Mackie 1202VLZ Pro

[hollowbodyhound]

Hope someone can give me a good objective opinion of this mixer. It will be used in a budget concious home studio primarily for its preamps but also to mix live sound. Anybody have an opinion??

thanks

[Mike BL]

As you'll notice by my low post count, I'm pretty new around here, but I've been in the market for a mixer for a little over a month now, and a ton of people around here have had great stuff to say about the 1202. In fact, if I hadn't just been screwed by a deadbeat bidder on ebay, I think I would have purchased one last week.

[Track Rat]

The 1202 is one of the best in its price range. Decent mic pre's on four channels with inserts on them. For a band, only four pre's might be limiting for live use (unless four mics is all you need), but in a small project studio it can be real usfull. I had one for a while in the studio fro a couple of extra pre's and I gave it to my son who still uses it.

[hollowbodyhound]

Thanks guys this is just what I was hoping for. Its great to get feedback on this stuff from experience rather than buying it based on company specs. Thanks again

[ChuckU]

I'm selling my 1202. Also my 1402. PM me if interested.

[invisiblemute]

I have the Mackie 1202 and 1604. Their forte is build quality, Made in USA (if you think that's a plus), and cost. They've gotten me pretty far. But if you want a Mackie for the preamps I've read nothing but suggestions to get a stand alone like the Audio Buddy instead.

I seem to remember reading someone else say he prefered the VLZ version to the newer VLZ Pro. Something about the newer pres being too clean and uncolored. Guess this could be bad if you're going straight to a A/D converter.

[OnTheBlackRock]

I have one .... actually I had two at one point but I gave it back... but thats a WHOLE other story... anyways I loved my 1202 because it was PERFECT for using to record drums... I plugged my two SHURE KSM's into it for the overheads and My AKG D112 Kick drum mic and my SM57 on snare and through every line out into separate tracks into my Digi 001 into protools and it was great I got a SWEET recording for drums but for live purposes your gonna need something with more channels probably? unless your an acoustic solo artist? If your recording live and your guitarists have amps with direct outs you can plug them straight into the mixer and have a separate pre amp for the vocal mic... but it's gonna be crowded and VERY complicated to mic all that stuff and then mix them all at the right volumes... for the 400 bucks you'd spend on that you could go with the Alesis Multimix 12R which had 12 inputs so you could mic all your amps, vocals, drums and it'd be easier to record and you'd have 100 bucks left over to buy some pre amps (the preamps in alesis SUCK) so there's my speal for you.

[roostmusic]

the circuitry of the Mackie mixers is very solid...I have had my 1202 for a couple years now and I've even dropped in on concrete...thing still works flawlessly. very solid unit!

I just did a show with a beheringer mixer...let me tell you that those suck! every single channel leaks...ie you mute a channel and you can still hear a little of the audio on that track soaking through. horrible!

fork over the extra cash for a Mackie!

[paresh]

i love my 1202. The alt bus is a creative innovation. Tech sup is excellent. Very flexible...

[Lt. Bob]

I have a 1202 that I liked enought to buy a 1604VLZ-Pro.
It's been rock solid.....in fact, one night I accidently plugged the speaker out of my monitor (350 watts) amp into the input of one channel. !
It wasn't fazed by it.

[Mr Blues]

I busk in central London and I power my amp with a car batterry and a DC to AC inverter. I have a small portable (100 watt max) Stageline mixer plus a seperate large pro Sound speaker . At present I run it through a Beringher Euro UB802 mixer and the sound is ok but a bit tinney sounding.

Do you think its worth investing in a Makie 1202VLZ though its a lot more expensive , I understand that Makie mixers have fantastic features and a beautiful warm sound?

[Mr Blues]

I am sure someone here mentioned that there is not much difference in the Beringer UB range and the Mackie but I think thats just a few people's opinion.

I would guess the Mackie's are a different leauge to the Beri's.

Dave

[SouthSIDE Glen]

Dave,

While the Mackie is a superior mixer to the Bheri in construction, specs and morality (for the record I own a Mackie 1604VLZ [pre-Pro]), if you're busking outdoors (harp? sax? what?) the mixer is probably not the biggest problem to worry about. The Mackie would probably be an inmprovement, but - unless your Bheri is acting up - only a marginal one in that environment. Invest in some wattage and some well-matched heavy-magnet loudspeakers if you really want to bump your sound...even if you don't plan on going that loud.

And as one of the seemingly few VLZ non-Pro owners on this board, let me throw in a couple of dB here on the preamp issue mentioned earlier. The VLZ, which is simply the predicessor to the VLZ Pro, uses Crystal preamps versus the XDM preamps used in the VLZ Pro. While the Crystal preamps are not bad at all, the XDM preamps are unquestionably better. Yes they are noticeably cleaner and more transparent then the older Crystals, and that is a very good thing. Whoever said that cleaner and more transparent in a preamp is a bad thing has no idea what they're talking about .

Preamp coloration is only a "good" thing when the coloration itself is pleasant, planned and desired. Not all coloration is pleasant, certainly almost never planned in a single-choice situation like an econo mixer, and certainly not desired if the "coloration" tends to sound veiled or mudifying (like most inespensive preamp coloration does.)

G.

[brendandwyer]

i own a 1604vlz pro and i love it. I would stil use it but we can't seem to keep our track counts low enough

[Mr Blues]

Thanks for that SouthSIDE Glen ,

I mainly do vocals with a tanglewood jumbo semi acoustic guitar , I use an SM58 mic.

The Beringer mixer is good but does sound a wee bit mudy and twangy.

I guess the speaker is'nt what you call top of the range, I got it from Maplins , its a pro sound 200watt max, but is good enough for busking.

I basically got a PA system rather then a straight guitar amp.

Dave