Mackie MDB Series, USB Signal Direct Box (MDB-USB)

I own the Radial, Mackie and Peavey USB Boxes. The Peavey box seriously lacks output, so much so it is unacceptable. The Radial has incredible fidelity and output. The Mackie is very close to the Radial in every respect. If you're using it at home to integrate active studio monitors to your computer, it's perfect. If you're needs are professional, get the Radial and spend the extra $100.00.

Shifted from on-keyboard audio processing to iPad based midi-processing through a controller. As we swapped over from our previous keyboard->Mackie stereo DI setup to the iPad->Mackie USB DI things were no longer silent - instead we discovered this DI introduced a static/white noise floor that doesn't exist from any of our other MDB devices. It worked well with the iPad detecting it immediately as an audio capable device and audio routing was a snap. So on the compatibility side - it's a win. But the sound is poor. Could just be a defective unit. Will try an exchange and see if that fixes the issue before returning it and going Whirlwind USB DI.

I needed one of these for main PC audio to capture game audio and some OBS monitored stuff and another one to capture communications audio, so I could feed that to another channel with it's own mix that went back out to a BEHRINGER U-PHORIA UMC202HD, 2-Channel from that bus, so the people on coms wouldn't have to hear themselves come back at them. I also had another UMC202HD to capture the main mix from the mixer to throw into OBS. Both devices are plug and play and are completely clean without buzz/noise. I used to run everything through the 1/8 inch jacks on the PC because it was good enough, but then I picked up a ton of cable whine and ground buzz out of no where that I couldn't seem to eliminate even though everything was running through a power conditioner. These devices solved my problems and have been work horses in my studio ever since.

I needed a solid, affordable, balanced DAC to run from my pc, to LOXJIE P20 balanced tube amp, to Focal Elex headphones. The Mackie USB Signal Direct Box fit the bill. Mackie has a strong reputation in the music world, and this well-built little unit does just what it’s designed to do - provide a clean, high resolution signal.

It works. I use this in my office to feed some powered studio monitors. With most usb d/a converters there is noise coming from the PC, but the ground lift switch on the back quickly eliminated that. It's plug and play with Ubuntu 18.10, as well. :) My only complaint is that the speaker outputs stay active when the headphone jack is used - a knob or bypass switch would simplify the setup and eliminate the workaround, which is to use another headphone amp and switch outputs in the operating system when I need to use headphones. Otherwise, this works as advertised and sounds great.

Works as expected. Wish USB jack were in the back. Would look neater in my setup. Using work ikLoud MTMs on my standing desk.

I wanted this to work, it just doesn't. Here's my setup. I use a Behringer U-Phoria UMC404HD for guitar tracks when I feel like recording upstairs, I bought the MackieMDB-USB to power my KRK 8" Gen 5's. I wanted to keep my I/O's separate. My KRK's are tuned to my needs, the EQ is setup perfectly for what I want. All this thing has to do is deliver audio. There is nothing clipping in my signal chain. If I use my U-Phoria for audio, I can dime everything and my house shakes but I have clarity. If I use the MackieMDB-USB, anything about 60-70% is distorting in any part of the chain. This is audio interface straight to powered studio monitors via XLR. Nothing inbetween. Frankly the volume level doesn't even come close to my original solution, even with everything clipping. I'm not going to go deep into how I performed my troubleshooting, but I tried different USB cables, ports, and chipset (ie: USB 2.0 vs 3.0). I changed outputs and audio resolutions. I even looked to see if maybe a different driver existed. At the end of the day this should be a device that's very simple. I plug it in and use it. I feel I gave it a fair shake with my troubleshooting. Seeing how my current product reacts and handles audio, and how this mackie fails right out of the box. I just don't have faith that this is a technical issue or defective product. In that aspect, this should be a very simple tool.

Great product. No more buzzing sound from the computer through the mixer console.

Muy bueno

ステージ上でPCやタブレットからPAにオケや動画の音声出しをすることが増えていますが、シンプルかつ安価にそれを実現するアイテムです。細いケーブルを引き回さずに済むのでノイズと無縁になりますし、GNDリフトスイッチがあるのでハムともさよならできます。不安定で事故の元でしかないミニプラグを使わずに済むのはありがたい。volノブが出っ張ってるのが残念なので星4つ。

The USB version is great. Solidly built, pleasing to use and crystal clear audio. Couldn't be happier.