Mackie Onyx 400F FireWire Audio Interface
No longer available at zZounds
4 Onyx Mic Pre-Amps. Stand Alone Operation.
Overview
There are plenty of FireWire audio interfaces on the market today. But if you're a musician or engineer who insists on absolute quality, then the Onyx 400F Studio Recording Preamp with 192kHz FireWire I/O is the pre-eminent professional choice. Jointly developed by the analog engineering experts at Mackie and the digital gurus at Echo, the 400F brings superior sound, robust construction, and several "world's first" features to those looking to record to Mac or PC. And it comes bundled with Mackie's popular Tracktion 2 software for easy recording right out of the box.
The Basics
The Onyx 400F is a 10-channel premium mic preamp and FireWire audio interface featuring four boutique-quality Onyx mic preamps. These highly acclaimed preamps offer superior headroom, sonic detail, and clarity vs. the competition -- delivering 123dB dynamic range and an amazing .0007% THD --and a sound that has been widely praised as exceptionally "open" and "revealing." The Onyx 400F also offers TRS inserts for inserting your favorite outboard gear into your signal path before sending it to your Mac or PC, plus an internal 10 x 10 DSP Matrix Mixer with full recall and 64-bit floating point processing -- a feature not found on any other FireWire interface, at any price.
With four Onyx mic preamps and four line inputs, the 400F is the ideal box for tracking anything from smaller overdub-style projects to a full band. Operation is refreshingly straightforward. You simply plug in your mics and instruments… read more to the front or rear panel, and plug a FireWire cable into your Mac or PC. The 400F's eight individual outputs can be used for surround mixing, or for sending four discrete stereo headphone mixes to a headphone amp like one of our new HM Series. For overdubs, the 400F's dual headphone outputs give both the engineer and musician their own headphone outs with independent volume control. And the internal 10 x 10 Matrix Mixer allows near-zero-latency routing of any input to any output, completely independent of your computer, with full recall capabilities.
Engineered to over-perform.
A common question regarding the sound quality of any digital audio interface is often "What converters does it use?" Specifically, the Onyx 400F features mastering-grade 24-bit/192kHz AKM read less
The Basics
The Onyx 400F is a 10-channel premium mic preamp and FireWire audio interface featuring four boutique-quality Onyx mic preamps. These highly acclaimed preamps offer superior headroom, sonic detail, and clarity vs. the competition -- delivering 123dB dynamic range and an amazing .0007% THD --and a sound that has been widely praised as exceptionally "open" and "revealing." The Onyx 400F also offers TRS inserts for inserting your favorite outboard gear into your signal path before sending it to your Mac or PC, plus an internal 10 x 10 DSP Matrix Mixer with full recall and 64-bit floating point processing -- a feature not found on any other FireWire interface, at any price.
With four Onyx mic preamps and four line inputs, the 400F is the ideal box for tracking anything from smaller overdub-style projects to a full band. Operation is refreshingly straightforward. You simply plug in your mics and instruments… read more to the front or rear panel, and plug a FireWire cable into your Mac or PC. The 400F's eight individual outputs can be used for surround mixing, or for sending four discrete stereo headphone mixes to a headphone amp like one of our new HM Series. For overdubs, the 400F's dual headphone outputs give both the engineer and musician their own headphone outs with independent volume control. And the internal 10 x 10 Matrix Mixer allows near-zero-latency routing of any input to any output, completely independent of your computer, with full recall capabilities.
Engineered to over-perform.
A common question regarding the sound quality of any digital audio interface is often "What converters does it use?" Specifically, the Onyx 400F features mastering-grade 24-bit/192kHz AKM read less
Specs
For the PC
Microsoft Windows XP SP1 or later
Pentium 4, Celeron, or Athlon XP processor
256 MB RAM
For the Mac
OS X 10.3.9
G4 processor
256 MB RAM
Microsoft Windows XP SP1 or later
Pentium 4, Celeron, or Athlon XP processor
256 MB RAM
For the Mac
OS X 10.3.9
G4 processor
256 MB RAM
Documents and Manuals
For support or warranty questions, please contact the manufacturer:
Phone: 800-898-3211
Email: support@mackie.com
Web: https://mackie.com/en/support/contact
Phone: 800-898-3211
Email: support@mackie.com
Web: https://mackie.com/en/support/contact
Reviews
Reviewers gave this product an overall rating of 5 out of 5 stars.
