Recording - November 2017 - 42

Mackie
Big Knob Studio+

and Big Knob Passive
Monitor control and source
routing-more or less
REVIEW BY MIKE METLAY

ackie's original Big Knob (reviewed January 2005)
was designed for signal routing and monitor control in
studios with CD players, DAT and cassette decks,
turntables, and the like. Today's studios-with DAWs everywhere, clients coming in with tracks on smartphones, and
highly affordable speakers letting nearly everyone have
multiple sets of monitors-have different needs, and require
different solutions. That's the reasoning behind Mackie's
recent updating of the Big Knob to not one but three new
models, with features to suit any studio.
In the sidebar, we'll talk about the Big Knob Passive, which
brings handy options to the very smallest rigs, and in a future
issue we'll cover the Big Knob Studio, which is only just beginning to ship in quantity as this review goes to press. For now,
it's time to delve into the capabilities of Mackie's new top-ofthe-line monitor controller, the Big Knob Studio+.

Sources and Cue inputs

The Big Knob Studio+ serves as a router, a monitor controller, and a mixing console's talkback section, complete with
cue mixes and an output to a tracking room headphone amp.
It's also a 2-in/4-out USB interface with up to 24-bit/192 kHz
I/O, eliminating the need for a separate computer interface
in many cases. Rather than discuss the front panel and then
the rear, let's break down the layout and tie controls to inputs
and outputs as we go.
First are what Mackie calls the 2-Track Sources. There are
four to choose from-three stereo pairs plus USB outputs from
your computer. Any or all of these can be selected with large,
brightly illuminated buttons on the front panel.
Unlike the original, which had unbalanced RCA inputs for a turntable, the Big Knob Studio+ starts off with two full-fledged Mackie
Onyx preamps, capable of handling any mic, line-level input, or
instrument via combination XLR/TRS inputs. The front panel offers
individual mic gain controls, global phantom power switching,
and a choice of mono or stereo panning of the inputs to whatever
output you're listening to (USB recording is always hard-panned).
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RECORDING November 2017

This lets you do basic recording of a pair of mics, or a mic and
a guitar-whatever you might need. A rear-panel switch lets you
set the USB interface to record whatever mix of Sources you've
selected, or to always record from the two preamps.
After Inputs 1/2 (the preamps), there's a pair of +4 linelevel inputs (3/4), and a pair of inputs with -10/+4 switchable level (5/6). Either pair can be dedicated to the main or
control-room outputs of a separate mixer, or to a 2-track playback device. Inputs 5/6 have the added flexibility of a 1/8"
minijack on the front edge of the unit, making it easy to plug
in a client's smartphone. Each of these input pairs has a level
trim control on the top panel, detented at unity gain.

Cue and Phones

After the Sources are the Cue In/Aux Mix inputs, which
will usually be fed by a stereo prefader monitor mix from your
mixer or multichannel interface, which can then be routed
to the headphones of whoever's playing. The Cue Source
switch lets you listen to only this input pair, or the second
stereo USB output from your DAW (so you can set up a cue
mix right inside your software), or a mix of Aux Mix and
USB plus whatever input Sources you've selected. There's
a zero-latency Direct Monitoring knob to blend the Cue mix
with the selected Inputs (including USB), and the two frontedge Phones outputs can be fed by the 2-Track Sources or by
the Cue mix (individually selectable).
By the way, the Phones outputs sound great. They drive
even high-impedance headphones with ease, and they get
ear-bleedingly loud, so turn them up with caution.

Talkback, 2-Track, and Studio Outs

The Talkback system sports a front-panel omni mic plus a
rear-panel XLR for an external dynamic mic if you prefer, with
a switch to choose between the two and a 1/4" footswitch
input to turn the mic on and off.
On the front panel, you can set the level of the Talkback
signal and send it to either the Cue bus, which we've discussed
above, or to the 2-Track outputs. Those are a pair of balanced
outputs on TRS with a -10/+4 level switch; while they're usually
meant to feed a 2-track analog hardware recorder, they can
also be sent back to a set of mixer inputs to route talkback to
your console rather than the headphone jacks.
If you have a headphone amp for your tracking room, there's
a separate balanced TRS Studio Out to feed it. It has its own
illuminated front-panel On switch and level control. This lets you

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recording - November 2017