All the original products that gave Mackie its start have been
superceded by
competitors, and most other products fall under the SSDP heading (same
****,
different pile), except that Mackie products cost more. Mackie's most
outstanding feature is marketing. In every other way they've lost their
teeth.

In general, if a Mackie product catches your eye, your next step is to
find
out who makes a better alternative for less.

IMO, for the case of my Onyx 1620 and SRM-350's the above would not apply.

I don't use plastic speakers so I wouldn't know which ones are less hideous.
The 1620 has a good feature set, but after 4 revisions of the preamp design,
each touting to be the best thing ever, I don't give a damn what Mackie
calls them, they're still run-of-the-mill op-amp junk, no more impressive
than the Behringer/Yorkville stuff. Soundcraft is about the only brand with
op-amp pre's that are semi-useable for recording, the rest are too similar
to worry about anything but price.

I'd love to see a third-party case for that Firewire card though! All it
needs is the power supply and suitable connectors, might even be possible to
bus-power the rascal. Imagine a sub-compact 16x2 24/96 Firewire interface
for under $600... a laptop MT recorder's dream!