Mackie Big Knob

Very easy to use with a lot of extra features.
Talk back, studio outs and 3 extra outputs are very handy as well as the 2 headphone outs.
Individual trims on inputs and outputs are very handy.

Does not colour the sound...
but doesnt quite live up to the highest expectations.
Distinct crosstalk and imbalance between left and right outputs.
Inputs are not all identical in spec.
Takes away ca. 4db from the whole dynamic range but at 113db that doesnt really bother me much.

Havent had it long enough to be able to make a judgment, although my first unit was (almost) defektive.

Never replied to my support emails.
Didnt get through to Hotline although I was put on hold for 15 minutes.

Certainly the best Monitor Controller with the most features for under 1000 USD.
The ability to listen to up to 3 sources simultaneously is worth the price in itself.
Using it in a DAW environment has made my analogue mixer redundant.

Very easy to use. Simple connections, and lots of them. I didn't read the manual.

Doesn't color the sound of the inputs. Sounds great.

This thing is built like a tank.

I haven't had to call Mackie in a long time. When I did, they were great. The company has changed since eight years ago. Then again, since I haven't had to call them in the last eight years of using many of their products, I guess that is more important than good tech support.

This thing works great. It is bigger than I thought it would be, and I wish it was a little smaller. It is wider than than my 12" Mac powerbook, and it takes up more desk space than I expected.
The two separate headphone outputs and level controls are great, and they have plenty of power, even when driving my 600 ohm headphones which usually load down other headphone amps. The talkback mic mic works well for making comments when I and another bandmember are mixing on headphones.
Being able to quickly switch between four stereo inputs and three monitor outputs is awesome. The individual level controls for each input and output makes all of my systems work together very well. Now I can switch between the mix I just made, the CD I made last week, and the Pink Floyd CD that I wish my recording sounded like. I can also hear all of those from three sets of speakers. I can switch them all in a fraction of a second. This box has really improved the reliability of my mixes. Now I don't many surprises when I take the mix that sounded great in my studio out to other places and systems.

This device is easy to use, it makes recording using a computer much easier because of the way it manages monitor and headphone sends from various sources. Levels are easily managed and mixing between +4 and -10 equipment is no problem.

The manual is excellent and very disciptive of all features

the Big Knob is very quiet and it adds no discernable noise to the signal. It accepts balanced TRS connections on nearly every possible jack, so that's a real plus.

I'm using the Big Knob in my studio with an Event Layla sound card and a set of Alesis Monitor One monitors and their RA-100 amp.

As simple as this device is and as nicely it's constructed I can't see reliability being much of a problem. All of the pots and jacks seem to be of very high quality.

I've never had to deal with the company in any way so I don't know for sure.

We record pop/rock tunes with our band and I feel that this product would be handy for someone using a computer based system for recording just about any type of music. It might even be cool as a DJ mixer. The ability to switch between various sources, monitors, and headphone mixes is a big plus, it's really streamlined our work and increased productivity while recording.

If you do get a Big Knob plan on buying about $200 worth of bulk mic cable and about 20 or more TRS and XLR ends and plan on spending an evening getting everything hooked up right the first time, you will need a bunch of cables to do the job right so you might as well make them yourself to the correct length and save some money.