Feature:
Lots of extra features (like compression while recording vocals) make this a step above the alternatives. I want to respond to a previous reviewer that said you may need to buy a new sound card in addition to the Spike system- but the XD-2 (part of Spike) is an audio interface- that IS a sound card. There's no need to buy another one. Not sure what he was smokin'... Or maybe a sleazy sales guy told him otherwise...?

Quality:
The build quality seems very solid. The casing is metal, and I have a feeling that I could throw it against a wall and it'd be fine- but I think I'll hold off on that test...

Value:
Good value for what you get.

Desirability:
I guess we've all got our fetishes, but mine doesn't include hardware. Still, this is a funky-looking piece of gear, and the vertical design saves space on my desk.

Sound:
I've only had it a few weeks, but so far I think it sounds great.

Support:
The only time I talked to Mackie was right before this came out- I called about the ship date of the Spike system. Unfortunatley I got four different answers from four different people about when the damn thing was coming out- I'd appreciate someone saying "I don't know" if they really don't have an answer. But, it was very easy to get in touch with them, with minimal hold time.

Overall:
I plan on using this for years, and I'm confident that it'll last a long time.

Feature:
Pretty good, like very much the Tracktion software that comes with it. Some nice plugins, especially LM-IV drum machine. Drivers? Aarrggghhh!!!! This things been on the market for 6 monts (at time of writing) and they still don't have more than alpha firmware support for 24/96, and that won't (ever?) be full-duplex.

Quality:
Looks good and solid, but first unit had something loose inside and sounded like baby toy, exchanged it and the new one (one week) just sitting on my desk has dropped both of those kewl aluminum Mackie logo's and lo/hi-Z switch gets stuck at times. I've pressed it probably 50 times and I estimate another 50 left before it fails. I'm afraid of using the unit for the fear of braking it.

Value:
Too much FUNCTIONAL competition in this price range. Good product idea but spoilt with quality control and drivers, also, what's a USB1.1 interface doing in this thing? I MIGHT rethink about this product after they've ironed out the problems. Assume it takes at least another 6 onths.

Desirability:
A lot of looks and potential functionality. As it is, I'd rather use it in a duck hunt as a projectile than a musical production tool. Headache. Would look very stylish as a paperweight.

Sound:
Too much electronic noise pickup for my taste with TS-connection. On balanced, pretty quiet and fare amount of headroom. Not bad at all. Like the very useful DSP on the box itself.

Support:
No personal contact, though mackie's forums seem to be crying for some attention.

Overall:
Nope, not for me. It has everything to satisfy me, except for the small problem of not working. At all. Can't wait for months for Mackie to fix driver issues or this thing to brake down. Need to work too. Going to be replaced while I still can. Firebox is my best bet. I don't wan't to pay for broken gear!

Overall:
This product should have never been sold to Windows users. I am an expert in computers and use both Macs and Wintel machines for audio and video production. The Spike system has basic problems in Windows that I haven't seen since 1995. Clearly Mackie needs that 96% market share, so maybe they should hire some engineers who are familiar with Windows programming. It works fine on just about any old computer as long as that computer was manufactured by Apple.

Feature:
DSP is fine, when it works. If you have a SiS chipset motherboard, good luck getting this thing to work.

Quality:
Horrible horrible horrible horrible horrible horrible horrible drivers, especially WDM mode. ASIO works, sometimes.

Value:
It doesn't work.

Desirability:
Good item if it worked.

Sound:
Sounds fine unless you want to listen to both S/PDIF and Analog inputs at the same time. It won't do that. It also won't do 96k in and out at the same time.

Support:
They couldn't help. Tier one tech support just tells you to reinstall the same lousy drivers over and over. Tier two support tells you "I usually support twelve-thousand-dollar mixers" and "we have less trouble with Macs".

Overall:
I returned it after a nightmare week+. I went to great lengths to get this working. I even swapped out my motherboard to fix its USB/DSP connectivity, then two days later another feature (ASIO drivers) broke. Some features (WDM drivers) never worked at any time. The M-Audio Firewire Solo is a great replacement for the lousy Mackie Spike.