Reader aymat (Joel Carlo) wrote in to let us know that Mackie has released updated drivers for the Onyx Blackjack that finally deliver on the device’s promise:
For the thousands of Onyx Blackjack users on the Windows platform who have had nothing but frustration for the last 2 years since Mackie released it back in 2010, today is a freaking happy occasion. I’m sure those users who all but gave up on getting this little audio interface to work would be extremely happy to know that the new drivers are available and stable as hell 🙂
Carlo also posted a quick review of the update on his site.
A full day of testing and absolutely no dropouts or glitches. I can actually watch videos and stream music online without having to unplug the Blackjack every 5 minutes. And tracking audio directly to Cubase without Asio4All at near zero latency. This is the driver we’ve all been waiting for. Hats off to Mackie.
Hats off indeed! It only took two years!
Which is shittier: Windows’ inability to support simple sound devices or Mackie’s poor driver support?
I think Mackie gear has become complete garbage the last few years. Hell, Phonic’s HelixBoard Universal is nicer than Mackie’s Onyx-i series of mixers.
They got bought by some other company a few years back, if I remember it right.
Yes, they were bought by LOUD Technologies and have been making crap ever since. LOUD did the same thing to Ampeg.
Real shame they couldn’t have put the same effort into fixing the SHOCKING drivers for the previous Onyx firewire cards. Talk about temperamental.
Mackie are just not what they used to be…
As I stated in my article, Mackie definitely delivered on their promise of putting out a stable driver for the Blackjack which I believe will be most welcome for all Windows users. Considering those who still own a Blackjack and have struggled as much as up to two years to get it to run as it should on the Windows platform, it may be a little too late to restore faith in the Mackie name, which at one point was synonymous with high-end quality. My personal opinion is I’m just happy to be able to use this little audio interface as it was intended and expected to work. As an extremely long Mackie user (since the late 90?s), it has restored some of my faith in the company to follow through and not just leave users hanging. That being said, I’m also a consumer and at the end of the day if I am spending the money on a product, I expect it to work as it is advertised. This is paramount and it is unfortunate that Mackie did not properly field test the Blackjack on the Windows platform before releasing it to market. Regardless, thank you Mackie.
Why can’t we have a Tracktion update? The workflow is superior to any DAW on the planet, but there are no updates or bug fixes. All I need is for the thing to:
1. work.
2. input sysex strings for automation.
So it takes two years to sort out a driver. Not good enough. I will be steering clear of anything that Loud Technologies make it seems like Mackie have gone down in quality as have Ampeg. They better look out this is becoming or rather already is common knowledge and the opinion of many I have spoken to. Not good enough, very unimpressed.