Really it was just sheer ignorance as to proper console concepts on my part. Knowing the reasons why one might avoid Aux sends over directs is very instructive but it seems that ideally the signal being outputted from those are supposed to be for all intents and purposes a good clean signal just like the direct outs. Now that I understand it all (or at least these bits) I can make a judgment call as to whether I am getting unacceptable noise or other weirdness whereas before I was just like "duuurrrr... what do these do??? huuurrrr..."
 
Also knowing all this if I got stuck in a pinch I could easily use my other (crappy) board for multi tracking because ALL it has is Aux/Alt type routing. Previously all I could do was use it as a basic board for creating a stereo mix.
 
In the meantime this Mackie is a real treat to use and generally pontificate on.
 
Knowledge is power, yo.

Another thing which I noticed last night - mine has a Hi Z switch on the first channel. Now, according to the manufacturers of my audio interfaces (previous and current) and preamps, all had Hi Z inputs.
 
But after hearing the difference between Hi Z on and off on the Mackie, I have a hard time believing it. I've tried many, many things in order to get software amp sims to have that bite - hardware compression, guitar pedals, outboard preamp...Nothing ever made as much difference as the Hi Z switch on the Mackie.
 
That thing just opened up a whole world of possibilities and redeemed lots of amp models which I had discarded. 

Well that's a pleasant surprise, isn't it? I'm getting jealous of you guys and your Hi Z mixers.
 

http://www.motu.com/products/guitar/zbox/
 
Almost bought of these a few years back but I wasn't sure it would actually make a difference, since my M-Audio interface supposedly offered Hi Z.
 
Had I known how much difference it makes (admitting that it's like the Mackie's), for $40, I'd have bought that one a blink. 

Dammit, Rain!! Now I'm contemplating spending some of my business seed money on one of those!! lol
 
Seriously though I gotta wonder exactly how much better it would/could be than the Hi Z on my Focusrite. I do feel like I spend far too much time "chasing" tones with my sims when I use the Hi Z and I'm wondering if something like that would solve the problem. When I listen to what the sims are doing I can tell that they are indeed really quite accurate for the gear modeled but... something just ain't right.
 
The one very immediate benefit though, whether it's truly better than the FR Hi Z or not, would be being able to plug straight into the Mackie and access the EQ but is that really worth $40 to me?
 
I guess that's the
 
*shades*
 
$40 question.
 
YEEEEEEAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!

After checking around for reviews and examples of the Z Box I'm even more conflicted. It's seems that some people hear it and like it while others aren't hearing any difference/improvement. Some of that seems to come down what Instr inputs they already had on their interfaces (and apparently you are supposed to use the HiZ settings on an interface even while using the ZBox... weird). I guess not all Hi Z inputs are created equal so if someone had an input designed more with guitar in mind they are less likely to hear a difference. I am not sure whether I have one of the good ones.
 
There is a rather lengthy vid of a guy unboxing/testing one on youtube and there does seem to be a bit of an improvement. He also had a freq analyzer on it and it looks like the ZBox is stripping out some of the ultra high freqs (which apparently is a good thing). It also looked like when the guy was playing chords that when plugged straight in the analyzer was looking more like a hump whereas with the Zbox there were more little freq spikes across the mid range that moved and stood out above the rest... so I guess more texture/definition/nuance while playing chords? That would be nice.
 
So IDK... I should probably consider getting one if for convenience only (setting up the Line6 to get a better input can be a real hassle and honestly it ain't the greatest). I also have a hunch I might get a better bass input going through the Mackie with something like this because I can control the bottom end better.
 
hmmm...
 
I also neglected to mention that I can, in theory, have more than the 6-8 line ins on the Scarlett if I use my Layla3G box (without the card) connected to the ADAT in on my Scarlett. That would give me 8 extra ins up to 48k or 4 extra inputs up to 96k. That would obviously exceed either/or of the Aux or Direct Outs on their own so I'd have to use a combo of the two.
 
Not that I'll be recording that many tracks at once anyway but it's nice to know I could.

I might try to find some time and do some testing for you as I too use a Scarlett.
 
I didn't rely on amp sims as extensively since I got my Scarlett because I had a bunch of other options - real amps, the direct out on my Spider IV, a POD HD...
 
Most of my work with amp sims I tried to do using my old M-Audio Fast Track, either direct, either going through a preamp, or a combination of devices. But as far as I can recall, I wasn't happier with the Scarlett in that regard.
 
It always left me with the impression that the amp sim was adding a coat of distortion on top of my otherwise very, very flat and lifeless guitar track - no matter how hot the signal I fed the amp sim.
 
