X18 X18R X16R X12R Details & Video

[James91104]

Looks like they're having problems with the XR18, a lot of units are being swapped out due to:
DOA
Wifi connectivity
Noisy channels
Phantom power issues
etc, etc, etc

Mackie wouldn't get away with that level of a mess, not with some of the posters here.
One rule for Mackie and another rule for Behringer.
Oh the hypocrisy.....

Where do you get that information? Do you work for Sweetwater or Behringer? Are you basing it on Vernon's unit? Really!

Might actually have been based on Dick Rubwright`s unit.

[WK154]

That makes it two unit's WOW!

[RoadRanger]

"When in Trouble, When in Doubt - Run Around, Scream and Shout"

[sam.spoons]

TBF Mackie haven't been entirely free from trouble with the DL series. I have a foot in both camps, DL 1608 and X32 Compact and Rack, At work I use A&H iLive and GLD but I don't follow their forums. I suspect they have a similar fail rate (percentage wise) to the "unprofessional" (I quote a tech rider I had to deal with last year) kit from Berry and Mackie. I can't speak for the XRs but with over 300,000 X32s out in the wild there should be far more failures than are being reported on the forums. Equally the DLs, while having a few issues (none with mine BTW though I have reverted to MF Classic as my iPads are old school), are proving to be extremely useful. Mine is for sale but I won't sell cheap, if it doesn't make a decent return I'd rather keep it for bar gigs and as a backup.

[nottooloud]

At work I use A&H iLive and GLD but I don't follow their forums. I suspect they have a similar fail rate (percentage wise) to the "unprofessional" (I quote a tech rider I had to deal with last year) kit from Berry and Mackie.

Actually, I doubt it. I can't recall hearing of a common issue with any Yamaha console outside of the early (LS9? 01V96? I forget which) faders that didn't have seals, and I'd be shocked if my LS9 failed in any way. Likewise, my QSC TouchMix is a solid piece of kit, hardwarewise. Better really is better. QSC totally screwed the pooch on their software design, but it does what they designed it to do, limitations and all. Some amount of failure is absolutely my expectation with Mackie and Behringer. That's why I'm not particularly upset that I'm on my 3rd DL1608 and my 2nd XR18, or that I had to buy a 3rd party power supply beat the grounding issue on my DL.

[sam.spoons]

A&H have probably only sold a few thousand iLives and GLDs, Mackie seem to be pretty silent regarding sales rates but I suspect DLs will also be in the thousands or low tens of thousands not the hundreds of thousands, Berry have sold over 300,000 X32s so far (in three years or so). Berry's fail rates are clearly amongst the best out (i.e. lower than most) I've heard under 4% mentioned. The big name manufacturers would be delighted with those numbers. Yamaha have probably sold less LS's than Mackie has DLs (has anybody got actual sales figures?) despite it's many years of production but one still hears of failures. I also suspect any X32 failures will be jumped on with glee by the Behringerophobes amongst us thus distorting the figures.

Either way I really don't have any guaranteed accurate statistics TBH, and all electronic gear has a failure rate, Digico and Yamaha just the same as Berry and Mackie. My hope (having just bought a second X32) and feeling is that if the X32 had serious issues there would be many more reports of trouble than there actually are. The DL has had far more documented problems than the X32 family despite orders of magnitude fewer sales. Don't get me wrong, I still love my DL, it is (as I have said numerous times) a great little mixer and if I don't get offered a decent price I will happily keep on using it for my smaller gigs and as a backup mixer on the big-uns.

[nottooloud]

Expectations play a role in user response. If a channel on my LS9 appeared to be a dB or 2 off, I'd freak. When one of the outputs on the X32 at a club I was mixing at was clearly low, I went "Behringer, whatever, I'll kick it up a few dB." Not to mention that users at one level notice things that users at another level don't even know exist. I'm convinced that the Mackie resync thing is quite common, but goes right by most people, because they simply aren't paying that much attention. If you're not looking at the board the 2 seconds when it resyncs, you'd have no idea it even happened. This bug made me crazy until I accepted it as part of the price point.

[sam.spoons]

The X32 isn't perfect, nor is the DL. Both offer far more than we could have dreamed of 5 years ago. The Berry seems to have achieved a level of acceptance amongst audio professionals that belies it's budget status. I can't say I've seen any of the issues you describe but I have only done a few gigs with it so far. Only to be expected as I'm sure you have far more experience than I do (as a lifetime weekend warrior turned pro in my declining years). I do use an iLive system and a GLD at work and they are very nice but way beyond my budget (equally the boss would not consider an X32 for company stock). I guess I hope that the X32s will last my remaining 10 years or so in this business (hopefully, I'm 62 now) without trouble. Mine won't have a hard life so I'm optimistic.

[nottooloud]

At the moment, I'm using my XR18 more than my TouchMix, and that more than my DL1608, and that more than my Yamaha LS-9, so I'm certainly not a gear snob. My eyes are wide open, though, and I learn the foibles and fail points of whatever gear I have. It's all good.

If the show's over and nobody died, I win. Only lost once so far, when my venue hit a car.

[Kev tyler]

I read on the b forum that there is a bit of noise from the hi z channels and issues with the  wi fi connection, but it's early days and it's a new product, and problems with well established products from mackie still seem to exist?

I can live with a bit of noise and have a choice of routers, so i think there will be little conplaint from the likes of me when the 299  x version hits the shops, they even throw in free, yes free mr mackie , rack ears,

What more do you want,

( apart from an fx mute and some faders)

Kev

[sam.spoons]

Built in beer cooler?

[nottooloud]

Version 1.0 of the laptop editor, and firmware 1.09 up on their site. Not showing up on the web page yet, but you're clever lads.

[WK154]

Version 1.0 of the laptop editor, and firmware 1.09 up on their site. Not showing up on the web page yet, but you're clever lads.

Done and on web page.

[WK154]

Built in beer cooler?

Sorry that option is only available in Germany, no export allowed.

[WK154]

With V1.0 of X-Air the first non-Beta release the "sync" problem has been fixed. That was 3 months to get that accomplished. Are you paying attention BenO? I have mine now running continuously for 36 hrs and no disconnect on 3 control surfaces (PC W7, PC XP, iPad V7.1.2). The PC's are set for no automatic reconnect if a disconnect "sync" happens it requires a keyboard entry so no need to stare at it for all that time. My $89 iStudio also has had no problem with connect issues EVER and that uses a 30 pin cable connection.   Oh yeah  and it's on that 1 meter cable, not docked.