Author Topic: us made versus china made mixers  (Read 9798 times)

cadman95682

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us made versus china made mixers
« on: April 23, 2015, 05:46:00 PM »
newbie to this forum.  I am having a discussion with a member in the band that insists that his newer Mackie 8 channel mixer has better preamps than my older 1604.  would anyone please chime in on this.  thanks

Sir Krang

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Re: us made versus china made mixers
« Reply #1 on: April 23, 2015, 08:00:05 PM »
Yeah but, does it sound good?

I simply use stuff that sounds good. Don't care where it's made.

And if we're gunna do the USA vs China/Asia thing, then I gotta say I've owned 3 Harley Davidsons, and a Buell X1 (also made in USA) and 9 Asian motorcycles.

Zero problems with the Asian bikes

One problem after another with the Harley's. And the Buell was the most unreliable POS I've ever thrown a leg over.

No they ain't mixers, but I don't believe the country of manufacture makes one product better than another.
Great stuff can come from any country. But so can crappy products.

cadman95682

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Re: us made versus china made mixers
« Reply #2 on: April 23, 2015, 08:47:06 PM »
no, it isn't a usa versus china deal.  he just is insistant that his newer mixer is better than my older standby.  hey, I've worked in a lumber mill and my hearing isn't the best, however, I don't necessarily believe his b.s. that his preamps are better.  period.  plus, with a new member in the band we could easily use the extra channels.


ijpengelly

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Re: us made versus china made mixers
« Reply #3 on: April 24, 2015, 11:53:57 AM »
Surely this depends on which models we are talking about. The VLZ(1-3) was a very good design, but the Onyx was better. If his is an 8 channel Onyx he may be right... like the 820i. (Note that the VLZ4 is considered Onyx). The difference is likely to only be realised in a studio environment mind.

cadman95682

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Re: us made versus china made mixers
« Reply #4 on: April 24, 2015, 08:55:26 PM »
the 16 channel mixer I am comparing is not the vlz model.  I do have an 16 channel onyx, however, the power supply went out.   I did have it fixed but it seems impossible to get a replacement power supply for the onyx.  the 8 channel mixer mentioned above is not an onyx model.

ijpengelly

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Re: us made versus china made mixers
« Reply #5 on: April 25, 2015, 07:08:41 AM »
In theory, the newer one should be an evolution of the older one and thus better, not always the case though. As I allude to before, chances are they will both be up to the job for live sound, so go with the one that gives you most flexibility.

Sorry to hear about your power supply issue, that is frustrating.

cadman95682

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Re: us made versus china made mixers
« Reply #6 on: April 25, 2015, 08:43:09 PM »
the model I have is the CR1604.  I believe the model the band mate uses has only 4 xlr inputs with either quarter inch jacks for right/left inputs with no eq available on those channels.  it is only for live performances.

ijpengelly

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Re: us made versus china made mixers
« Reply #7 on: April 26, 2015, 07:50:00 PM »
Yours it is then  ;D

Greg C.

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Re: us made versus china made mixers
« Reply #8 on: April 27, 2015, 05:32:25 PM »
newbie to this forum.  I am having a discussion with a member in the band that insists that his newer Mackie 8 channel mixer has better preamps than my older 1604.  would anyone please chime in on this.  thanks

Mackie claims that their new preamp design is better than their older one. Probably true. Noise floor is probably the biggest improvement. But mic preamps are a commodity today. It's not hard to build a decent one. Many other things in the signal chain are far more important when it comes to audio. Mics and speakers are going have more impact on audio quality now than most mixers. But that has nothing to do with country of manufacture and everything to do with the design itself. The argument that stuff built in china is worse quality is a non-starter these days. Some of the best quality items on the market today are built in China. iPhones, high end laptops, Avid Venue mix desks, etc. The list goes on. When poor quality stuff comes out of China, it's because the company that contracted with them (manufacturing company/contractor), spec'd bottom of the barrel components or aren't doing their due diligence as far as QA/quality assurance. Mackie speakers come to mind early on when they switched their manufacturing to China after they ran RCF into the ground (before their independent comeback). Lots of Mackie powered speaker failures during that era. And no spare parts on the shelf thanks to Sun Capital trying to make their books look good for investors. But that had more to do with Mackie's poor business practices rather than China. But I digress.

Made in the USA doesn't mean much with electronics because hardly any electronics are made here anymore. The company I work for is one of the few companies I know of that actually still makes hi-tech video hardware in the U.S. and makes it well. But as far as the discrete components that go into them, most of those come from over seas. Not much choice on that. But the design, PCBs, hardware, assembly, testing, and distribution is all done in the good 'ol U.S.A...

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