Mackie ProDX4 or 8 Quik Review

hotroad · #1 04-11-2018, 02:06 PM

The Mackie ProDX4 or 8, both digital mixers with bluetooth, are stellar digital mixers for stage use or at home. One has 4 combo inputs and the other 8 with onboard channel volume, eq, compression, variable mids, low cut, and 16 various effects available for each channel. There is also global volume and four effects plus headphone and aux. These little digital mixers are amazing in terms of ease of use, tone and options provided. On top of that they are very affordable.

Because they have bluetooth I can use my phone or tablet to control all the various parameters from up to 50 feet away....a great way to eq a room using your phone as a song source while you stand back and mix. I have two guitars, one with dual source, one vocal, and one drum machine plugged into mine. I get the best mix and quality of sound outside of a studio. I highly recommend these for an easy, fun, high quality mixer. Leave the reverb, chorus, delay and compression pedals at home. And as a preamp for guitar and vocals, there is enough power and top notch tone. I have no affiliation, just a very satisfied picker who thinks you may want to check this out.

lkingston · #2 04-11-2018, 04:31 PM

I have the ProDX8 and I like everything about it except for that silly “wide-Z” preamp which simply won’t give me enough level from my acoustic guitar without some sort of external preamp.

hotroad · #3 04-11-2018, 09:17 PM

I am using a DPA mic for my acoustic right now. I use the Mackie PRO DX8 and it provides enough juice for my mic. But I also plug that into my powered LD Systems Dave8 and it is more than enough. Not sure if some pickups and SBTs might need a preamp. Apparently since yours does.
The one thing besides ease of use, amazing features and cost is the sound the PRO DX8 puts out. I know it depends on the end of the line speakers or amp that the DX8 is plugged into but I sure am impressed and I am a tone freak.

lkingston · #4 04-12-2018, 08:54 AM

The DPA mic need phantom power doesn’t it? How are you powering it?

hotroad · #5 04-12-2018, 09:12 AM

For phantom power I grabbed a Behringer Phantom power unit. Its small and works perfectly. So the DPA goes into the Behringer then out to the Mackie. The sound/tone/reproduction of the Martin HD-28 is stellar.

troggg · #6 04-12-2018, 09:24 AM

I've recently heard both the small Mackie digital mixer and the Behringer, and both are very nice sonically. The mostly acoustic ensembles using them were totally happy with their purchases, raved about them in fact. The Behringer group had purchased their own router, which they said solved all their Bluetooth issues for a relatively minor investment.

If in your particular live mixing application you don't feel a need for knobs, there are definitely great choices in the budget digital mixer arena even factoring in the price of an iPad.

hotroad · #7 04-12-2018, 10:03 AM

I think that all mixers will eventually be without knobs. This is the early period of this transition to digital music equipment. Say goodbye to knobs!

varmonter · #8 04-13-2018, 07:01 AM

this is sad because the depth of the menus
requires you to concentrate on the tweaking
and not on playing. When i am playing i want
to lean over and turn the mid knob down
or the treble up. With an analog board this
is simple. With a digital board one has to wait
until the end of the song. This inconvenience
alone turns me off to this technology.
I have an analog mackie board. The band
uses a touchmix . Sonically the mackie sounds
better and is also easier to use. They have a way
to go imho.

troggg · #9 04-13-2018, 07:09 AM

I think the 16-channel Presonus board is digital and it has knobs ... but it's a bigger more expensive piece of gear.

buzzardwhiskey · #10 04-13-2018, 10:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hotroad

I think that all mixers will eventually be without knobs. This is the early period of this transition to digital music equipment. Say goodbye to knobs!

You might be right, but probably not within the next thirty years.

Tactile, immediate access sliders and pots are just too handy. Their costs will continue to get higher compared to virtual UI's, but it's gonna take a while.

hotroad · #11 04-13-2018, 11:13 AM

Time will tell as far as the digital mixer of the future. I see them arriving on the scene more and more and at many concerts I attend that are on the small side, the sound person is using a digital mixer to wander around as he/she gets the best sound from the audience perspective. Can't do that with a 8 channel analog board.
While performing I like having the Mackie ProDX8 right in front of me mounted to my mic stand. That way I can adjust the parameters easily without having another mic stand and tray for an analog mixer. The Mackie ProDX8 is small and can fit in and on so many places for a gig. Now I sound like a salesman which I am not. Sorry bout that.

varmonter · #12 04-13-2018, 11:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hotroad

Time will tell as far as the digital mixer of the future. I see them arriving on the scene more and more and at many concerts I attend that are on the small side, the sound person is using a digital mixer to wander around as he/she gets the best sound from the audience perspective. Can't do that with a 8 channel analog board.
While performing I like having the Mackie ProDX8 right in front of me mounted to my mic stand. That way I can adjust the parameters easily without having another mic stand and tray for an analog mixer. The Mackie ProDX8 is small and can fit in and on so many places for a gig. Now I sound like a salesman which I am not. Sorry bout that.

yes as a sound engineer you are dedicated to
the board or walking around with your ipad
tweaking . As a musician/sound engineer you
have to play and the analog is much better for
this. All those menus to navigate are fine if that's all
you have to do.

troggg · #13 04-13-2018, 12:30 PM

Well yeah knobs are way more convenient for immediate sound sculpting; however, if an act plays a regular set of venues (acting as their own "sound man") it's kind of invaluable to already have settings for each venue so you don't have to waste time every time you set up.

hotroad · #14 04-13-2018, 03:30 PM

You can only save three full settings on the Mackie. I wish they had more for the very reason suggested. I save the settings for each of my two guitars I use gigging and for my vocal. Yes, I have to tweak them at each gig but at least I don't have to start from scratch.

martingitdave · #15 04-13-2018, 04:17 PM

I really liked those small Mackie mixers. My only quibbles were similar to above. The "wide z" preamp design is unity gain for 1/4" jacks and +20 or 30dB for XLR. This is a pretty big imbalance for many acoustic guitar pickups. I defeated their preamp for active pickups by making XLR to 1/4" cables. That gave me the same gain boost at low impedance. That wouldn't work for a passive pickup. All in all, preamp aside, I think Mackie got the features/price balanced correctly. If they were to improve their preamp circuit gain structure, I think they would be hard to beat in the market. They got the balance between digital and analog controls correct too. If the preamps happen to work for your gear, you'll be in very good shape with one of these.