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.