Karaoke Forums

I have been reading up on these for a while, according to everything ive read so far they are not avalible till next month. according to the mackie teck support people they probably would not be out till January. Today while at my GC store I thought I would ask the sales guy "ooh yeah weve had a few of the 8s and some 12s, I think there is still one stashed up top let me get a ladder"..so it goes that I managed to get mine already. GC lists it at 229, but with the sale they had going, and some negotiation I got it down to 190 + tax.

I really like the USB input, its plug and play for playback like Karaoke or DJ. but it does come with software for multitrack recording. to me this solves the question of weather to buy an external sound card as its now built in.
The FX8 only has 4 mic chanels, but that's one more than I usually use. at times i do use 4 but have never used more.

Rack mounting options seem to be slim, Im going to mount it using carpet and velcro, with straps around the outer edges for extra security. according to Mackie there should be ears or a mounting pan for these down the road.
I have not done a gig with this yet, next friday Im doing sound for a comic act, and doing some dj. I think that night will be a good test run if I have it racked up with the amp, compressor, and some other toys. I need to find a good rack mount eq also so that I can eq the channels differently, as one of my main gigs has 2 rooms with different speakers in each.

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the voices arent real, but they have some good ideas

Thanks for the posting, I am in the market for a new mixer and this one looks perfect. Tell me about the USB input. I am running siglos karaoke pro. You mean I could simlpy connect a USB cable from my laptop to this mixer an skip the headphone jack or external sound box? Do I have to run any additional software on the laptop? That sounds like a really nice feature. Is the sound improved compared to running out the headphone jack as well?

Thanks for the information!

Hi neighbor, I'll be getting the mackie profx12 in a couple of weeks,(the final link in the chain), I've read about everything I could find on it, so if it's as good as advertised, I think we'll both be happy. Let me know how yours performs once you've tried it out. Thanks.


Rosario SERENITY NOW KARAOKE.

honestly , so far i have only tested on a crap amp and speakers in my garage so I can't say for sure about the sound quality , but one would expect it will be an improvement in sound quality. yes I just plugged in the usb from the laptop to the mixer, no more headphone out, or ext soundcards. There is a software with the mixer, but as i understand it it is more for recording. there may be nicer eq software in it also , but I have not had time to try it out yet. Im running win XP, on other os there may be plug ins you need to install i don't know. Ive never used your software, but suspect that the mixer just takes over for the internal sound card on all functions.
from what ive seen so far, this mixer ROCKS for $200, there is not much in its price range that is worth talking about for non powered karaoke mixers. I was happy with my old mackie effects so im sure i will be really happy with the new effects, and the preamps are supposed to be improved over my old PPM mixers also.

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the voices arent real, but they have some good ideas

I am thinking about the FX12, as I dont like not having extra..i will be maxxed out on the 8, but I"M also thinking that I will buy a 12 for myself in a few months and let my partner put the 8 in his system.

I researched everything I could also, called mackie and talked to them for 1/2 an hour or more about it. I plan to add a good EQ , compressor, and sonic maximizer on each output.

BTW as of 12-14 there were 5 of the FX12 avalible in the GC northern region. Brookfield did not have one. if you act fast you could snag one.

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the voices arent real, but they have some good ideas

I played with one the other day. It works very well sounds nice & yes to the one asking about the USB - this is a sound interface so there would be no needing to hook up anything from the headphone jack on the laptop. Just a USB cable only. The mixer IS the sound interface the onboard sound card makes no difference.

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LIKE Lonman on Facebook - Lonman Productions Karaoke & my main site via my profile!

Thanks for all the info, this is very helpful. I have a question that maybe Lonman can comment on. I like the USB input on this, but I know the Yamaha CXs you like are some of the only inexpensive mixers with built-in compression. This Mackie lacks the compression feature. I have sen some Behringers with USB in, but it is not really internal, because they simply include the UC external sound board with the mixer.

So the bottom line is this. Do you think I would be better served with the compression offered on the Yamahas or the simplicity of the USB input on the Mackie? The way I understand compression is basically just leveling out singers/songs that have wild fluctuations in the vocals.

My opinion is to do what im doing and put an inexpensive compressor between the mixer and power amp..IMO beringer has never made a piece of equipment worth owning unless its free, and even then it will fail you someday and you will be stuck. (all the berenger equipment ive owned has done it to me) compression is one thing that I do miss on this unit from my PPM series mixers, BUT a rack mounted compressor will be better anyways.

