an offer about 15% lower than what they are asking.

For me it is a perfect small gig solution. I'm not happy with a three band EQ without a sweepable mid anyway, so having to use a preamp on the guitar is no big deal. The Bluetooth mixer and audio send works great. I love the wide dispersion and the side monitors. The volume limit is fine for most of my gigs and I have a larger PA for when it isn't enough.

lkingston · #12 07-04-2017, 09:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DavidE

How much are these refurbs?

How loud can they get?

I think I remember reading terrible reviews of this unit but the general feature set seems to be good.

I can certainly understand the terrible reviews. Let's say you bought one of these and tried to use it as it is advertised: plugging your guitar in one channel and a mic in the other, or two guitars and two mics. What would happen is that you would turn the guitars up all the way, the mics down to match the guitars. You'll get very low output from the system that way and it will hiss like crazy from turning the master and guitar channels up all the way. Use a passive directbox on the guitar and it still won't be loud enough. Use a guitar preamp int the XLR and that will engage a 30db preamp and overdrive a fixed input limiter.

There are several solutions to correct this. One is to use a 1/4 TS to male XLR cable, a 15db pad, and a second short XLR cable. That will engage the fixed 30db preamp and knock it back down to an ideal input level.

Another is to use a guitar preamp that has an XLR output and put a 20db pad between it and the XLR input on the Reach. This is a perfect solution if you use a Play Acoustic, Boss VE-8, Fishman Aura, etc.

Another is to use some sort of pedal with 10db of gain. The Boss GE-7 and Danelectro Fish-n-Chips have an extra volume slider that works perfectly if you turn it all the way up.

Another is to use an active directbox with a 20db pad. Behringer makes one.

Tech21 makes an active directbox called a "ParaDi" with analog amp modeling and a great sounding analog EQ with a sweepable mid. This box has a switchable 20db boost on the 1/4" out and a switchable 20db pad on the XLR out, so you can use it with either connection.

They also have a new pedal called a Q\Strip which does an all analog 80s mixer channel emulation with two sweepable mid frequencies and the same 10db 1/4" output boost option and 20db XLR pad option. I just ordered one Saturday.

The thing about these Tech21 pedals is that they just sound fantastic. They have very subtle analog saturation which does wonders for the piezo quack and adds a warmth the fingerstyle thumb bass which is just incredible. I've used my ParaDI at a bunch of open mics around Gainesville and it can make the crappiest cheap PA system sound like a boutique tube amp.

Anyway, on the Reach, once you get the input levels right, it suddenly lives up to its promise. Great sound. Great dispersion. A really cool Bluetooth mixer and music feed, and very useable side monitor speakers.

Certainly a good deal if you bargain down the refurb price. Just make sure you are ready to compensate for those silly input levels!

martingitdave · #13 07-04-2017, 10:30 PM

Stated perfectly above me. I also started another thread on the Mackie Reach and the Mackie FreePlay detailing some of the things that have worked for us. The above list is great. DavidE. I don't think this would push you from your Eon One or L1, but this would be a great solution if you needed 4 inputs and 100 dB listening level or lower. I have some folks concerts I will be using this system for. With the above mentioned gain staging work-arounds, it is a good solution for me. So far. Time will tell.

lkingston · #14 07-04-2017, 11:04 PM

I just got one of the Mackie ProDX8 mixers on another bargained refurb deal. The same input preamp issues, but aside from that a wonderful little mixer! My goal is to use this when there is a house PA that I want to tap into, or use my own monitors with.

martingitdave · #15 07-05-2017, 08:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lkingston

I just got one of the Mackie ProDX8 mixers on another bargained refurb deal. The same input preamp issues, but aside from that a wonderful little mixer! My goal is to use this when there is a house PA that I want to tap into, or use my own monitors with.

I was using the ProDX8 briefly. And, yes, it does have the same gain staging issues. For my use, I wanted to avoid the gain work-arounds since I only maintain one mixer. However, when that same limitation is paired with good sounding speakers and a class D amp in a small portable package, I can live with the inconvenience. As a small packaged monitor/sub-mixer, there is a lot to like.