Mackie 808S PPM Professional Power Mixer Reviews 3

i paid $1300 canadian money at my local music store

the looks is okay

the sound is the main thing that I don't like the EQ is almost useless its too crispy for nothing the over all sound is not musical compare to my old peavey xr series my opinion is this, I don't think that the designers is experience enough to built a powered mixer. I think they concentrated to much on making it sound super clean like digital but then sacrificing the over all sound I really regret buying the unit I should have bought soundcraft or Peavey over this lacking in experience model, including the 8 bus analog that they said is equal to $150.000 mixing board it's like they will say anything to sell the product. advertising like this can realy make people suck into it but I will get rid them

check the graphic eq is made of very cheap plastic

My final thought is this mackie products is a real beginer unlike yamaha, peavey, soundcraft are more reliable because they are experienced in building powered mixer period. and I don't think that this is only an opinion i have 3 other powered mixer that I compared it with. if i don't sell it I will never use this for vocal maybe just keybords that requires a dry sterile sound

rated this unit 1 on 2003-12-26.

I PURCHASED THE MACKIE 808S PPM SERIES TOP BOX FROM MARK CRAWLEY AT YARBROUGH'S MUSIC IN MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE FOR $825.00. I BOUGHT THIS UNIT BECAUSE I NEEDED A LIGHT WEIGHT POWERFUL ALL IN ONE UNIT AND THIS BABY'S GOT IT ALL. GREAT EFFECTS, POWER OUT THE ASS, BUILT IN IMPRESSIVE 8 CHANNEL MIXER, ALL KINDS OF PATCHING POSSIBILITIES, NINE BAND EQ, MAIN/MONITOR SPLIT PUSH BUTTON FEATURE, ETC ETC ETC. IT HAS EVERTHING I NEED AND MORE ALL IN ONE NEAT LIGHTWEIGHT POWERFUL PACKAGE.

I LIKE EVERTHING ABOUT THIS UNIT. SEE ABOVE COMMENTS.

I WOULD LIKE TO SEE A HANDLE ON BOTH ENDS OF THE UNIT, TO MAKE IT A LITTLE EASIER TO HANDLE BUT IT'S NOT BAD AS IT IS. I ALSO WONDER WHY THE CHANNEL EQ DOES NOT GO THROUGH THE MONITOR EQ OR AT LEAST HAS A SELECTOR SWITCH. MAYBE IT'S TO AVOID FEEDBACK FROM THE MONITOR SPEAKERS, BUT IT WOULD GIVE YOU A BIT MORE FLEXABILITY IN THE EQ FOR THE MONITOR SYSTEM.

I FIND NOTHING LACKING IN THE CONSTRUCTION AND QUALITY OF THE MACKIE PPM SERIES.

THE ONLY THINGS THAT WOULD ADD TO THIS UNIT WOULD BE LIGHTER WEIGHT, A LIFETIME UNLIMITED WARRANTY, MORE POWER AT THE SAME OR LOWER PRICE AND A CREW OF BEAUTIFUL WELL BUILT NAKED LADIES FOR ROADIES TO MOVE YOUR GEAR AROUND, BUT I GUESS I'M GETTING OUT OF TOUCH WITH REALITY. HA! HA! GOOD STUFF, DOES WHAT IT SAYS AND MORE. CHECK IT OUT.

DON L. MILLER OF \"THE MEMPHIS CASTELLS/MILLER BROS.\" rated this unit 5 on 2003-12-20.

Got it on a closeout sale from an online music store. I paid $700 and it was money well spent.

I bought the 808S for the quality of the built in effects and the large amount of power it pushes. We use the gated reverb on the snare of our drum kit and run a balanced line into one of the other channels for the rest of the kit. It is mixed on a non powered Mackie 8 channel mixer. Basically, with this Mixer we can run our 4 Mains and Sub at peak, with a beautifully balanced mix. The sound in our bandroom is better than any other venue we've played because of the Mackie. Believe me, Mackie is a great company that makes great gear.

The only problem I had with the Mackie was my own fault, being stoked about getting it I proceeded to NOT read the manual and blew up our monitors when I failed to tell the Mixer to cut power to them. Totally my fault. Everything else has been GREAT!

