Hi WK, first, I want to thank you for not kicking a man when he's down... I know you have some very negative opinions about Mackie and how they "do" things, and you have every right to your opinion. I have too, but for me.... the DL line has made my life SO much easier, and with my hands getting seriously bad, (Rheumatoid Arthritis) it is everything for me to just hold an iPad for three hours for some jobs. You could have used my post to confirm Mackie's lack luster style, but thank you for refraining from saying what you really wanted to, especially since this forum's purpose is to try to bring positive answers and help to Mackie DL users who have legitimate questions.
So, the DC16 can not live or do anything without the DL32R. You probably already know all about it even though you don't have one, (lucky you). After a Dante card is installed in the rear of the DL32R, they connect to each other with a common Cat 5 or 6 cable and you're off and running. The DL16S and 32S do not have a Dante card slot, so there is no way they can connect to the DC16. Some of the stuff you mentioned that you read on Mackie's website I have not seen and have not had the stomach for reading anything after a *NOTE* NO PLANS FOR DC16 SUPPORT
For me... most of my living is made with live sound. Some of my jobs are concerts where people pay to get in, some are just wedding receptions and the iPad mixing is a complete blessing! In the case of a concert, I like to have a real console with real faders... the luxury of using my same iPad/s and shows (snapshots) with the DC16 is wonderful! A fantastic thing for me, I don't HAVE to bring the console.
I have been testing 5.1 for a long time, and sending in my findings to the guys at Mackie.
I knew that there were some things that were literally broke in 5.1 and was quite surprised that they were releasing it with these issues, but I have to admit, none of the issues that I was unhappy about caused Master Fader to not work, or be even the slightest bit unreliable. It is just as stable as 4.6.2 to me. Had I known a year ago that they were going to simply lift the middle finger to all of the DC16 users out there, I would have sold that stuff on eBay faster than ... well,, I ain't gonna say what I want. I am still on their "team" and because I am a man of my word,,,,, (Eckhum, cough) I chose to not talk about or discuss anything about the testing while it was in beta as per my agreement to their rules.
Anyway, I and many DC16 owners are not screwed, some of us will continue to use that system cheerfully with 4.6.2. I just won't be one of them. Now, they... Mackie, could say, "read what it says Dan", it says no DC16 Axis support for
Master Fader 5. BUT,... maybe if they release 6.0, it will be the "NEW" version and will not only include firmware for the DC16, but the DC16 will also get many of the features that were promised. To prove that there were plans to improve the DC16, there are buttons on the console that don't even light up and do nothing, but they "WERE" going to when Ben was there, they could lie and tell us that 6.0 is "coming" and keep us from throwing our stuff on eBay and buying some "OTHER" brand.
It is apparent to me that there are going to be lots of people screaming at Mackie about this dead end and never ever buy another Mackie product. They should be very concerned about their decisions by not wasting any more resources on the DC16, and just kicking it to the curb. But they don't care as long as they have a new line of crap mics and some other NEW stuff. If I really decide to ditch all my DL stuff including the DC16 and go for something else, it won't be because I don't like it anymore,.. it will be because I can't tolerate being disrespected. I'm really not sure what I am going to do, but lugging around another console is out of the question, and I would not take a Behringer/Midas if it was given to me. I have a very very bad taste in my mouth about some Behringer gear I installed in a church for a friend,... two speaker processors failed in one week, pathetic wave soldering quality. Then only months later, I see a guy on youtube showing how to re-solder the L.E.D. contacts on the PCB so all the colors work again on the X32 meters. Brother
Many, many people love their Behringer gear, good for them,,, but I saw all I needed to see in that installation. Then Behringer bought Midas, and I thought well, there goes Midas. Midas was very good in my opinion. I am talking out of my butt perhaps about the Behringer/Midas thing but I won't go there... well , I guess I already did, sorry. Gosh I really need to quit blabbing and get to bed...
