Mackie 1202-VLZ PRO Micro Mixer

The Mackie 1202-VLZ Pro is just a downsized version of the bigger mixer. It has a few less channels, and they turned all the slides into knobs...which is a downfall. It still sounds just as great as any professional mixer, because it is a MACKIE, but it just becomes more of a hassle for quick volume changes and volume adjustments. I have one of these in my basement, and i use it with my band when we jam around. Its a great mixer, and we plug them into American Audio PA speakers, and they sound wonderful. We do gigs with this mixer, and i've had it for 7 years without a problem. This machine is great, and will last for a long time... Well worth the money.

I upgraded to this mixer from an original Mackie MS-1202 and the product line has definitely matured. The sound quality is just that much better than the old MS-1202 and the routing flexibility and outputs are fantastic. The mic preamps are much smoother and quieter too. I love having lo-cut switches and muting on every channel. That being said it is slightly less intuitive than the original because of the increased routing complexity. A few LEDs to indicate the presence of signal on the mic channels wouldn't have hurt. Also I really wish they had not built the wrist rest into the case because it adds another 1/2 rack space when the mixer is rack mounted. As it is you will need a full seven spaces, and more likely 8 if you want to use the inserts -- even if you have right-angle cables. Finally, why did they mount the XLR inputs upside down? Maybe it was the only way it could be done but it is annoying.