Mackie 802VLZ4 has a buzz - Can it be saved??

[dbsoccer]

I have been trying to locate the cause of the cloudy, non-crisp vocals in my In-Ears (non-vocals are fine.). Today I stumbled across something totally unexpected. I found a hissing sound in all three of the Mic channels of my mixer. Here's what I did to verify.

1. For Mic1, Mic2 and Mic3 I turned the gain knobs, the channel levels and the main level knob all way to the left.
2. I plugged in head phones into the Headphone port (nothing else, zippo) and turned on the power to the mixer.
3. I then turned up the gain, channel level and main level to the right for each mic - one at a time.
4. I immediately got the hissing sound. And it isn't trivial. It's pretty loud, actually.
5. By turning knobs up and down I verified that all 3 mic channels have the same issue. And when I got all three turned all the way to the right it was loud.

I called Mackie who talked about an expected noise floor but it is hard to quantify. So what I did was stop in to my local Guitar Center and ran the same test on one of their display Mackie mixers using my headphones. Nothing. I heard nothing.

My mixer is plugged into a power strip that has not only surge protection but EMI and RFI conditioning as well. It's not a $2000 power conditioner but it probably better than nothing.

I bought the mixer used a couple of years ago. A replacement for this same mixer is about $220. The guy at Mackie said they have service shops but the parts and labor to repair my mixer could conceivably approach the cost of a new one and when it's repaired it would still be a used mixer.

My thought right now is to just buy a new mixer. There is a reason it was in the used pile and this may be it.

Thoughts? Thanks.

 

[LazerBeakShiek]

None can be saved.

 

[LazerBeakShiek]

Kidding..Whats a 1604VLZE mackie with no usb go for? or 804VLZ ? $50?

I'd charge you that to look at it with a DVOM.

 

[dbsoccer]

Just $50. Where do I send it?

 

[PitchTempoAndriy]

Before replacing it, I would repeat the comparison with a real mic signal and the same vocal loudness in the headphones. Turning the gain, channel level and main level fully up with no mic connected amplifies noise through several stages; that test alone does not locate a fault.

Mackie’s Getting Started procedure is on page 5: https://mackie.com/img/file_resources/802VLZ4_OM.pdf#page=5

Start with the headphones turned down. Use one known-working mic and cable, EQ flat, unused channels turned down, and the channel and main levels at U. Select the main mix for monitoring with Solo off. Sing at your normal distance and set gain using the meter around 0, avoiding peaks above +6, then bring the headphone level up comfortably.

If possible, repeat that on the shop mixer with the same mic, cable, headphones and comparable vocal volume. A clear noise difference under those conditions would be much better evidence to give Mackie. Also compare the vocal directly in the mixer headphones with the in-ear feed: audible hiss and a cloudy vocal may be two separate problems.