I had one of those insane senior moments and picked up a Mackie Freeplay box. Reason, it should be simple to operate for other wise technically challenged women. Well everything almost worked as advertised except for the ridiculously spec'd 150 watt RMS output power. At best it could keep up with a 20 watt RMS dual channel Lepai and two 50 watt RMS X80T Proel speakers (that's 40 watts RMS max). I later found this review with a Roland KC-110
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z274UPmM3rQ Or for a $100 more for this one
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5rZnAM1XVUReading the fine print on the Freeplay spec it notes that it is a calculated value. Somebody at Mackie needs to learn to use their test equipment and measure it instead or are they to embarrassed to list it?. For the intended use it barely makes it. The Bluetooth link seems to hang in there but distance I used it was in the 20-30 ft range at most. The big problem with the Bluetooth is the single link at a time which means that music that you play back must be on the same iPhone etc. as the control software unless you want to loose control of the Freeplay. This is not good unless you are near the manual volume control. Mackie is usually good about their spec sheets but this one get a "F". No max input on the mic/line input, really! No input max of any kind. I didn't know that the Audio Industry standardized these. Then there is that mysterious feedback destroyer with no information on the number of filters available or any specs such as Q etc. . It only uses what it has available (?) and then you're out of luck. The only way at that point is to turn the feedback circuit off and then on again. A little brain dead since it also looses all settings. Feedback City if it even works!
So is "cool" as Piano Man states useful enough to invest in? I'm currently looking at Behringer's version the MPA40BT with a ULM202USB for $179 + $149 ($328 total) and get two wireless mics plus most of Freeplay. Which has more value for the $$ ? For this app the Behringer makes more sense. Yes, my Freeplay will hit the chopping block soon after I hear a B..... Anyone interested (battery included).
