Mackie Big Knob Passive (Non-Powered) 2x2 Studio Monitor Controller – Signal Attenuator for Pro Audio

I have two different studio monitor sets: an old pair of iLoud Micro Monitors and a new pair of Kali LP-6's. Having both of them hooked up to this thing is a god-send versus having to open the routing software over and over again to switch between them during a recording or mixing session. It's also quite heavy and very sturdy, which is a good thing when you got several cables hanging out from behind the unit which could overcome units built more lightly if they are all hanging down from back back. The Mono button is great for checking mixes in mono and it also makes listening to old mono recorded songs (with the instruments in the left and right and not "stereo" from the get go) a breeze as well. The Dim button is great even at home as I can set the knob to a specific spot and then just use the button to lower the volume in an instant. As long as you have all the correct cables (I make sure to use TRS cables for the connection from my interface, you can use TS cables but YMMV) and read the manual to make sure everything is hooked up, it's a absolutely worthy buy for the home studio. I have cranked it up as well and I cannot perceive any additional line noise from either speaker, thanks to it being a well designed and fully passive circuit path.

Loving it so far. Very nice and sturdy. Works well for what it does. My only minor gripe is that the volume knob while big, has very little resistance when moving. By very little I mean almost none. It would be nice to have a little resistance for tactile feedback while moving, but as I said before, it's a small gripe. Using for multiple inputs and multiple outs in a recording studio. The dim button works well for alternating between a louder (checking bass and drums) setting and a quieter (balance and tone) listening environment. The mute button does what it says. The mono button is a fantastic tool for checking your mix for phasing issues and for (believe it or not) checking panning and how well everything sits in the mix. No coloration that would affect your mix to the sound as far as I can tell and test. Easy to set up in the studio and will hopefully last a long time.

What I wanted was a fully passive monitor control that switched two stereo inputs into two stereo outputs, AND offers a common subwoofer output regardless of the monitors chosen. I noticed this had some space in the rear panel once the 1/8” jack would be removed, so I got a slightly used one from Amazon warehouse and drilled and soldered. Pic attached. Works fine, although this is a bit of an advanced mod. I used the same 150ohm resistors on the sub outs used on the monitor outs, on both pins 2 and 3. Speaking of which, this unit runs only impedance balanced (it's passive, just using resistors, rather than active balancing or transformer balancing). Sure it accepts balanced connections, but pin 3 just runs 150ohms to ground both in and out, which will net fairly modest noise removal from the cable run. Otherwise they’d need a very fancy potentiometer double dual gang with very strict tolerances. Unbal to monitors with short cable runs not such a problem, but it is somewhat of a volume loss, beyond the loss this unit already has by design. Monitors are typically too loud anyway when driven at line level. There are also a pair of 10uF electrolytics…polarized commodity ones…between input and output. I shunted those off but most people should probably leave them, they don’t hurt the sound much. And 100pf ceramic caps avoiding RF interference coming down the line, perhaps bleeding off a touch of high end in the process. I left those. The next day (not shown in the photo) I also added an On-Off-On toggle under the logo on the back, that offers follow, mute, and solo for the subwoofer, handy for Room EQ Wizard or just hearing what your subs vs monitors are doing. The solo works in conjunction with the main mute button as a fast A/B. Anyway this did solve my problem after modding and the unit is heavy and the knob feels smooth and heavy like a hifi receiver. I improved the signal path a touch and the functionality a ton. I just wanted to show this mod is possible and is good enough to avoid spending more if you can hack it and that’s all you need.

Exactly what I needed. I had a pretty simple problem to solve: An electric piano and a record player to run through my speakers. The record player has no built-in volume control. So this gave me the perfect functionality in terms of easy and fast swapping between sources AND control over the signal. And since it's passive there's no other cable managing/etc to worry about.

Love my new Mackie Big Knob and highly recommend as an A\B switch. I have a 4 channel mixer with 3.5 mm inputs from laptop, mini pc, bluetooth receiver, and my Numark NS7II and only use 1 input on this Mackie Big Knob to switch between two outputs i.e. computer speakers (work remotely) and my DJ speakers (when I want a little louder music). The mute button is a great feature as well.

