Đánh giá mackie big knob studio năm 2024

What I wanted was a fully passive monitor control that switched two stereo inputs into two stereo outputs, AND offers a common subwoofer output regardless of the monitors chosen. I noticed this had some space in the rear panel once the 1/8” jack would be removed, so I got a slightly used one from Amazon warehouse and drilled and soldered. Pic attached. Works fine, although this is a bit of an advanced mod. I used the same 150ohm resistors on the sub outs used on the monitor outs, on both pins 2 and 3.

Speaking of which, this unit runs only impedance balanced (it's passive, just using resistors, rather than active balancing or transformer balancing). Sure it accepts balanced connections, but pin 3 just runs 150ohms to ground both in and out, which will net fairly modest noise removal from the cable run. Otherwise they’d need a very fancy potentiometer double dual gang with very strict tolerances. Unbal to monitors with short cable runs not such a problem, but it is somewhat of a volume loss, beyond the loss this unit already has by design. Monitors are typically too loud anyway when driven at line level.

There are also a pair of 10uF electrolytics…polarized commodity ones…between input and output. I shunted those off but most people should probably leave them, they don’t hurt the sound much. And 100pf ceramic caps avoiding RF interference coming down the line, perhaps bleeding off a touch of high end in the process. I left those.

The next day (not shown in the photo) I also added an On-Off-On toggle under the logo on the back, that offers follow, mute, and solo for the subwoofer, handy for Room EQ Wizard or just hearing what your subs vs monitors are doing. The solo works in conjunction with the main mute button as a fast A/B.

Anyway this did solve my problem after modding and the unit is heavy and the knob feels smooth and heavy like a hifi receiver. I improved the signal path a touch and the functionality a ton. I just wanted to show this mod is possible and is good enough to avoid spending more if you can hack it and that’s all you need.

Flexibility is key in any recording situation; the ability to swap hardware without having to go through and re-patch cables and devices keeps the gremlins at bay and maintains good workflow. Mackie’s Big Knob Studio+ acts like a complete studio monitor command station without eating into desk space or budget. Plus, it’s an audio interface all-in-one!

With two combo XLR inputs running into Mackie’s ONYX preamp circuit, as well as four line ins, standard connections are well covered. Phantom power is also available for studio condenser mics that need it. Connect it to a computer, and it has no issues interfacing to any recording software. Very simple.

Sound-wise the ONYX preamps are surprisingly nice and plugging instruments in directly gives a tight articulate response, and vocal mics work equally well with no hiss, distortion or overt coloring. The individual personality of mics come through incredibly well at this price point.

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Connectivity is the name of the game on the rear panel with the ability to plug in three sets of monitors, as well as headphone amp outs. For more control room friendly situations, there are a pair of headphone outs on the front panel. 2-track stereo outs, as well as talkback mic input and footswitch reside here, too. Communication between the control room and a live room is always problematic and setting up a talkback mic can eat into a track (or input) that could be used for tracking. The internal talkback mic works great, just a press of a button saves the time of having to get up, go to the recording room, talk to the artist and then walk back, and get back into recording mode. This feature alone can keep artists in the zone, without disruption. Save time. Save money.

While the big honkin’ master knob in the center is the focus physically, the smaller controls around it really brings the A Game, making selection of monitor ins and outs literally a button push away — no having to reach around or undo panels to move cables around. The ability to run a work-in-progress through a variety of speakers is great, especially when in the mixing/mastering stages of a project. Toggling across different monitors is super-easy and seeing where certain things sit in mixes across different speaker types is well worth the price of admission.

Finding separate solutions to give any of these features, like a separate monitor switcher, an interface, talk back mic, etc. would drain a wallet, as well as clutter a workspace. Adding or adapting that mess for various sessions would be a nightmare, to say the least. For a studio that does a lot of work in the overdub/singer songwriter/hip-hop type recording sessions where just a few inputs would do, this is great, and should have no issues. When it gets to the mixing and mastering end of things and dialing in mixes across various speakers, this is indispensable. It’s one of those, “I wish I had this years ago” items that can make future sessions a breeze.