123rd AES Convention Show Wrap – Mackie Style
Below, Mackoid-on-the-scene Matt Redmon delivers a delightful account of Mackie’s AES experience.
This year’s AES show was a sweeping success, primarily because of the debut of our newest addition to the Mackie family: the HRmk2 Series studio monitors. The focus of our booth this year was a 14’ x 18’ isolation room provided by Vocal Booth , where we presented attendees with a history of the HR studio monitors, then jumped right into stereo A/B listening between the old HR824s and new HR824mk2s, so listeners could evaluate the improvements for themselves. We then compared the HR824mk2s to the HR624mk2s for the audience, so listeners could see which model of the monitor might best fit their needs, and finally closed with a homerun-of-a 5.1 surround demo involving five HR824mk2s and an HRS120 subwoofer.
Needless to say, the feedback we received was extremely positive and even the most skeptical critics going into the demo—for example, original HR824 owners who still use and love their old HR monitors—were wowed by the changes we made in the design of the mk2 line. The improved clarity, depth, stereo imaging and pure accuracy of sound reproduction the mk2 line of speakers brings to the table had everyone leaving the 30-minute demo –without exaggeration- thoroughly enraptured, holding back savage tears of joy, and completely overcome by a sense of enlightenment and higher being. Some of them even fell to their knees to worship the God of High Resolution at the Speaker Pedestal of Mackie-Made Paradise.
Speaking of dreams come true...
...we not only drove the surround demo with the famed Onyx 1200F FireWire audio interface, but let folks get their hands on one at our MCU Pro-augmented, Tracktion 3 music production software recording/editing/mixing station. Since this studio-in-a-box piece is just now beginning to ship, some might say “at long last”, it was nice to be able to reinvigorate them by offering some hands-on time before they make the purchase. Beyond this, more hands-on MCU Pro time never hurt anyone. Getting to feel the improved faders and see how smoothly an all-Mackie recording station works is always a good experience for attendees.
TT System32 also made an appearance at AES. Going against all of its higher priced competition, TT24 and friends are still hangin’ quite tough. People who had hands-on time on the board were pleased to receive training from a real-life Mackie guru on exactly how to link two TT24s via U100s and CAT-5, and in turn, DS3232 to a TT. Seeing tap-delay and channel-naming first hand added value to the experience, of course, but the thing that blew most people away was exactly how cost-effective a Stage Box, Snake, Network Card and Console combo could be.
Several show-goers were also wholly attracted to the TAPCO Mix Series as a low-cost solution to what they’ve used in the past. Mix, Blend, Thump and our S Series studio monitors, to name a few, were picked up quite frequently by passersby who may not have even known that we offered a Mackie-designed solution at a lower cost than our other Mackie-branded lines.
All in all, the show was a sweeping success, and if nothing else, there are going to be a lot of mixing engineers and home theater enthusiasts alike who are replacing their current monitors with a pair of Mackie HRmk2s.
