Mackie is a brand of the United States-based company LOUD Technologies. The Mackie brand is used on professional music and recording equipment, such as mixing consoles, loudspeakers, studio monitors and DAW control surfaces, digital recording equipment and more. Mackie Designs, Inc. was founded in Woodinville, Washington by Greg Mackie, an ex-Boeing worker who began making pro audio gear and guitar amps in his spare time. After founding the small line mixer manufacturer TAPCO, and later the home audio processor manufacturer AudioControl, Mackie founded Mackie Designs, Inc., designing and manufacturing affordable and versatile compact pro audio mixers. Mackie's mixers were a tremendous success, forcing Mackie to relocate and expand manufacturing every year in its early years to eventually occupy a 30,000 square-foot factory in 1994 and further expanding to a 90,000 square-foot factory the following year. Mackie Designs took advantage of the Seattle area's plentiful electronic and engineering subcontractors and utilized automated assembly machines to achieve high productivity and quality with lower overall production costs. Mackie was the originator of the Ultra-mix Universal Automation System for 8-bus consoles. By 1996, Mackie was diversifying, adding veteran industry designer Cal Perkins to the team and diversifying into power amps, powered mixers, and active studio monitors. In 2003, company management renamed Mackie Designs, Inc. as LOUD Technologies, Inc. to avoid confusion between the parent company and the Mackie brand.