Rack ‘Em Up, Part 1: iPad Mixer Roundup
iPads may be on the downward trend, but iPad-controlled mixers are coming out in droves. We round up everything currently out on the market for one giant rack mixer review.
By Mark Davie
1 June 2015
Photos: Corey Sleap
It’s only the fifth anniversary of the iPad, and already the inbetweener screen market growth is trending down. If recent mixer developments are anything to go by, the audio industry is single-handedly propping up Apple’s only flaccid arm.
Mackie was the first to put its eggs in the tablet basket with the DL1608 iPad-driven digital mixer. It was also the first to release a rack-mounted version, the DL32R. Now, 2015 is the year it all became serious, with four other manufacturers joining the party with mobile-driven rack workhorses of their own.
These stagebox-sized pieces of I/O and DSP are drawing a serious crowd. So we got them all together and decided to have a good ol’ fashioned shootout. What we haven’t done here is try and pit apples against apples. Because we can’t. While control devices serve as a great democratiser, there’s no shortage of differences and unique offerings to be had. So just keep that in mind when you’re looking at what $700 can get you as opposed to $3000, and check out the other models in each brand’s range if you like what you see but the I/O count or price doesn’t quite match your budget.
This is a fantastic review. Thanks so much for this. I’m writing this in April 2017 so some of the software has developed a little (certainly Mackie, perhaps Behringer a little) but this is so comprehensive and so helpful. Gives such a comprehensive over and detailed view. Thank you!!
Presonus all the way !