System Requirements

These are the minimum requirements for your computer system to use the Onyx FireWire interface.

For the PC:

Windows XP (no earlier operating systems are supported)

Pentium 4 or Athlon XP processor

256 MB RAM

For the Mac:

OS X*

G4 processor

256 MB RAM

* See www.mackie.com/OnyxFW_Update for information on compatible Mac OS X operating systems.

A Note about Hard Drive Speed:

Most tower-style desktop computers have hard drives that spin at 5400 rpm or faster, which is generally fast enough to record 18 channels without a problem. If you are experiencing difficulty recording all 18 channels at once, especially at 96 kHz, you may need to install a faster hard drive (i.e., 7200 rpm).

Most laptops come with 4200 rpm drives. This will work fine if you are recording fewer tracks at lower sample rates. However, if you are buying a laptop to use for recording the maximum number of tracks, specify a faster drive. It may be possible to replace a 4200 rpm drive with a faster one (preferably a 7200 rpm drive with an 8 MB cache), but you should check with the manufacturer to make sure.

Another option for either a desktop or laptop computer is to purchase an external FireWire-equipped hard drive, again preferably a 7200 rpm drive with an

8 MB cache. This can be connected to one of the FireWire connections on the Onyx FireWire card or directly to your computer and appears as an available drive to your computer. Fast SCSI drives can be used as well.

Manual Owner’s

Owner’s Manual

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