Mackie DL32R 32-channel Digital Live Sound Mixer with iPad Control.
I've forgotten how many times lightning struck the church I grew up in. Our church was the tallest structure in the area. I am still not convinced that the engineers did not route the lighting suppression system into the tech booth circuits—and our old Mackie SR32-4 analog board. That board lived through so much. Over many years of use and abuse we lost a channel here and there. When we finally lost the main buss, the church bought a new console and gave me that Mackie. I repaired it and that same console still works today, almost 20 years later.
So much has changed since my early days behind that gray board with white faders. Mackie has changed, too.
One thing I love about Mackie is that it knows its customers and is focused on making them happy. Their team seems to know what the market wants, and they provide just that.
While my experience with the company's products over the past few years has been limited to the countless eight-channel boards I have throughout our church, I was intrigued to get to try out the new DL32R. This latest product from Mackie takes its iPad-controlled digital mixers to a new level. Up to this point, the DL series has maxed out at 16 channels, and while being iPad-controlled, I felt it still needed a “physical” mix location, as all the inputs plugged into the console's iPad dock in the earlier and smaller DL series versions.
Up Close & Personal
The DL32R is completely wireless—making your mix position wherever you want and making the audio snake obsolete. With 32 inputs, the DL32R is a 3U rack mount unit that can sit anywhere on stage. Plugging it into a wireless router (Apple Airport/Airport Extreme are recommended) provides coverage around the venue for up to 10 (yes, 10) users to connect and make adjustments. The chassis is also designed to accommodate the wireless router and hard drive and includes Velcro straps to secure them to the back.
As I said, it’s wireless: 100%. I love my iPad; I was an early adopter, getting my first-generation iPad the day they were released. As more and more products have added iPad-interfacing, there have always been caveats—situations where you didn’t have full control. With that, I have been skeptical about fully relying on the iPad for front-of-house (FOH) mixing. I do like being able to walk the room during sound check and remotely control my FOH desk. I just haven’t been able to wrap my head around trusting a Wi-Fi-enabled device for the whole show. However, the DL32R is helping me become more of a believer as the technology evolves.
"The DL32R is completely wireless— making your mix position wherever you want and making the audio snake obsolete."
Everything is packed into Mackie’s Master Fader iPad app. There’s also a scaled-back version called My Fader App for iPhone and iPod. While you can connect a computer via USB, that is only for use as a digital audio workstation (DAW), for live mixing you have to use the iPad.
Here are the tech specs: the new DL32R has 24 XLR inputs and eight combo XLR/1/4-inch inputs for a total of 32 inputs. All the inputs run on Mackie’s new Onyx+ series of preamps. The preamps have been redesigned from previous Onyx generations, allowing for higher headroom and fuller sound.
There are also 14 fully assignable XLR outputs, as well as a stereo AES out for tying into an AES-capable DSP. This frees up your analog outs for monitor mixes. There is also a stereo 1/4-inch monitor output for adding an in-ear monitor (IEM) that the FOH engineer can use as a cue/solo monitor. And there is also a talkback button in the app.
In addition, the DL32R has a built-in playback feature via a USB hard drive. If you load up your pre-service music as WAV files, they can then be played back without taking up a physical input for an iPod. You can also load up click track files to play to the band. With the multiple devices being able to connect, the drummer (or whomever needs to start those tracks) can do so from the transport controls inside the Mackie Master Fader iOS app.
The DL32R is also equipped with a 24 x 24 multi-track recording interface. From that same USB hard drive, the DL32R will record the first 24 tracks for use later as a virtual sound check or to be remixed. Mackie says a soon-to-be-released firmware update will increase it to full 32 x 32 multi-track rig. Another cool feature is that it can record the multi-track while playing back from the playlist—which is nice if you’re using it to play clicks/fills.
Drilling Down
With multiple users being able to control the DL32R, the world of uses expands exponentially. The 14 assignable outputs can be used as band monitor sends, giving each member of the band (up to 10) with an iPhone, iPad, or iPod the ability to mix their own ears. The FOH engineer can also limit their uses to only their mix, so that way the keyboard player doesn’t start accidentally adjusting the bass player’s mix. I was only able to test it with seven devices connected. Some of my tech guys have switched to Android phones and have since been shunned by me. But with the devices I could find, I found Mackie’s “Master Fader” software to be incredibly responsive.
The Master Fader App is well designed. Even from my iPad Mini it was simple to see everything and manipulate the audio. The built-in DSP is easy to use, with plenty of presets to get you in the ballpark of the sound you’re looking for.
One feature I would love for them to change is found in the recorder screen. The option to format your hard drive is right there begging to be clicked. It does ask for confirmation, but still, I’d like to see that buried in the settings menu behind a fortress of confirmation windows.
Another nice touch allows you to backup your settings to a Dropbox folder or to iTunes from within the app.
Mackie has also partnered with Audinate to bring Dante digital audio networking capability to the DL32R in a soon-to-be-released add-on card. There is still a 32-channel limit, but with Dante the FOH engineer can push or pull audio anywhere on the Dante network with the DL32R.
While I have a hard time believing the DL32R will catch on with tours, I think this unit has great market potential with small- to medium-sized churches, and portable and multi-site churches.
I found it for sale online for $1,999, a price inline with other smaller digital consoles out there. But keep in mind that you also need to purchase a wireless router and at least one iPad with it.
I could see myself putting this in our chapel, or replacing the mixer in our bloated portable system that takes two guys and a trained gorilla to assemble. After spending a few days with the Mackie DL32R, I found it a viable option to become our first (and I can’t believe I’m even saying this) fully wirelessly controlled audio mixer. Well done, Mackie, keep it up.
