So after ye many years of the Alesis products completely destroying my impedance chain (its not their fault... it's the fault of us low brow guitar rig apes trying to use studio equipment as all purpose multi effect units...) I have finally found it's purpose at my home... well, basically - as always I need to get a few custom cables but yes, it's in use right now.
On the Mackie Satellite I am plugging the laptop's headphone out into input set #1, a spare 1/8" (ipod usually) setup on inputs #2, high-z inputs (microphone preamps) are switched between the Line6 POD XT balanced outs (cool eh?) and my microphones (which I dont use much any more) and the instrument in is left idle. A few things to note - if the firewire integration was all square (have to install the mackie drivers or something) then I could use inputs #1 for something else (line6, maybe).
The outputs on the Satellite are very flexible and have (2) independent control room outputs as well as 2 headphone amps. I use the headphone amps to monitor but they can cause tinnitus sensations so I change it up to the Altec computer speakers often but in particular for when I am watching "TV" (the video out on the laptop is hooked up to the TV so I watch youtube, netflix streaming et al this way instead of paying outrageous amounts for cable).
"Ok, how does the Alesis play in?". Well, the issue is that due to no seeming demand to the manufacturers that EQing your output on a computer, ipod or otherwise is actually pretty well missing (I dont count the presets on the ipod - they dont have 'cut' settings). In essence for my studio apartment the Altecs have WAY too much bass, even after I stuffed a sock in the port!
Enter the Quadraverb 2 - I was about to send it off to the great graveyard in the sky (aka my friends basement where a lot of my other gear lives) but I found a use for it. I am using the parametric abilities to shape the output to the speakers inline. Oops! There we go shaping odd impedances with the Quadraverb again (headphone in)!!.
And that's why I said 'basically' - the Mackie Satellite in all it's genius (and super low price point!) has included an 'insert' per channel. It's more or less an effects loop for things like... well, I assume needs like mine. Lets hope its after all the mixing circuitry... of course, I need those cables now to try.
Happy gear hacking.
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