Mackie Designs Completes Acquisition of Sydec

April 11, 2001 – Woodinville, WA – Mackie Designs Inc. (NASDAQ:MKIE) announced today that it has completed the previously announced acquisition of Sydec n.v. of Belgium, a major developer of advanced digital audio technology products. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

"With this acquisition, Mackie now owns the digital audio workstation technology and other intellectual property created by Sydec and currently marketed by Soundscape Digital Technologies Ltd. Sydec's talented engineering team created the first PC-compatible multi-track digital audio workstation, considered by many professionals to be the most stable workstation in the audio industry. We are excited to bring these enormously accomplished people into the Mackie family," said Jamie Engen, president and CEO of Mackie Designs.

In addition to significantly strengthening Mackie's digital audio capabilities, Engen noted that the acquisition is expected to reduce time-to-market for a variety of additional products in this rapidly growing category.

"Mackie is a recognized leader in the professional audio community worldwide. Now we can take advantage of Mackie's global marketing and manufacturing capabilities and make our advanced digital technology available in more products than ever before. Working together, we also expect to accelerate development of the next generation of digital audio technologies for the professional recording industry," said Erik Wijnen, managing director of Sydec.

Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains statements that are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based on current expectations, estimates and projections about the Company's business based, in part, on assumptions made by management. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Therefore, actual outcomes and results may differ materially from what is expressed or forecasted in such forward-looking statements due to numerous factors, including those described above and the following: changes in demand for the Company's products, product mix, the timing of customer orders and deliveries, the impact of competitive products and pricing, constraints on supplies of critical components, excess or shortage of production capacity, difficulties encountered in the integration of acquired businesses and other risks discussed from time to time in the Company's Securities and Exchange Commission filings and reports. In addition, such statements could be affected by general industry and market conditions and growth rates, and general domestic and international economic conditions. Such forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which they are made, and the Company does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this release.

About Mackie
Mackie Designs Inc. is known worldwide as a leading manufacturer and marketer of high-quality, affordable professional audio systems. Mackie products can be found in professional and project recording studios, video and broadcast suites, post production facilities, sound reinforcement applications including churches and nightclubs, retail locations and on major musical tours. Mackie Designs Inc. products are marketed by 54 distributors to more than 100 countries around the world.

"Mackie." is a registered trademark of Mackie Designs Inc. in the United States and other countries.