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Sound:
The preamps and converters are as good as Mackie says. Even the headphone amp sounds great.
Feature:
No MIDI, no S/PDIF, no inserts. You have to download all the drivers and sofware. But, I do like the monitoring section better than others. Also, it has all three input types of mic/line/DI which is cool. Best feature is the sound quality.
Ease of Use:
No problems. Tried the Windows 7 drivers on both a 32 bit laptop and a 64 bit workstation with no problems. My DAW software is also 64 bit. Controls and box are simple and laid out well. The hi-z input is decent and the line ins work great with multi effects. It'll run with latency low enough to use computer effects and play along with some tracks. Best thing about it are the onyx preamps when using microphones.
Quality:
No quality issues. It's already been drop a few times from tripping on cords and no problems.
Value:
Sound quality is way better than any other 2 channel boxes for the price.
Manufacturer Support:
Didn't need any.
The Wow Factor:
It's not very fancy looking at all. The sound makes me want the firewire Blackbird or other onyx products for my workstation, though. This was just a replacement of another company's USB box that didn't work anymore.
Overall:
I'll keep this until it dies and replace it with the same if they still make them by then. I picked the Mackie to get the best sound quality from any source. The others either have poor sounding preamps or you need to get additional autenator or signal converters.
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Sound:
Onyx preamps sound great, but not with Mackie's driver. I use a Dell Studio 17 laptop (Win 7 Ultimate 64 bit, i5 processor, and 6 gb RAM). The most recent Mackie driver almost blew my active monitors. Had to download the ASIO4ALL driver to get it to work. Zzounds site and Mackie's site say Win 7 64 bit compatible, but don't believe it.
Feature:
BAsic 2 in and 2 out. Would be nice to have a midi I/O. I am using a Midiman 2x2 to connect an old Alesis Quadrasynth. Really like the direct monitoring feature. No latency I can hear.
Ease of Use:
If you disregard the driver issue, very straight forward and easy to use.
Quality:
It's built like a tank. Very, very solid compared to other interfaces in the Blackjack's price range.
Value:
Assuming they fix the driver problem, a great deal for the $150 I paid to Zzounds.
Manufacturer Support:
HORRIBLE!!! When the Blackjack arrived and I couldn't get it to work on my comp, I called Mackie. On the positive side, I was able to speak to a person in fairly quick order. However, right off the bat the MAckie person started by saying the Blackjack has problems with "most" Win 7 64 bit systems and that MAckie was aware of the problem. He said that they were working on a driver fix, but had no release date as of a month ago (Blackjack delivered to me on 3/11/2011). After I got the thing to work with the ASIO4ALL driver, I called MAckie again. I started by saying that they should change their website info re Win 7 64 bit compatibilty. Person on the second call was indignent. He said that the Blackjack works with virtually all Win 7 64 bit systems and that only a handful had problems. As this was directly the opposite of what the first technician told me, who knows. I tend to believe the first person. Bottom line is Mackie doesn't seem too concerned even though the forums on its website are full of complaints.
The Wow Factor:
Angle of control knobs is unigue from what I saw during my extensive research and it makes the interface very easy to work with. I love it.
Overall:
With a properly designed driver, this thing would be AWESOME! Until then, it works, but is not what I would have expected from Mackie. As I only paid $150 for it, I guess it is the proverbial "you get what you pay for". Zzounds told me I could return it, but for this price I am going to keep it. I figure with all of the complaints, the driver situation will get fixed sooner or later. Perhaps they should hire the creator of the ASIO4ALL driver. He, she or they seem to be way ahead of the programmers at Mackie
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Sound:
Great sound quality, I love the Onyx mic preamps and the high-end converters
Feature:
no bells and whistles, just a solid interface that gets the job done
Ease of Use:
it was very easy to set up, easy to use
Quality:
Very good build quality, rugged metal box, feels like it will last a long time
Value:
Great value based on the high end mic preamps, converters and build quality.
Manufacturer Support:
have not had any reason to contact support -- no issues
The Wow Factor:
Love the design and the front panel which sits at an angle is easy to access
Overall:
This gets the job done for me for now and I see no reason to upgrade anytime soon
Sound:
I bought it because Mackie has the best hardware for DAW recording.
Ease of Use:
The interface is straightforward and well-designed
Quality:
It is Mackie "rock solid," which is why I bought it. No plastic, only metal. Very durable.
Value:
If they don't fix the driver problem, I'm sending it back, as many others are.
Manufacturer Support:
Mackie released this product with bad drivers. User boards are full of complaints of pops and clicks - in all PC operating systems and all DAWs. What's worse, Mackie has not addressed this issue at all. Combined with Mackie's lack of Windows 7 and 64-bit support for their legacy Onyx 400f, I really wonder what they're doing over there.
The Wow Factor:
Good looking, solid, not cheap-looking
Overall:
I'm waiting for Mackie to fix the driver problem. Considering their history in these issues, I'm not holding my breath
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