ONYX Mixer Design : Listening To Our Customers.

After 15 years of designing and building the world’s best-selling professional compact mixers, Mackie knows a thing or two about what our customers want. (Naturally, we also hear it regularly and vocally on the forums of this here website.) With the Onyx series, we considered a host of these user-requested mixer features and made them so.

Balanced Direct Outputs
Because you can never have enough direct outputs, we gave every single channel of the Onyx mixers a balanced Recording output via a pair of rear-panel multi-pin DB25 connectors. These industry-standard connectors will let you plug Onyx mixers directly into a wide range of digital consoles, hard disk recorders, and analog and digital tape machines, recording the cleanest possible signals coming right off the individual channel preamps (12 channels on the 1220; 16 channels on the 1620 and 1640). Importantly, these direct Recording outputs are post-channel gain, but pre-EQ, pre-Insert, and pre-fader. So you can, for example, mix a live gig using mixer EQ, outboard processors on channel inserts, and adjusted fader levels--without affecting the signal going to your recording device.

Talkback Section
Onyx mixers also feature a convenient Talkback section with a built-in mic—a first in this class of mixer. Using the Talkback section, you can quickly communicate with vocalists, musicians, and even drummers, simply by pressing the spring-loaded Talkback button. The Talkback signal can be routed to the Control Room/Phones output, to Aux. 1/2, or both. If you prefer, you can even connect an external mic—letting your executive producer scream orders from the couch.

Individual 48v Phantom Power
Answering another often-heard request from our compact mixer owners, Onyx mixers offer individually switchable, true 48v phantom power on every preamp. That’s because, despite the widely-held notion that dynamic microphones don’t “see” phantom power, the presence of phantom power where it’s not needed can adversely affect overall sound or even damage sensitive ribbon mics. With individual phantom power on every channel, problem solved.

Full Aux Sections
All Onyx mixers feature fully discrete, high-quality Auxilliary sends with individual Pre/Post switches (1220, 1620, 1640) and Solo control (1640 only). Additionally, each send offers a dedicated Master control so you can dial in the perfect level for your stage monitors, for example. The Onyx 1220 offers 2 Aux sends; the 1620 has 4 Aux Sends; and the 1640 gives you a whopping 6 Aux Sends—perfect for live sound applications.

“Planet-Earth” Power Supply
Power supplies aren’t the most sexy feature of the Onyx mixers, we’ll admit. But developing a “Planet Earth” switching power supply for one of the world’s quietest and most rugged audio mixers was no easy task. Because we wanted Onyx mixers to perform flawlessly wherever and whenever you plug them in, we enlisted the services of one of the Pacific Northwest’s top power supply designers. (He’s the same guy who designed the power supply for the gaming console from the world’s biggest software company.) The end result of all this power supply design is that the Onyx mixers will work wherever in the world you plug them in. Just use the appropriate IEC power cable (we’ve included both 220v and 110v versions in the box).