I have had this mixer for about 2 years. I like the very low price about it, and that it is reliable. The sound is definitely a weak point however, so I only use it for live things where a top sound quality is not necessary. I've used a good amount of mixers. If you are just looking for a workhorse mixer, not for studio use but for other things such as an open mic or for speakers, than this would be a good value due to the very low price. For my purposes, it hasn't done me wrong, though I do not use it for many musical applications due to the sound being second rate.

I bought this mini mixer about 4 years ago. I like that it is small and convenient, and I still use it for small routing tasks like dealing with headphone mixes and small live setups where sound quality is not critical. I don't like that it doesn't sound that good. I've tried a variety of mixers, and while this doesn't stand up in the sound category, it is convenient if you use it for just utility needs and nothing where great sound is needed. These are very cheap, so the value is good. It serves my limited purposes for it fine, so I would buy it again.

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MACKIE 1604-VLZ MIXER

While a lot of people use this board as merely a live sound mixer, there is so much more that this board can do that people often over look it’s ability as a studio board.

It is a full four buss mixer so you have sub-mix capabilities of sending to four discreet locations which is plenty for a modest home studio. Bur wait, there are also up to six aux outs which can act as sub outputs as well for a total of ten discreet outs.

If you have a larger system, you have access to direct outs for channels on through eight (this makes a great direct hook up for live recording, such as to Pro Tools by Digidesign which has eight ins).

The coolest way to hook this up is to run the eight sub outs into an analog to digital converter, such as the Behringer ADA-8000, which will give you eight digital outs via ADAT light pipe and then use four assignable subs and four aux sends to feed the analog input of the Digidesign interface (Digi 001, Digi 002 or Digi 003) which gives you an unbelievable 16 inputs and still leaves you two aux sends for effects and the main stereo buss out for control room monitors. This is ALMOST a dream system for a decent studio, and what is really neat about this is that you can have EQ and effects on ALL sixteen channels.

There are a couple extra outputs like a mono out that can be used to feed a fold back system for the vocalist.

The one minor drawback is that the faders are only sixty millimeters instead of the industry standard one hundred millimeters. But for the several thousand dollars in savings over a “pro” board, I think you can live with the shorter throw faders.

MACKIE MS-1202 MIXER

One thing that today’s studios cannot get enough of is mixers. You need a way to get everything into your system and with all that gear you can either buy one LARGE mixer if the budget is good or get a lot of smaller mixers to sub mix everything.

Granted, a larger mixer is more convenient and makes life easier if you have the cash, but the smaller units can get the job done and give you more money for other gear.

Enter the older Mackie Micro Series Mixer. The Swiss army knife of audio mixing. I bought mine in 1989 and still use it every day and have had ZERO problems and even less complaints on it.

The main use in my studio for this one is as a keyboard and tone module sub mixer. I get two full effects sends and Bass and Treble control for four mono and four stereo sources from a space about the size of a cigar box.

The biggest compliant, if you want to call it that, is that the volume controls are rotary and not faders.

While on the surface this is a drawback, for keyboards and tone modules, and even when using as a drum sub mixer, it can actually be a blessing.

My mixer sits up and the knobs are easy to see and actually allow the mixer to be smaller in size that it would be with a linear fader so it can fit in more places than you might imagine.

The unit is well crafted in solid metal that shields it and makes it quite durable, as I said, I have had mine in DAILY use now for nearly twenty years.

It will make a cost effective addition to your studio gear and at the going rate, you can actually afford several of them for various things and still pocket enough money to get yourself a decent Mic.