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25x Motorfaders: Mackie Control,Extenders,C4,32V-Pots+Overlays+Parts - $999 (Van Nuys)
Sepulveda near Vanowen
make / manufacturer:
Mackie
model name / number:
MCU+XT+C4
QR Code Link to This Post
1x Mackie Control Universal, Firmware 2.1.0 (last available for the original, gray-colored MCU)
2x Mackie Control Extender, Firmware 2.1.0 (last available version)
1x Mackie C4, Firmware 1.02 (last available version for the C4) - incredibly rare 32 V-Pot/endless-knob plugin controller
4x Lexan Overlays (unused) for Cubase, Digital Performer, Vegas, Sonar and Cool Edit Pro. (The silkscreen on the MCU itself is for Logic).
Included free for parts:
1x Mackie Control Universal, Firmware 1.02. Complete and works when faders don’t fail calibration, but some of them always do.
1x Mackie Control Universal, Firmware 2.1.0 “shell” with all internal boards, a working display and 2 bad faders left in the unit.
A single new “white” MCU unit with 9 faders currently goes for $1,300 (plus tax+shipping) - you could have 25 faders and lots of rotary controls for a lot less.
The MCU and the two 8-Fader Extenders work exactly the same way as the “updated” (white colored) Mackie Control Universal MIDI controllers available today, but don’t have a USB-port.
This means that these original/gray MCUs still work with nearly all modern DAWs (Logic, Cubase, Studio One, FL Studio etc.), as long as the DAW supports the Mackie Control/MCU protocol, or the HUI protocol.
However, the lack of a USB port means, that you need a MIDI interface that has one dedicated MIDI port for each unit you want to connect at the same time.
So, if you have a MOTU MIDI Timepiece, Emagic Unitor 8 or AMT8, Steinberg Midex-8, M-Audio/Midiman MIDIsport 4x4 or 8x8, or any such multi-port MIDI interface that has drivers for your computer’s Operating System, you have what you need to connect these MCU units to your DAW.
(I’m using stacked Emagic (that company was bought by Apple) Unitor 8 + AMT8 units that Apple just recently updated the drivers for, so they work on current Apple Silicon Macs. This gives me a total of 16 MIDI ports… plenty for these MCUs and a bunch of synths. If you're on a Mac... these interfaces typically go for around $100 each, and Apple still updates/maintains them... check out Reverb, eBay, etc.).
One caveat about the Mackie C4 - as awesome as it is in supported DAWs, it is not as widely compatible as the “main” MCU+Extenders are. But if you’re using Logic, Tracktion or Sonar, the C4 should be supported (I used it with Logic and LOVED it! It’s like a secret weapon to speed up your workflow, if you really learn what the C4 can do. Logic is no longer my main DAW, though). I believe Reason also has a C4 map for some of its modules, but I never tried that.
Some comments on the condition per unit:
Mackie Control Universal (Main Unit):
Fully working and reliable. This has the most up-to-date hardware inside, despite of being labeled as a “Logic Control” on the outside. It’s the first unit I had, so I updated that one, and used the parts unit I’m including, to turn it into a full “Mackie Control Universal” unit (older “Logic Control”-only units still had some quirks because of the older firmware… but not this one - it’s an updated MCU unit on the inside).
The faders calibrate successfully on this unit, every time.
2x Mackie Control Extenders:
Both are generally identical and unmodified, but while they both worked when I stowed them away some years ago, one of them now gives trouble with Fader 7 on startup - that’s already reflected in the price. Some faders on the included "Parts Unit 1" below should be suitable replacements.
Mackie C4 Controller (32 V-Pots, 4 MCU displays):
Everything works as intended. However, every now and then the backlight of one of the displays doesn’t turn on when powering on, but so far, a light tap on the unit always fixed that. It might need to have a solder joint re-flown to make that solid… but the display itself works well, once the backlight is on (and then it always stays on). It just never bothered me enough to open the unit and look for that bad contact.
Parts unit 1:
This unit is generally complete and “would work” - however, I already swapped some faders with the main MCU unit listed further above, when they started going bad on that unit. So, I’d say about half the faders on this unit are bad and will give calibration errors when turning it on. When “helping” the faders a bit during calibration (e.g. pushing them all the way back down if stuck), then the unit “sometimes” finishes loading, shows firmware 1.02 and is recognized when configured for use in a DAW. Since some faders act up, you can’t “really” use it like this, though.
If you would want to restore this unit to fully working condition by installing some new faders, and updating it as far as possible, then parts unit 2 below should have the needed newer firmware chip with firmware 2.1.0 on it.
I haven’t tried swapping that over (I only needed a single working “main” MCU unit for my setup), but if you invest in some faders, you would end up with 2 fully up-to-date “gray” MCU units :)
Parts unit 2:
I bought that already partially parted out, because I needed a working “Play” button for the main MCU unit above when that went bad, and it was a good donor for that.
The 2 faders that are left in this unit are bad. But as mentioned… it does have the most up-to-date firmware chip version available for these gray MCU units, so it might be a good donor to bring Parts Unit 1 above back to life.
I actually really like this set of controllers and have mixed feelings about selling them. However, my mixing desk has MCU functionality as well and takes up the space where I used to have the MCU controllers. I’ve already kept these units stored for several years at this point… so it’s time to let them go.
If you have questions, please ask. At this point, I do NOT want to sell the units individually but will update this ad if I change my mind.