24 thoughts on “New Budget Mackie Mix Series Mixers”

1. Wow. Awesome prices. I wish the Mix12FX was available without effects, because that would be the sweet spot for me. I don’t need to spend an extra $40 on something I’ll likely never use.

2. I love mackie desks. I have three of them.
   One day mackie might wise up and make a good sized desk with no mic preamps (or maybe just two)
   A lot of acid,techno ,electro gets made by those of us hardware users. Considering we are a strong part of the market, mackie we dont need or want your mic preamps.
   So do a desk aimed at those of us with rack gear and ten output mpcs etc.
   Please.
   It would be a better design for us and less desk space.

   1. Wishful thinking. Won’t happen.

      But IF it did, at least three aux sends and a mid band parametric eq please, Mackie!

      1. 3aux sends are a must, and sweepable mids too. I loved my soundcraft spirit 16, but the power supply on those flake out too often to get another one. I’d settle for a board with 1 or 2 mic preamps, as I never use more than that.

   2. I think they covered that one a couple of decades ago. It’s called the LM-3204. They were never as popular as the 1604/1202 so you don’t see as many used. But if you can find one they seem to be going for $200-300 these days

      1. I have a LM-3204 with a bad power supply, free (you pay shipping) to a good home.

         1. Where are you located?

            (…and how do we make this a private conversation?)

         2. I can give your LM-3204 good, loving family, if its still there!

   3. uhhh their preamps probably only sound “good” with electronic instruments.

      1. 🙂

3. Build a rack collar on it, so as we are turn up the aux sends we are facing the effects units………(why not).
   Ergonomics.

4. I’ve had several Mackie mixers and all of them have had build quality issues. Their quality control has been terrible in the past. Not sure if they’ve solved any of those issues. I doubt behringer is any better, but maybe it is.

   What I really dislike about Mackie’s lower end mixers is the EQ. Our hearing has 10 octaves (at best) maybe 9 octaves is more typical. The LOW knob boost/cuts at 80 Hz (the bottom 2 octaves). The HIGH knob manages 12K (the top half-octave). Leaving a $#!+load of mid un-tweakable. If they had made those shelves at say 200Hz and 8 KHz, it would be so much more useful in real world applications. But instead they give you handles on the very very bottom and very very very top and nothing in the middle.

   The kidz may like that low low knob because you can crank the brown-note frequency, but for general use, that 80Hz is just too low to be versatile.

   1. I’ve had bad luck with Behringer mixers. I’ve had two, one that was only used in the studio and one that was used for gigging, and both had channels that died out of the blue.

      I’ve haven’t tried Mackie mixers yet, but I bought some SM450 loudspeakers close to 10 years ago, and they have been completely rock-solid. I wonder if their new gear isn’t being built as solidly as their old stuff.

   2. I’ve had two Mackie mixers for over 20 years that work almost as good as the day I bought them. The church I ran sound for had a Mackie for over 15 years that worked like new the entire time. IMO, Mackie means quality.

      Behringer is in no way, shape or form better at all. Not even close. Completely different ball game. Cheap rubbish.

      1. never been big on mackie, a bunch of my friends have been using them for years. i found them to be very “middle of the road”, just above behringer in quality. IMHO, A&H means quality… for now.

      2. Ok. I’ve owned, and/or worked in facilities with, 8 or 9 Mackie mixers over the years; some large, some small. The large ones all had problems. I was responsible for sending 3 of the larger ones back for service. ALL THREE had to be sent back a 2nd time because the problems were not solved. 4 of the smaller ones had issues (bad channels, bad pots, bad connections internally). My current studio mixer is a 1202 VLZ which currently works fine.

         Mackie’s quality was better in the early days. They definitely went through a DARK period where their products were crap. Good designs, bad quality control.

         However, they are in a price bracket that makes them available to budget users.

   3. thats odd, my mackie VLZ-1402 has EQ knobs for low, mid, and hi.. mids are at 2.5khz

      been wondering about a new mixer for years, but this one is still mostly kicking.. could probably use a good cleaning though

5. What a rubbish video.

6. Mackie had great build quality throughout the 90’s, as much of their gear was made in the US. Since then, manufacturing has shifted to China. I took a Mackie amp in for repair and was told to stay away from post-90’s Mackie equipment. Replacement parts are now extraordinarily difficult to get. Perhaps it’s best to get the older, used gear?

   1. Mackie is not alone in having stuff built in China, and yes, the older stuff is way better in terms of build quality. I have 3 Tapco mixers, which was Greg Mackie’s company before starting Mackie. The tapcos are indestructible, though limited. The pots get sticky from inaction but with frequent use are fine. I still use them, and check eBay once in a while for tapco mixers which can be had for $25.

      1. I also have a Tapco and it looks a lot like these units.

7. I thought Mackie already were budget mixers.

   1. Exactly. Though they often try to position themselves as having excellent bang-for-buck. And when their gear works as advertised, it is great value. But the quality just isn’t there.

8. Anyone knows the europe’s release date prevision for this mix series?