Which small mixer: Soundcraft Notepad 124 or Mackie 802VLZ3

[parsenote]

Hi,
I need a small mixer for my DAW setup and am looking at these 2:
Soundcraft Notepad 124
Mackie 802VLZ3
They both seem to do a similar thing but the Soundcraft is cheaper (you get Tracktion software with the Mackie which I don't need) and slightly more compact. The one thing I really need is to be able to record into my DAW and monitor the return from the DAW so that I can use fx in the DAW to process the sound and hear the result (eg guitar through an amp modeller) I know the Mackie can do this - it says so in the manual, but not sure if the Soundcraft can. Also the Mackie has instrument swithces on the inputs which do away with the need for DI boxes for guitars. I'm not sure if you could do the same with the Soundcraft.
Any info or opinions on the Soundcraft would be very welcome - there seem to be no reviews of this product which seems strange?

Note: I posted this in Other Equipment and Reviews but this may be a better place to ask?

 

[Mr Blues]

Hi Parsenote

The mackie VLZ 802 does sound good and clean.
But be aware I had mine for a year and a half and it has now stopped working only one of the mic channels is working, even the tape out phono connectors have stopped working.

Sadly my experiance with the new mackie line of mixers has not been good.

I still have the older mackie DFX 6 and that is built like a tank I have had that about six years and that is still going strong.

Dave