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Review Mackie 1202-VLZ Pro Compact Mixer Review Chris Bereznay Over the past year we have conversed with many of you, and whether through e-mail or our forums the feedback has always been enlightening. One of most interesting things about our readers we have come to realize is that the majority of you are either actively pursuing home recording or are in the process of acquiring gear for a project studio setup. This is no surprise, but nevertheless requires a little shift in focus on our part. To provide you with the content you need, Music Gear Review is committed to more reviews of gear that you can utilize in this environment. So when asked by our friends at Mackie a month or so ago what we'd most like to check out from a review product standpoint, we responded with a few answers. One of the products we jumped on was the 1202 VLZ-Pro Compact Mixer. The 1202 is a sweet little 12x2x1 ( 12 line inputs, 4 mono - 4 stereo ) mixer featuring 4 XLR microphone channels with Mackie's awesome dynamic mic pre-amps. The 1202 is the perfect beginner mixer for the home or project studio enthusiast. It's also a great asset to any experienced studio hobbyist or engineer. You never know how many uses there are for these units, and as you read on, you'll find out why. First off, the microphone pre-amps deserve a paragraph all their own. Mackie calls these XDR pre-amps which stand for 'Xtended Dynamic Range". These pre-amps have a 0-60db gain range which means they will take some serious "signal". Additionally, the 1202 boasts a 130dB dynamic range for 24-bit, 192kHz sampling rate inputs. These are high end pipes, folks, and this little compact mixer is built to take whatever you can run through it. Let's not forget a distortion rating under 0.0007%! Not only can these pre-amps take a super dynamic signal, they'll keep it clean too! But I won't bore you with specs. After all, only the most technical folks will be able to translate that garbley-gook. If specs are what you want, check out the Mackie product information page for this unit right here: http://www.mackie.com/Products/VLZ_PRO_Series/1202VLZPRO.asp As far as flexibility and sound quality go, though, we put the 1202 VLZ-Pro through its paces during its stay at the Music Gear Review crib. The majority of the time we were running the mixer as a front end to our DAW ( digital audio workstation ), but we also ran it straight into an amp and utilized it as a small PA mixer as well. You won't find these units to be cheap by any means, but value should always be gauged by quality - and there are oodles of that to go around. Recording with the unit was a breeze. We don't really have to worry about miking drums here, so if that's a need of yours you'll want to check out some of the other models with more XLR inputs such as the 1604 or 1642. For our purposes, though, the mic inputs were either used for vocals, miking our amps with Shure SM57s - or both. For one such recording session, we plugged our Alesis SR16 drum machine into one of the stereo lines and the bass and electric guitars went though their PODs into the other stereo lines as well. There are actually 4 sets of stereo line-ins on this mixer in addition to the 4 XDR XLR jacks! In these sessions, we had just about everything but keyboards. Keep in mind, though, you'll still have 1 more available stereo channel to run those into as well. The simple truth is that the sound quality of this mixer is excellent. The signals are clean, there's plenty of dynamic headroom and there is enough flexibility that this unit would be an asset in just about any environment. Recordings made with this unit in Cakewalk Pro Audio 9 were stellar - but don't limit yourself or your uses for the 1202. I've even heard of guitarists who use extensive effects rigs using Mackie compact mixers in live performances to patch everything in and out. We can't say enough about this unit, especially for those of you who are putting together a new home or project studio. You need to start out with a high quality cornerstone unit when you engage this type of project, and the 1202-VLZ Pro is a great unit to begin with. Bottom Line: The 1202-VLZ Pro carries an MSRP of around $450 and can be found on the street for close to $380 in some places. In our opinion, what you get is a professional quality compact mixer with the best sounding microphone pre-amps in this price range. Sure, you can pay less for a compact mixer from other manufacturers, but you know the old saying.. Release Dweezil and Peavey Collaborate to Create the Wiggy Press Release MERIDIAN, Miss.