Mackie is an American professional audio products brand. Founded in Seattle in 1988 by Greg Mackie, a manufacturer of affordable and versatile compact pro audio mixers, Mackie is the primary product line of LOUD Technologies.
History
Mackie Designs, Inc. was founded in Woodinville, Washington by Greg Mackie,[1] an ex-Boeing worker who began making pro audio gear and guitar amps in his spare time. After founding the small line mixer manufacturer TAPCO, and later the home audio processor manufacturer AudioControl, Mackie founded Mackie Designs, Inc., designing and manufacturing affordable and versatile compact pro audio mixers under the Mackie brand in his three bedroom condominium in Edmonds, Washington. Mackie's first product was the LM-1602 line mixer, priced at $399.
Following the moderate sales success of the LM-1602, the company moved to a true factory in 1991 to produce and release its follow-up model, the CR-1604.[2] With the flexibility to be used as either a desktop or rackmount mixer (a new concept at the time) combined with solid performance and competitive price, the CR-1604 was purchased for use in a wide variety of markets and applications. The CR-1604 became a tremendous success, selling hundreds of thousands of units by 1996 and accounting for over 48% of Mackie's overall revenues at that time,[3][4]
Name change
In 2003, company management renamed Mackie Designs, Inc. as LOUD Technologies, Inc. (now known as LOUD Audio) to avoid confusion between the parent company and the Mackie brand.[13]
Acquisition
On December 4, 2023, Mackie was purchased by Røde Microphones.
Known VLZ Series Technical Problems
In 2020, a post by user "LincolnG" on Gearspace.com (formerly Gearslutz.com) initiated an online conversation that revealed a design flaw in the Mackie's Onyx chip used in the VLZ Series mixers. Others contributing to the conversation shared their experiences anecdotally and it was subsequently tested, verified, and documented, by "LincolnG" that the VLZ Series mixers do in fact have a design flaw that affects the stereo imagining. In the intervening years several others have verified the findings of "LincolnG".[14][15]
See also
- List of studio monitor manufacturers
- Mackie 1604-VLZ Pro
External links
References
- Greg Mackie NAMM.org, retrieved 2024-11-21^
- Mackie at AMS American Musical Supply, retrieved 2017-06-05^
- 1990 Mackie CR-1604 Mixer Mix Online, Future plc, September 2006, retrieved 31 December 2018^