This Mixer is incredibly sturdy, quiet and well built. It is extremely scratch and dent resistant and causes no power draws, no hums, or feedback. You could definitely run a club with this Mixer.

The reason I am leaving this review is to offset the previous review I read here where the Aussie gent seems to have received a defective product. Why he doesn't just return it for a new one or refund is beyond me, but I don't want people to get the wrong impression of this EXTREMELY versatile and professional quality mixer. A definite best buy in my humble opinion!

D from Kulbaen rated this unit 5 on 2002-08-25.

I purchased this unit after substantial research on comparable powered mixers. I bought mine at MMI Music in Birmingham, Alabama in April 2000. The purchase price was approximately $770 US.

The Mackie 808S has served flawlessly over the past 2+ years. It was in perfect condition right out of the box. It is simple to use, has plenty of power for moderately large rooms, and sounds great with my two 400w 15" speakers with horns. We run a wide variety of music through the 808S in outdoor and indoor venues. The passive cooling system is obviously dead silent and has never failed even after extended playing session. We have always been able to get a good blend and great overall sound from this unit.

There is nothing that I don't like about the 808S. If I had to look for a way to enhance the 808S I'd say that I'd like to see Mackie make a rack-mount version of the 808S. That's not a defect, it's just a suggestion to accommodate those of us who like the ease of dealing with rack-mounted systems.

The construction of the 808S is rock solid. Knobs and buttons do not have any slop in their movement. Controls are labeled clearly. The carrying handle is more than adequate for the weight of the unit. No worries about a piece of equipment crashing to the ground due to a cheap handle design. After using the 808S for over 2 years, I haven't found any area where Mackie might have decided to cut corners in design, materials, manufacturing, or workmanship.

I did a lot of product research before settling on the Mackie 808S. I have had zero buyer's remorse arising from the purchase of this product. I have confidence that it will not let us down when we walk out on stage to play. If it fell off the truck and into a river I would probably buy another 808S PPM at the next Mackie dealer I came to. If an 808S wasn't available, I'd buy a Mackie M-1400 power amp to put in the rack and run it with my Mackie 1642 VLZ Pro mixer. Either way, based on my experience with Mackie products, I am confident that I'd be able to roll on to the next gig and not have to worry about equipment problems.

Allan Morton rated this unit 5 on 2002-08-09.

Purchased from Powerpoint Music Australia 11 July 2001 Paid $1780 Australian I needed a new desk and power amp

The Mackie 808S is a clean and tidy unit.

I am one very unhappy buyer of the 808S. I'm sure it's tones are rich and wonderful, but then again, I wouldn't know, as I haven't heard a peep out of mine yet. Why you ask? When I took this baby out of the box, to my horror, one of the speaker outputs was unusable due to the screws threading. The self tapping screws had been screwed in too hard at the Mackie factory. Basically, you couldn't plug the speaker lead into the back! I'd just placed myself into hock to buy this badly constructed piece of #@*^. I'm really upset about this and want the world to know. If you're buying Mackie products of any description, don't buy them unless you've inspected the actual unit you intend to walk out of the shop with. There is obviously little quality inspection at the factory. I'll not be spending my hard earned dollars on Mackie products again!

Plastic, In a word. I feel like I've been mugged. Like someone has ripped out my heart and jumped on it. The EQ faders feel sticky and cheap. The box looks the goods, but is backed up by plastic everything else.

I've been robbed. I'm really upset. It's like saving for years, buying that new car you've always wanted and having it break down before you even got it home. My two cents. NEVER Purchase Mackie products without checking that everything works in the shop. They obviously have real quality issues! NEVER buy Mackie products if there is an alternative at the same price. NEVER place your trust in Mackie or internet reviews, funny how the bad ones like this never seem to air. I'm going to build a website for all the upset Mackie buyers out there, I'm sure there will be a heap. I'm sure there are those of you that are happy with Mackie, and all power to you, But in 30 years of buying over $100,000 of musical equipment, this is the first time this has happened, I'm not happy!

Jonathon Duvall rated this unit 1 on 2001-07-15.

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