-Dweezil Zappa recently collaborated with Peavey Electronics to create the new Wiggy(tm) amplifier and cabinet. And you won't believe the results. Trust us-there isn't anything else like this on the market. Styled like a retro car dashboard, the Wiggy amp features high octane and low octane input jacks. A three-band equalizer labeled: BATT, OIL and TEMP represent levels: low, mid and high. This curvaceous amp also has a BOOST control for post-EQ fuzz, and a five-band WIGGY graphic equalizer. The master volume is moderated by the MPH control, while the RPM switch regulates gain. Feel like you're going down the road? The Wiggy features 100 Watts driving (no pun intended) a Sheffield( speaker at 4, 8 or 16 Ohms, selectable impedance. But watch out! When the hazard lights flash "MORE," function has been engaged. Presence and T. Dynamics controls are provided on the dashboard as well as a resonance switch. The Wiggy amp is comprised of preamp out and power amp in jacks, as well as dual paralleled speaker output jacks. With a lighted control panel and a footswitch included in the package, the Wiggy amp offers unprecedented sound. Musicians agree that the Wiggy is a unique look that provides great sound, with input and design by one of today's most renowned guitarists-Dweezil Zappa. How can you pass up an opportunity to see and test this amp and cabinet? For more information on the new Wiggy amp, contact www.peavey.com or your local Peavey dealer. Peavey Electronics Corporation is one of the largest manufacturers of musical instruments and professional sound equipment in the world. Peavey holds more than 130 patents and produces more than 2,000 products, which are distributed throughout the United States and to 134 other countries. To find out more information about Peavey Electronics and its artists, visit www.peavey.com. Feature Congratulations John Grgurich! Feature Article The December guitar giveaway winner was picked on Christmas Eve from 1,809 entries. The winner is John Grgurich from Washington, D.C. USA. We e-mailed John at home last night to inform him that he had won the guitar and he just responded this morning. Needless to say, he was very surprised! "I can't believe it" John stated, "I've never won anything this nice in my life and to get the e-mail on Christmas Eve is incredible!". We'll be shipping John's shiny new Serpent to him tomorrow via FedEx, so he should have it by the end of the week. Once again we'd like thank all of you for your entries. It became quite apparent that the better the prizes we giveaway, the better the response to the reviews that are submitted as entries - so keep your eyes peeled for more great contests in the future. One last note: Of the total number of entries received in the form of review submissions, we kept less than a thousand due to incomplete information, too few words (and we're pretty lenient on that) or no contact information. If you're going to enter a contest, please be sure to include a complete e-mail address so that we can contact you to let you know you're the winner! That's all for now. Thanks again for participating and get ready for our next great contest which will hopefully start in January. Happy Holidays! Chris Review Review: Zoom 607 Bass Multi-Effects Pedal James Rushin Zoom products have been around quite a while now and have become especially well know for their entry level multi-effects products that fight for market share in a very crowded and competitive market. It seems every time a manufacturer comes out with a new feature laden product, another company packs more into the same price range and effectively raises the ante in the budget multi-effects “wars”. The Zoom brand continues the tradition with the release of the new 607 Bass Multi-Effects unit. With high expectations, I de-boxed our 607 review unit and began the exploration process. The 607 has 35 effects; 9 can be used simultaneously. You may think that’s a lot for this price range ($149 MSRP), and you’re absolutely right. As with any product with this many effects - some are much more useful than others, and you’ll quickly develop a list of favorites. The 607 also includes an expression pedal, which is a great step up from the 506. At first, after having removed the unit from it’s clear plastic wrap I must admit I felt a bit disappointed. The 607 is an all plastic pedal. Zoom has a history of producing all plastic pedals that many folks question the durability of, however my experience was that the 607 can take quite a stomping! I threw everything I had at this unit in several multi-hour sessions and it held up just fine. For a plastic unit in an entry level price range, it’s certainly well built and solid. Next came the sound check. I plugged in my Peavey T-40, cranked up my amp and started jamming. I played everything I knew. It sounded beautiful! I was very impressed! Editing one of the 35 patches is a bit difficult and tricky at first, though. I feel that the manual could have gone into more depth in its’ explanation of patch editing. However, once I edited a few patches I became very comfortable with the unit and was able to throw all my creative talents at the 607 and get excellent results every time. The range of tonal bliss even included a fuzz wah effect and death metal distortion. Some other cool surprises within the patch banks are various slap and pop tones. As an added touch, the pedal also includes an easy to use chromatic tuner. I like to play everything from blues to hip-hop to thrash. I tried playing songs from groups like Metallica, Fuel and Incubus. I was even successful creating the flanger bass sound so popular with the bass player from Incubus. The pedal was on the mark for those sounds. Moving on, I played selections from Staind but I couldn’t seem to duplicate their signature rumbling bass sound. In the attempt to