A couple of weeks ago at the AES Convention in New York City, Mackie announced that its Onyx-i Series mixers have been qualified by Avid for use with Pro Tools M-Powered mixers. (Click here for further details.)
In previous installments (see part 1 and part 2), I have reviewed the Onyx-i from marketing and product overview standpoints, and now in light of the Mackie/Avid agreement, it’s time to look at the actual functionality of the M-Powered Onyx-i Series.
Newly purchased Onyx-i mixers should be registered at my.mackie.com. Registration is free and recommended by Mackie.
The Onyx-i mixer provided by Mackie for my evaluation also included the Pro Tools driver on a DVD, along with the mixer, and M-Powered Pro Tools software.
After registering your mixer at www.mackie.com (which is free and recommended anyway), you can download the Mackie Universal Driver which is compatible with most major DAWs, such as Logic, SONAR, Cubase, Ableton Live, Final Cut Pro, and Tracktion.
You will also be prompted to purchase a package that includes the Mackie Authorization Application ($49.99 USD), also called Mackie Audio Driver V1.4. This unlocks your mixer for use with Pro Tools M-Powered 8. (This driver will not be available in stores for purchase.) In addition, the Driver V1.4 purchase allows your registered mixer to work with as many supported computers running Pro Tools M-Powered 8 (Mac or PC) as you have access to.
All that said, the Pro Tools software installed on my Vista Service Pack Two laptop PC without any problems. I should point out, however, that I’ve never installed Pro Tools on this computer before - anyone with a previous version of Pro Tools M-Powered (or any other version) should uninstall it before proceeding.
Avid also recommends this, so be forewarned. I’ve even heard of a few situations where some files were left on the computer and had to be manually removed. Therefore, it’s prudent to save yourself any complications and grief by making sure that you have a clean uninstall, including removing any “leftover” files by hand.
I’ve also heard that the Onyx-i is “recognized” as a M-Audio Profire 2626 by the Mackie driver, so any Profire 2626 software must also be uninstalled. I didn’t run into this problem because I didn’t have this software installed, but wanted to bring it up just in case anyone has a problem with it.
When the driver is installed on Windows, at the “New Hardware Found” prompt, instead of letting “Windows Update” search for the software and try to install it, you use the “Wizard” that Mackie provides with the driver. (When using Vista, you might have to authorize this as an Administrator.)
I brought the Onyx-i to a professional studio and installed Pro Tools M-Powered on the studio’s PC equipped with Windows XP with the SP3, and 2 GB RAM. This machine wasn’t running any version of Pro Tools, (it’s DAW software is Steinburg Nuendo), so the driver also installed without any problems.
The studio also has a spare Mac (OS X 10.5.5, with 1 GB RAM) in an office, so I installed the driver on that machine, and again, no problem at all.
Once you open a new session in Pro Tools M-Powered, you go to the Setup I/O page and choose “Default” for the inputs and outputs, allowing the software to access the the eight inputs and two outputs of the Onyx-i. Because there is no hardware setup control panel for the mixer, instead you set the sample rate and buffer size in the menu that you get upon creating a new session.
When all of this is accomplished, the Mackie and Pro Tools M-Powered work together just fine, and allow the entry level user a true analog front end with analog inputs, pre-amps, EQs, and inserts, not to mention FireWire access to the software.
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The stereo bus provided on the Onyx-i also means that Pro Tools M-Powered mixes don’t have to be done strictly “in the box”. This would usually require other much more expensive hardware.
The Onyx-i Series is available at a very attractive price; for example, Sweetwater Sound has the Onyx 820i that I evaluated priced at $499.99. At these prices, this combination seems like the best way to get into Pro Tools M-Powered.
And by the way, I don’t want to send it back!
Additional links
Find out if your computer is compatible with Pro Tools M-Powered 8
Find out if your computer is compatible with Onyx-i mixers
Bob Buontempo has more than 30 years of professional recording experience, and has been the president/owner of Buontempo Entertainment Services since 1976. He has also taught numerous recording and audio educational courses over the years.
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