The Hi Z switch was a surprise because for the first time, it sounded as if the guitar was biting into the amp - it was not simply dressed in overdrive, it was overdriving, punching through.
 
 

Guitar pickups are very sensitive to input impedances. They like to see the 1M ohms a valve preamp or well designed solid state pre or buffer provides. Otherwise you lose shedloads of treble and quite a bit of output as well.

Hence the issues around effects pedal bypasses that began a couple of decades or so ago. An unmodified vintage crybaby or MXR pedal for example can really wipe out your tone and volume when bypassed because the input side of the effect circuit is still connected to the guitar (the switch just disconnects the output of the circuit) with the result you're now connected to a low impedance crybaby in parallel with whatever comes after it.

If you google "Pete Cornish" and "bypass" he has an interesting article on his site about input impedances and guitars.

Sorry, guys. Got caught up in hammering out some more details for my ongoing plans and schemes some of which relate to this.
 

Rain
I might try to find some time and do some testing for you as I too use a Scarlett.
 
I didn't rely on amp sims as extensively since I got my Scarlett because I had a bunch of other options - real amps, the direct out on my Spider IV, a POD HD...
 
Most of my work with amp sims I tried to do using my old M-Audio Fast Track, either direct, either going through a preamp, or a combination of devices. But as far as I can recall, I wasn't happier with the Scarlett in that regard.
 
It always left me with the impression that the amp sim was adding a coat of distortion on top of my otherwise very, very flat and lifeless guitar track - no matter how hot the signal I fed the amp sim.
 
The Hi Z switch was a surprise because for the first time, it sounded as if the guitar was biting into the amp - it was not simply dressed in overdrive, it was overdriving, punching through.
 
 

That would be cool... very cool. Since I last posted I've been searching the tubes and making some calls about the Z-Box and other alternatives to this issue. The one thing that is kind of annoying is that Focusrite doesn't seem to list the impedance (I think that's what we're talking about) for the Instr. input/setting. It's got some other electronic gobbledygook that I don't understand but not the 1Kohm designation that I have learned is what is needed and what the ZBox, a proper guitar preamp and other devices for guitar supposedly provide (at first I thought it was 1ohm but I guess it's 1kilo ohm... or something). I was talking to my usual retailer and they started prattling on about Radial and Neutrik solutions. Neutrik seems to just be cables and adapters so I'm not sure how that would help (unless there is a resister built in or something). The Radial boxes look like regular old DI boxes but their site has a special chart to show which of their boxes should be used for which sources (bass, acoustic, electric... the bass and electric are the ones I am interested in and they have boxes that cover both). So that's good to know and might be more versatile because of the standard DI function (for splitting out to an amp and the mixer/interface). Those of course cost more and I am not quite certain they would provide the same results as the Zbox.
 
The infuriatingly hilarious part is I can't find the Zbox ANYWHERE up here in Canada except on Amazon.ca and they are charging over TWICE as much (over $80... ugh). I'm almost thinking I could wire one up for myself if I can figure out the right parts. Maybe I could use one of my old burnt out pedals as the housing... lol.
 

tlw
Guitar pickups are very sensitive to input impedances. They like to see the 1M ohms a valve preamp or well designed solid state pre or buffer provides. Otherwise you lose shedloads of treble and quite a bit of output as well.

Hence the issues around effects pedal bypasses that began a couple of decades or so ago. An unmodified vintage crybaby or MXR pedal for example can really wipe out your tone and volume when bypassed because the input side of the effect circuit is still connected to the guitar (the switch just disconnects the output of the circuit) with the result you're now connected to a low impedance crybaby in parallel with whatever comes after it.

If you google "Pete Cornish" and "bypass" he has an interesting article on his site about input impedances and guitars.

Very informative as always, tlw. Thanks... and I guess I was mistaken about the 1kilo ohm if you are saying mega ohm. I intend to take an electronics course in a year or so if I can swing it so I can get out of this fog of confusion which always overtakes me when trying to learn about these things. I also figure I could save a hell of a lot of money if I can just wire up some of these simpler devices as I need them. It would also be fun to try out some of my own little creations. I've got some ideas for little mini mixer/DI/HiZ/splitter/preamp thingies to handle these type of input issues. It would be REALLY nice if I could wire up my own tube preamp for vocals or even see if I could build a little 5watt tube amp for guitar so I can drive it without blasting out my neighbors. I'd have to do some other educational upgrading first though. I started working far too young so I've got a lot of catching up to do. D'oh.
 
Cheers.