I've had my eye on the Mackie Big knob for awhile and finally made the purchase during a sale. It is exactly what I had been looking for, has all the connections I need and is a great price. Its a good low priced option and works well for what I want. I have both my PC and audio interface as the inputs, and two sets of audio monitors as the output. This way I can easily switch between input sources while recording and change my outputs to different monitors while mixing music. Just two minor issues with it - firstly, it does appear to introduce a bit of noise to my audio signal when playing audio directly from my PC rather than my audio interface. Its not too much of an issue, the noise is inly audible at higher volume levels which I generally don't need to be at. I plan to look further into perhaps trying better quality shielded cables to try and reduce the noise from my PC. The other thing of note is the finish on the device itself. In the images it looked more like a plain black device, when in reality it is more dark gray with black speckled all over it. I had initially thought it was a bad paint job, but apparently the speckled are there to help reduce visibility of dust on the device, so there you have it!

I am using this MACKIE Big Knob for a slightly different purpose. When I first set up my Tascam Model 12 Mixer/Recorder over a year ago I dedicated Channels 9&10 to the Pre-Amp Out of my uTurn Turntable. As much as the Tascam Model 12 is the Hub to my Music Production it is also a part of our Music Rooms listening experience. Now that my set up has grown (with seemingly no end in sight) I wanted to free up those 2 Channels, as the Turntable is not used as frequently (we have a +Audio System in our living room for most of our Vinyl listening). I decided to get a Passive Switcher. In the old days I would have just gone down to my local electronics shop and bought the components and built one but those days of those kind of shops are long gone. I wanted something small. In my research I found a Mackie "Big Knob" Passive Monitor Controller. It is typically used to switch between 2 set of Monitors, like a main and reference pair. But you can also connect two sets of inputs and easily switch between them, which is what I needed. So I just bought one. The build quality is excellent, it is small enough that it fits nicely to the right/rear of my Tascam Model 12. It's out of the way but with easy access. Being passive, the minimal amount of electronics used makes it ultra-low noise and maximum signal integrity. In fact comparing it to the direct signals into the Tascam Model 10 and coming out of the Big Knob there is zero difference, no noise, coloration or volume loss. I don't understand some of the reviews that claim it was either Noisy or The Volume was low. Non of that was the case with mine. I can only suspect "USER Error" or connecting it improperly from those reviewers. It also has some buttons for Mono, Mute, and Dim which might come in handy. Simple, Low cost Solution and based upon my using it I am sure it also makes for a perfect Monitor Controller if that is what you need!

I just got the unit and proceeded to test it right away. I own a "semi-professional" home studio, and know my equipment well. I tested this with two set of quality monitors, as well as great quality cables (mogami, neutrik connectors, and so on). The sound quality is excellent, and the construction is quite good too. Buttons feel nice and do not cause any noise or pop when pressed. However, the deal killer for me is the CHANNEL UNBALANCE: this is extremely evident when you roll the volume down close to 0 (or infinity, rather), which cause the left speaker to drop in volume much earlier than the right channel. I kinda feel the unbalanced sound is still present at normal/louder volumes, but it's probably a matter of .2 or .3 dB... still pretty annoying. I will definitely return it.

Excelente material mejora mucho mi flujo de trabajo

I really like the design of this, but found without the proper grounding of a power supply you can introduce noise into the signal. I also noticed as you bring the attenuator knob down to the lower quarter, the left/right speaker channels become unbalanced. So if you are monitoring in this range and mixing your song, you may get a rude shock when it comes to listening on another stereo device.

Fine, but the buttons get loose by the time. You need press it many times to work properly. Good just for sometime and then you need to upgrade for something better

プッシュプルの真空管アンプを導入したところ、ボリューム最小でも出力が大き過ぎたので、ボリュームコントローラーを探してたどり着きました。 機能的には申し分ないし、コンソールに配置されたボタン、ボリュームノブの質感も値段を感じさせない高級感があります。 急いで購入したので、Mono、Mute、Dimスイッチがあることに驚きました。 あと、サイズが意外と大きいです。 多分、これくらいだろうと勝手な想像をしていたのですが、ふた周りくらい大きかったです（笑） 商品説明に掲載されていないので、盲点でした。 で、肝心のサイズは高さ79×横幅137×奥行き142mm、重量1kgです。 これから購入する方は予めチェックしておきましょうね。

I was looking for a high quality passive volume control to a pair of powered speakers with 2 input sources. The unit appears very well made, the volume control works flawlessly and feels positive to use, and I don’t suffer from any extraneous noise or interference. It wasn’t the cheapest option, but my initial impressions are that it is well worth the higher price.