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Your cart is empty.Mackie ShowBox is a battery-powered all-in-one live performance rig that combines a 400W amplifier, portable PA speaker, 6-channel mixer, FX unit and audio interface with a breakaway controller that mounts to your mic stand.
Customer
Reviewed in the United States on February 8, 2025
Great idea but i jumped too soon. There needs to be some upgrades like having a headphone jack on the portable mixer rather than back on the speaker. I’m also a bit disappointed in the sound. Fun to use and very portable. Needs some tweaks
H. A. Cohen
Reviewed in the United States on January 15, 2025
First, let me give big shoutout Mackie. I've been a Mackie customer for years and and they really make great, affordable products with the musician in mind.So, this thing is like WOW. I'm not really sure where to begin. This is a serious*, solid little PA system with a ton of features, all useful for the working musician... especially your solo acts and buskers. It can handle a duo or trio quite nicely, too, I would imagine. According to other reviewers and the Youtube videos I've seen, this is confirmed.It's ready to go, right out of the box. You don't even have to plug it in as it runs on a battery that comes already charge. You probably would want fully charge it first though before using it. It's just a given.I don't need to go rough the features and specs, as that's probably what brought you this far, so I'll just get right to my own experience with it. My first impression, based on watching a lot of the video reviews is that it's kind of muddy and too reverb-y. But my opinion is that most reviewers are in such a hurry to test it out and upload a video, they haven't really taken the time to sit with it and let it marinate. If you read the manual, put in the time and tweak it to your taste, you'll find it is capable of much more volume and clarity than I'v seen demonstrated by others.The onboard effects are another thing that are underrated. Of course this isn't a Line 6 modeling amp or a Marshall stack, but what it does have is ample enoug to give you a lot of versatility during a live performance, especially if you use the looper. Speaking of which... the built in looper works great, but it does have its limitations. Though perfect for practicing, you might want to stick with whatever looper you're already using if you want to perform more complicated material or undo and redo layers.I also like the fact that you can mount this on a speaker stand or set it on the floor angled upwards like a monitor. I like the fact that it has bluetooth. One thing I don't like - the gig bag, (which I purchased - btw), is optional. I think it should be included. Several others have mentioned it and I happen to agree.If you're not ready to pull the trigger on this, yet - keep your eye on Mackie. I have a feeling their Showbox will include some exciting new features at the next NAMM show.*Well not completely serious. The manual is actually filled with humor along with solid instructions, illustrations and helpful tips. It's downloadable in PDF format and I suggest you take the time to go through it thoroughly. We old school guys always like to say say, RTFM (Read the F--- Manual). And keep it handy for reference!
Andrew M
Reviewed in the United States on June 30, 2024
I have to say I am rarely impressed by AV Tech, I've been around it for 20 years. But this little speaker actually impressed me. I bought it for our church to use in its prison Ministry. We go into the cell blocks and have a small church service.This works amazingly well for us, Power is not very easily accessible in most of the cell blocks so the battery pack is amazing. We paired it with 2 Mics and a battery powered Keyboard, we used the "Alesis Recital," and presto, we had our self a service sans power.We had to walk quite a way down the prison halls to get to the cell blocks and being able to wear the entire setup on my back was super helpful. This speaker gets impressively loud and is crystal clear. I was the acting sound guy, so I used the RJ45 cable to extend the control interface, it extends about 20 feet, this allowed me to get in front of the speakers and have control. But this could easily be done by someone in the band especially with the mic stand mount for the controller. There is a nice array of effects you have 2 effects positions for each channel, as well as compression, and EQ. It's a very nice little setup for on the go audio. There are also options to record and loop, I have not used either yet.Pros:-All In one solution-Runs on Battery (This is really a game changer for me)-Battery is easily removable ( I removed it, because I wound up checking it on a flight)-Nice control interface (Reminds me of an Aviom if you are familiar with them)-Has a Nice Backpack that can be purchased to wear it on you back.Cons:-Backpack is a little heavy when you load it with 2 mics, cables, the speaker and a stand. (it was ok for me, but I could see it being to heavy for some)-The control knobs move inclemently in clicks, and I felt like the change from click to click was a little large for my taste.
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