Mackie Onyx Blackjack Audio Comparison by ProAudioStar

About the Recordings: There are a number of competing schools of thought when it comes down to how to design the perfect preamp or microphone shootout. Converters, EQs, compressors and other pieces of outboard gear are fairly straightforward because you can simply run the same sample through each piece of gear you're testing, but mic preamps, interfaces and microphones are a little more problematic. Ideally you want all your competitors recording the exact same source using the exact same ancillary equipment simultaneously, but that's usually impossible. I've seen some shootouts simply mic their monitors playing back the same clip, and while that certainly helps to eliminate performance variables, I don't think it really gives you a true and accurate sense of what a microphone or pre actually does on a given source. So I've opted to simply record three different takes of the same short clip for each given sample, using the exact same settings and gain for guitar and bass, and doing my utmost to maintain a consistent performance on vocals. There are definitely some slight variations, but most everything that can really affect the sonic signature – gain, tone, EQ, etc – was kept consistent.

Clean Guitar: This was recorded using an Epiphone Supernova played via a Marshall MG15CDR studio amp and recorded with an Avenson STO-2 microphone (an extremely neutral small-capsule omnidirectional pressure-transducer microphone that's ideal for comparison testing because of how little it colors the sound on its own). All reverb and other effects were disabled, all tone controls were set at neutral, gain was attenuated at 75%, and Mogami Gold TS and XLR cable was used for all interconnects.

Overdrive Guitar: Same as above, except gain and volume were both set at 50% for the MG15CDR's overdrive mode.

Bass Guitar: This was recorded as a DI, using an ESP LTD F-204 and the same Mogami Gold instrument cable. No amp modeling was used, and all tone controls were set to neutral.

Male Vocals: Using the same microphone and XLR cable as the guitar recordings, I sang a clip from the as-yet-unreleased song The Enlightened Paige, a piece I wrote for Wire Spoke Wheels' upcoming debut release: After The World Ends.