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Mackie Onyx owners (cleaning & maintenance)


Blas Kisic

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My cart mixer is a Mackie Onyx 1620, which has served me well for a couple of years. Recently, though, I've noticed that a "solo" button and a "mute" button (in two different strips) "stick". Also, there's a 1/4" port that has makes contact intermittently.

The mixer is otherwise in good condition and I have no reason to believe there's anything more serious than a lack of cleaning or lubrication. I called "Stretch" at Valley Sound Music Technologies (a Mackie authorized service center) and they pre-charge $75 to take it in, then there'll be somewhere between $150 and $200 for checking, cleaning and lubrication - assuming there's nothing wrong with it.

I wonder if there's anything else I can do on my own before I take it there (compressed air, contact cleaner…) and part with $300, seeing as it isn't worth more than $400.

Any pointers would be greatly appreciated,

BK

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I had disassembled my Onyx  to investigate a malfunctioning HPF switch , but I don't recall the Solo switch architecture, sorry.

Contact cleaner maybe if you can get it in there. If it's coffee (a common cause for sticking buttons and such), I don't know if contact cleaner will work on coffee...  hence.. Many moons ago when I was an Porsche tech, I tried to remove dried coffee residue with brake cleaner, carb cleaner, ect., ect.  Didn't work.. Water based cleaners did

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7 hours ago, al mcguire said:

If you have a Porsche that is broken you repair it. If you have a Mackie that needs repair you replace it. One old mans opinion

Indeed. That's the quandary.

I took it to another vendor that will charge me $90 to clean and lube it. They'll let me know if it needs anything else.

BK

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On April 23, 2016 at 7:51 PM, Wandering Ear said:

I have a 1640i that I'm not using, I'd be happy to offload it for a very good price.  A little larger than the one you're using.  PM me if that interests you.

Thanks. I'll find out in a few days, but I'm 90% sure that all it needs is a simple cleaning.

OTOH, if it ends up being something more serious, I'll probably reconfigure the cart altogether. I'm considering a 664+CL12 setup, or some other option yet to be determined (looking at the Soundcraft Expression Si at the moment…)

 

Cheers,

BK

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44 minutes ago, Blas Kisic said:

Thanks. I'll find out in a few days, but I'm 90% sure that all it needs is a simple cleaning.

OTOH, if it ends up being something more serious, I'll probably reconfigure the cart altogether. I'm considering a 664+CL12 setup, or some other option yet to be determined (looking at the Soundcraft Expression Si at the moment…)

 

Cheers,

BK

Sounds like a good plan.  Have you tried Deoxit D5 to clean the sticky buttons? 

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5 minutes ago, Wandering Ear said:

Sounds like a good plan.  Have you tried Deoxit D5 to clean the sticky buttons? 

Have Deoxit, but have been hesitant to use it for that, as I read in a Mackie user's group it wouldn't be a good idea. Either way, it's at the repair facility - let's see what they say a week from now.

BK

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Mackies are a very good value for money.  One of the ways they keep the price low is that they use cheap parts.  This includes pushbuttons, pots and connectors.  Your mixer is telling you that you've gotten your money's worth out of it and might want to consider selling it along to a band or a newb who can live with its shortcomings and the results of wear and tear, while you need something more reliable.  I would not spend much money doing the kind of fixes you mention--if you like the mixer I'd get a new one and sell the old one right away.  If you can move up, great, but a new version of what you have will serve you well too.

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Thanks, Phil. I'm already looking at alternatives. The front runners now are one of the PreSonus and the Soundcraft Expression Si. But, like I said, if all it needs is a cleaning, I'll put it back in service.

I really wish an OEM would step up and cater to our market, small as it is - but willing to spend on good, reliable machines. If Line 6, A&H or Behringer came up with a control surface with optional Dante connectivity, smooth 10mm faders, 12 48V XLR inputs, decent routing options in a compact, lightweight package I would gladly pay $1K-2K.

But, I guess, they wouldn't expect to sell more than a couple thousands…

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The PreSonus and the Expression line of Soundcraft are of the same level of build quality as the Mackie you have.  Anymore there is really nothing between good but lowbudg mixers for the MI market like those and the few (expensive) survivors in the world of high-quality small boards (PSC, Sonosax, AD, or used Coopers)--this is one reason why so many folks have moved to integrated mixer-recorders for portable low-input-count work.

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