Introduction

The Mackie Digital 8•Bus console (AKA the “d8b”) represents a second generation full-size digital console priced in the bottom segment of the console market at approximately $10,000. Mackie has earned a reputation for putting out good products, and their analog 8•Bus console has proved to be a category killer.

So, I was really glad when a Digital 8•BUS (AKA “d8b”) showed up at my studio for prolonged study, testing and use. I actually took out my Yamaha 02R and installed the Mackie, to get a reasonably long-term working experience with the board.

The Physical Mackie

The Mackie, as delivered, includes the console control surface itself, a massive remote power supply-plus-CPU, a variety of I/O and DSP cards, software, and a comprehensive manual and set-up video.

Physical Package

The console itself is a very nice, compact package, at 38 inches wide, 27 inches deep (add 6-10” clearance for wiring) and 9” high and will fit very nicely into quite compact studios. The power supply/CPU is a 3-rack unit, 50 pound piece of gear that Mackie wisely cautions should be placed at the BOTTOM of the rack. It has a full-time cooling fan that IS audible (if not loud) during normal operations. I recommend you locate the power supply in a remote location, even though it’s a hassle.

There are a variety of I/O, clock and DSP cards available. I/O cards include analog, digital MDM and digital AES/EBU. A sync card provides word clock I/O, plus SMPTE and ESAM II machine control. Four DSP card slots permit up to eight stereo DSP engines to be installed.

You supply the SVGA monitor, the keyboard, and the mouse. These are essential, as it turns out, because a couple of vital console functions (including channel polarity) cannot be controlled via the console control surface.

Capability

So what can you do with this tidy, compact and functional package? A lot. There are

• 24 analog mic/line inputs;
• 24 tape channels;
• 16 internal effects return channels;
• 8 spare inputs (analog or digital)
• 8 tape buses (sent to 32 output ports, analog and/or digital), 12 aux buses (8 also feed the internal mono-to-stereo DSP cards , stereo master bus, solo bus, yada, yada;
• full monitoring capability,
• transport autolocator;
• full automation (snapshot and dynamic automation of levels and DSP).