(26 ratings)
Submitted July 8, 2006 by a customer from terr-or.com
"Sing back to me baby!!"
Verified Customer
zZounds has verified that this reviewer made a purchase from us.
I will buy other equipment as I need it. I can see keeping this product for a long time as I can always use it with other stuff if it becomes outdated. Since I buy for quality and the long haul, saying I made the right choice should be enough!!
Sound
As an industrial musician, I need absolutely the clearest recordings I can get before I start using effects - this unit has the most pristine mic pre amps I have ever heard. After effects and mixdown, I couldn't find any interuptions or glitches to my vocals!! This is the cleanest recording unit at this price and trashes other units at much higher prices!!!
Features
The firewire cable was suppose to come with an adapter to 1394 but didn't. Mackie no longer includes that with the unit. The firewire cable itself is super long for those studio (and stage) connections. The only thing I wished Mackie had considered was lightpipe so I wouldn't have to make so many connections from the three keyboards I have (the Korg Triton Studio and Extreme have six outs and there are only 10 inputs on the Mackie).
Ease of Use
I had this unit up, running and recording in about 10 minutes. 10 hours later, I realized that I was being possessed by the "Let's do it again!," sickness! Of all the equipment in my studio, this one is the easiest to use!!
Quality
I can tell that the ONYX 400F is going to be the workhorse for many recordings… read more in the studio and the stage. It's solid and gives me comfort looking at how well it is built.
Value
I read a lot of forums and reviews on this product before I decided to buy and, none of the horrors I read turned out to be true for me. There was no "whine" from the unit or in any of my recordings and the drivers have worked well!! Mackie has given this unit the right price in that it only has ten inputs and outputs. You will get everything out of this that you payed for and more. I can see that even new and aspiring recording engineers or just hobbyists will find this product an excellent value!!!
Manufacturer Support
I have had no need for any support.
The Wow Factor
The appeal is not in the looks (though it doesn't look bad) - just hearing the final recording is enough make one very satisfied.
Musical Background:
Active Musician
Musical Style:
Industrial Wall read less
Sound
As an industrial musician, I need absolutely the clearest recordings I can get before I start using effects - this unit has the most pristine mic pre amps I have ever heard. After effects and mixdown, I couldn't find any interuptions or glitches to my vocals!! This is the cleanest recording unit at this price and trashes other units at much higher prices!!!
Features
The firewire cable was suppose to come with an adapter to 1394 but didn't. Mackie no longer includes that with the unit. The firewire cable itself is super long for those studio (and stage) connections. The only thing I wished Mackie had considered was lightpipe so I wouldn't have to make so many connections from the three keyboards I have (the Korg Triton Studio and Extreme have six outs and there are only 10 inputs on the Mackie).
Ease of Use
I had this unit up, running and recording in about 10 minutes. 10 hours later, I realized that I was being possessed by the "Let's do it again!," sickness! Of all the equipment in my studio, this one is the easiest to use!!
Quality
I can tell that the ONYX 400F is going to be the workhorse for many recordings… read more in the studio and the stage. It's solid and gives me comfort looking at how well it is built.
Value
I read a lot of forums and reviews on this product before I decided to buy and, none of the horrors I read turned out to be true for me. There was no "whine" from the unit or in any of my recordings and the drivers have worked well!! Mackie has given this unit the right price in that it only has ten inputs and outputs. You will get everything out of this that you payed for and more. I can see that even new and aspiring recording engineers or just hobbyists will find this product an excellent value!!!
Manufacturer Support
I have had no need for any support.
The Wow Factor
The appeal is not in the looks (though it doesn't look bad) - just hearing the final recording is enough make one very satisfied.
Musical Background:
Active Musician
Musical Style:
Industrial Wall read less
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No longer available at zZounds
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