X18, has the true DL killer finally arrived?

[Greg C.]

There was a BoobTube posting at NAMM of the Midinger rep from Germany saying it would be available "later this year." We shall see...

[Jerrylee]

I posted the link here where he says September/October.

[Jerrylee]

Feature wise, the X18 is everything the DL should have been. I wonder when they're going to ship that thing. Technically it's already 2 years behind schedule since it was originally the X16 and then the iX16. Tick tock...

Don't pass out holding your breath . And everyone should realize how fast technology is evolving - the DL1608 was the best they could do at the time to have a product they could actually ship. It's easy to outdo it with a vaporware product LOL - and I'd certainly expect a product that starts shipping this summer/fall two long years after the DL1608 to be more advanced. OTOH Mackie has a lot they can do to the DL1608 to keep it competitive with 2-4 firmware updates a year .

What exactly can Mackie do to keep competitive with the x18? Can they add programable mic pre's? No. Can they add a USB 18/18 interface? No. Can they add built in wifi? No. Can they add ultranet? No. Add two channels? No. Built in power supply? No. MIDI I/O. No. 2 more effects engines and 100 band rta? Probably not. Etc...

They will have to drop the price. That's being competitive. For the lack in features it will have to drop below the $799 price point of behringer.

I am not knocking Mackie for this. It's simply an issue of the evolving digital world. The digital boards are computers. When a computer comes out they are state of the art and possibly revolutionary. But they are constantly being replaced by new technology. When you walk out of a store with a computer it is already being outdated. The smart companies make their products upgradable but hardware has it's limitations.

Think about this. The dl was revolutionary in my opinion. But even during the development process it was already outdated. They developed the dock based on 30 pin and before multi tracking to the iPad was possible. This changed long before the dl was released. This was a big mistake. 

[RoadRanger]

What exactly can Mackie do to keep competitive with the x18? Can they add programable mic pre's? No.

No

Can they add a USB 18/18 interface? No.

If they can get multichannel recording working to the iPad that would make them competitive IMO

Can they add built in wifi? No.

The competition doesn't have it either

Can they add ultranet? No. Add two channels? No. Built in power supply? No. MIDI I/O. No.

I think all that is relatively unimportant, YMMV.

2 more effects engines and 100 band rta? Probably not.

I'm actually pretty sure they could, or at least 31 band RTA to show you which band to pull down when you have feedback. At the very least I hope they soon allow the delay FX to be switched to a second 'verb.

[Greg C.]

Midinger announced that the X18 has a built in WiFi router. So no external device needed to add that functionality.

[RoadRanger]

Midinger announced that the X18 has a built in WiFi router. So no external device needed to add that functionality.

We'll see when it finally ships in Junetember .

[Greg C.]

I'm thinking they have to have it because at this point they've shown no direct connection to the iPad, unless i've missed something (which is likely).

[Jerrylee]

Behringer did say that the USB in will offer direct control. They also added wifi for a very simple reason. No need for an external router. And you plug in one standard iec cord and you're good to go. Of course they also left in the option to add an external one if you want.

Here's another one for you RR. Can the dl be controlled by devices other than an iPad? No. All behringers can use an iPad, PC, and soon android.

[Greg C.]

Thanks for the additional info Jerrylee. Good to know.

[RoadRanger]

We'll see - so far the iX16/X18 are a nice smoke show .

[Jerrylee]

And how long was the dl1608 a smoke show?

I think your jealous of the x18. Mackie is probably jealous too. Behringer did a smart thing by pulling the iX16 and redesigning it. They were probably reading these forums, mackies own uservoice, and listening to all the complaints about the dl1608.

Rr you seem like a smart guy and probably pretty tech savvy. I can almost guarantee you will be out of your dl soon. I know for some it is all they really need and want. So what's the point in changing? But you don't strike me as one of those people.

[WK154]

Behringer did say that the USB in will offer direct control. They also added wifi for a very simple reason. No need for an external router. And you plug in one standard iec cord and you're good to go. Of course they also left in the option to add an external one if you want.

Here's another one for you RR. Can the dl be controlled by devices other than an iPad? No. All behringers can use an iPad, PC, and soon android.

Hey Jerry you need to be more current the Android app been around since last year.
http://www.andreaskormann.at/xmonitor/
And the DL can be controlled by anything as soon as Mackie publishes their "secret sauce" communications protocol or somebody else decodes it. What is puzzling is the three position switch to select WiFi, Ethernet or AP wired. Most network chips have auto-sensed polarity for at least a decade already.

[robbocurry]

Slightly off topic but was just checking out the x32 rack here in the UK (£1178)
Going by the pictures it doesn't seem to have any jack inputs apart from aux inputs - surprised at that.
Being offered with a 3 year warranty but expensive compared to your $ price.

[Jerrylee]

Slightly off topic but was just checking out the x32 rack here in the UK (£1178)
Going by the pictures it doesn't seem to have any jack inputs apart from aux inputs - surprised at that.
Being offered with a 3 year warranty but expensive compared to your $ price.

It would be nice if they had the combo jacks. But there are still six 1/4 ins.

[Wynnd]

No product will be killing the DL1608.  (Hate the thread title.)  Replacing?  probably for some people.  (Not me anytime soon.  I don't change things that quickly and I'm happy with the DL.) Namm always has stuff shown that never comes out and some stuff that doesn't work as well as it looked like it did.  It's also a place where we can all find out where the industry is generally headed.