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the voices arent real, but they have some good ideas

Compression is very handy to have but you could always add compression to the Mackie later via a dbx 266XL or equivalent. The Behringer 'USB' is nothing more than their external interface that connects to any mixer, you would still need to connect the interface to the mixer via separate cords.

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LIKE Lonman on Facebook - Lonman Productions Karaoke & my main site via my profile!

You typically don't want to compress the entire mix which is what would happen between the mixer & amp. Using the inserts on the vocal channels is where you would want a compressor typically.

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LIKE Lonman on Facebook - Lonman Productions Karaoke & my main site via my profile!

Im going to try it this way for now. Ive done it this way before with other mixers. really im looking to limit heavy peaks more than anything, im not setting it really tight. just a safety net.
Usually I run 2 mics for singers and one for me. I could run my 2 channel compressor on the main 2 I guess. either way when I get a second I will be set.

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the voices arent real, but they have some good ideas

A compressor is not great for limiting, what you want is peak stop limiter like on the dbx 166XL. This way you set the output for a certain point & the volume will never go higher and then maybe a tad of compression just for some added dynamics - but without vocal compression it's almost moot point. When you compress the entire mix, if someone screams, then yes it will compress & bring the volume down a bit, but it will also drop the music volume as well leaving the loud scream louder than the music still. When done just on the vocals, it controls the vocals only but leaves the music in tact.

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LIKE Lonman on Facebook - Lonman Productions Karaoke & my main site via my profile!

I follow ya, I can see where with good compressors on each channel I could do much better. at this point im really just saving my speakers. I dont mind that it cuts everything when somebody is being a bonehead. it tells everyone in the bar that so and so is drunk and being an azz, where on the channel it would just bring down the level of that mic. My compressor is a limiter btw.

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the voices arent real, but they have some good ideas

heres a pic of the FX8 in my case. all the bare wood will be covered in felt.

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the voices arent real, but they have some good ideas

FINALLY, found a profx 12 IN-STOCK, ordered it, it ships today. "Let the games begin". This was the final piece of equipment I needed to get started. Now I just have to figure EVERYTHING out, and I'm in business. (fingers crossed). I'll let you know what I think of it when I get a chance.

Rosario

Got a PRO FX 12 last week as well....awesome mixer- blows the old dfx 12 outta the water! And it's nice to have mids AND decent effects in the same mixer. I use preset #16 reverb & delay and it's sounding pretty clean.

The store gave me a good deal along with a crown xti 1000 amp. Both for under $775 and threw in free cables.

Thanks for all the help you tech guys (Lonman, Londonlive, Mickyl57) and anyone else i forgot, for sharing your product knowledge.

I was originally gonna go with a Yam166 but it wasn't rackmountable and a suggested carvin amp, but shipping was pretty expensive to hawaii. I also like being able to go to a store, demo something, and be able to bring it back in case there's a problem.

did you rack mount the PRO FX12? they give no current option for the FX8, but mine nestles so nicely in its spot in my case that It can't come out. tonight will be its first live test, a DJ only show. Im still waiting on some cords I ordered online and have not got the felt wrap on the new parts of the case, but ooh well its a trial run. if all goes well I can do the rest for next week.

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the voices arent real, but they have some good ideas

My question is about rack mounting as well. You folks who have bought the 12... are rack ears provided? If not can you take the end cheeks off so you can?

I've been waiting for years for someone other than Behringer to make a mixer with this size and feature set BTW. I just about lost it when I first laid my eyes on the photos and specs last month. I haven't ordered one yet but it looks perfect for a mobile setup.

I don't think it is rack mountable, but I could be wrong. There is no mention of rack mounting in the manual, nor did it come with any type of hardware for that purpose. I won't be using a rack with mine, I'm using a 6' folding table for all of my equipment.

ROSARIO

mine worked fine for my DJ show last night. did have an issue with the used EQ i got. and i found that I will have to put the amp back into the 4 space rack i have as this unit weighs waay to much for my back to be lifting in and out of my van with the QSC RMX 2450 in there. the good news is that will open up space in this case to use for either cord storage or book storage.

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the voices arent real, but they have some good ideas