Mackie Big Knob?

[Vanity]

Alright, so i've been looking at purchasing one off these for along time now as i use it alot in our college studio. But what i don't understand it what it actually does, i mean i know it allows you to connect 3 different sets off monitors up and easily switch between them as well as controlling the volume but it that really worth £250? Surely i could just do the same with an audio interface, connect 3 sets of monitors up to that and turn each on when i needed them? What is it i'm missing?

[Brothulhu]

It is an interface with some extra features - http://www.mackie.com/products/bigknob/

[skimpi]

its not an interface, it doesnt have firewire/usb etc

However, my interface cant switch between monitors, theres only an output gain for 1-2 and headphones, its just a nice way of controlling all of your monitors and shit. Whether it is worth 250 quid is entirely up to you, id say that unless you have a pretty beefy studio with several monitors setups and a separate live room then its not really worth it haha

[wormcode]

They are way cheaper second hand. You pay extra for the cool look and the reputable name, and what will hopefully be transparent audio.
Here's a copy/paste of some recommendations I gave someone else recently who was looking for a way to control more than 1 pair of monitors (btw he said the Samson was selling for around 20 quid):

The Mackie Big Knob is made for that, it's quite a great little box. You can pick them up pretty cheap on ebay.
http://www.mackie.com/products/bigknob/

Similar design/price:
http://www.smproaudio.com/index.php/en/ ... ontrollers

Samson has a cheaper one called the c-Control, but it's not nearly as nice. Looks like an optical drive for a computer.

[Sharmaji]

I've had mine for about 5 years (?) now... it is definitely, absolutely 100% NOT transparent in audio, but it's also cheap as hell and the coloration is a handicap you can work with.

besides being literally a big knob you (or a client) can turn to make everything louder or quieter, it's great for patching in multiple input sources (vocalists' phone/ipod, mic pre for vocal tracking, turntable to check against vinyl, etc), and is a good monitor switch. Depending on how i'm routing a vocal session, the talkback feature is either fantastic or completely useless. The mono and dim buttons are a godsend.

If you've got a lot more $ to spend, buy the dangerous monitor controller without a shadow of a doubt. if you've got a bit more $, the presonus control station is solid. If you find it for dirt cheap on Ebay (as i did) and these features are relevant to you, get it.