Sonic LAB: Mackie Onyx BlackJack

US 2x2 USB premium interface      30/07/10

No flash plug

    MP4 4:5 mins

Buying Choices
Affilliate Links help support the site

Mackie’s latest breed of standalone IO still tout the favoured Onyx preamps - and whyever not? They do sound pretty decent and are nice and quiet too.

 
There are two flavours - the BlackBird, a FireWire 16x16 affair (8 inputs + ADAT IO) and the BlackJack. This one is a little less usual, in that it is  a USB device. Not something that Mackie are well known for.
 
Built
Nicely cased in a strong metal box with sturdy connectors (2x combi inputs, 2x bal monitor outs and a headphone jack) it has an air of quality about it. Knobs are all of the usual Mackie type and feel sturdy enough to stand up to the usual nonsense.
 
There’s no power supply required, this feeds purely from the USB port and shouldn't need much current, although with the 48v switchable fantom power it might pull a little more.

Amps
The two Onyx preamp inputs take XLR mic, jack - line and both have a Hi-Z switch for direct instrument pluggery. There’s a decent amount of gain in the system for even the quietest sources with additional level in the headphone amp should you need it - I just hate it when theres a puny signal for monitoring.

Monitoring
You can feed the live inputs directly into the monitor path using the monitor control to allow for zero latency monitoring. A nice touch is that inputs are hardwired L+R with a mono switch to bring them both into the centre.

Drivers
Blackbird is class compliant, meaning you just dont need a driver for the Mac (10.4.11 and above) with a Mackie Universal Driver for the PC side.
In use on my system, I found it to be rock solid - actually better than my Onyx 820i (original version) which sometimes gets a little confused with the clocking. This may be something to do with the superior quality Cirrus Logic AD/DA electronics inside the BlackJack - which do seem to have a slightly fuller sound than my Onyx 820i.

In The End
There’s not much to say about the BlackJack - its solidly built, sounds pretty good, a piece of cake to use and doesn’t crap out in use.

However, it is a little pricey for a two channel system, and doesnt have any MIDI. If it's specifically the Onyx sound you want, maybe a better bet would be to spend roughly double but get an 820i - three mic pres, 8 channels, EQ and Aux etc. But for portability, quality  and convenience, Blackjack has em beat.
Available in the stores shortly at £210/$259 - full retail price, you will find it for less.

 


Mackie Social

More From: MACKIE
Even more news...


 


More Videos

NAMM 2024: U-He - Zebralette 3 - Wow! NAMM 2024: U-He - Zebralette 3 - Wow! 

Super flexible synth from U-He and it's free


Friday Fun: Expressive E Osmose Synth Jam Friday Fun: Expressive E Osmose Synth Jam 

With the Boss RC-505 MKII


NAMM24: Korg Re-release the Legendary PS-3300 FS NAMM24: Korg Re-release the Legendary PS-3300 FS 

Blimey. How Much?


Presentation: Stylophone CPM DS-2 Drone Synth Presentation: Stylophone CPM DS-2 Drone Synth 

We take a look


Hey there, we use Cookies to customize your experience on Sonicstate.com