achieve the rumble sound, I set the pedal to bypass, turned down all the mid’s and shift’s, then cranked the bass and treble up to ten. The sound was not achieved with the 607 because it does not include a three-channel equalizer such as its higher-class cousin, the 708. If you’re going to take this pedal to your next band practice, then you’ll want to make use of its band enhancement feature. This feature enhances the patch you’re playing to make it more distinct. I got more echo, more flanger, more of everything! Things were really sounding good. Although while I was playing, some buttons got in the way like the gain and drive selector. For instance, when I would be using a distorted tone, I would end up accidentally hitting the gain knobs and turn off my distortion. It could be that I’m clumsy, but I kept knocking into the gain and drive buttons while selecting patches within songs. I also noticed that I was getting a lot of static out of my amp. I then remembered I had read in the manual about another feature called Zoom Noise Reduction (ZNR). I tried it, and it worked great! It sounded like my amp wasn’t even on – no hum, no buzz, nothing! Just the beautiful tone of my T-40 coming through strong. With so much to choose from, some of the effects can seem useless, however they can be a lot of fun. Take the “Plane” effect for example. It adds the sound of an aircraft passing by to your bass. It’s a really nice add-on in some songs. The 607 also has a “Taurus” effect for you funk players out there. Try experimenting with that effect for a while and then add an octave up effect to play solos from “Voodoo Child” – I was getting very close to the same tone. On the flip side, If you find any effects that you think you’ll never use, you can easily cut individual patches out and bring them back as you wish. The 607 allows you to copy over 7 of the original patches with creations of your own. What can be improved? One thing I disliked about the pedal is the fact that the batteries run out so quickly (a common problem with a lot of other effects processors). I highly recommend you purchase an AC adapter if you plan on playing for extended periods of time. My batteries ran out right in the middle of practice once! Second, there is no actual “clean” patch, however engaging both pedals at once, you’ll bypass the unit and have the sound of your bass as if the effects pedal wasn’t even there. This saves having to mess with cables to disconnect the pedal. Finally, I would expand on the manual included with these units. With so much functionality it can take a little while to get over that “overwhelmed” feeling – a more detailed, yet easy to understand manual would help greatly with this situation. Bottom Line: The 607 excels at heavy metal, soft rock, blues, funk and more. I feel it lacks pre-programmed jazz-bass sounds, however there are web-sites with a plethora of user-created patches that would fill this void. Other than that, I like it. It’s durable, high quality, and superb for its price. Feature for price, the ZOOM 607 Bass Multi-Effects Pedal is a top pick. Release OnLine Musicians Collaborate For September 11 Victims Press Release A diverse group of composers, musicians, and audio engineers from around the world have joined together to produce a benefit CD to raise funds for the victims and families of the tragedies of September 11, 2001. The group has named itself Blue Dove Music and their CD is called "September Rising". United firmly in their love of humanity and peace, and with a strong desire to contribute positively to the healing of the deep wounds in the souls of the countless people who lost so much on that day, Blue Dove members have created powerful vocal, instrumental and orchestral music in a variety of styles. The "September Rising" CD contains inspired pieces that acknowledge deep pain and loss, while others offer a healing message of unity, love and hope. Contributing musicians have collaborated by Internet from their studios in the United States and other countries around the world, including Australia, Canada and Israel. Blue Dove Music is probably the most diverse and international group of professional musicians to ever have collaborated on a single musical project in the history of mankind. The "September Rising" CD project was born in the immediate aftermath of the 9-11 tragedies, during impromptu discussions among members of a globe-spanning internet discussion group comprised of users of professional audio hardware and software made by Mark of the Unicorn. A new and separate email forum was quickly created, and within hours about 100 musicians had come together to form Blue Dove Music. With the goal of creating a benefit CD, over 50 pieces of original music were produced by Blue Dove members, and donated for potential inclusion in the CD "September Rising." Blue Dove Music's team has donated time, talent, skill, and boundless patience in seeing this project through to completion. Several corporate sponsors are contributing to help defray the costs of production and distribution. The group continues to seek corporate sponsorship and/or assistance for distribution and marketing. Proceeds from sales of "September Rising" will be donated to the "NY Firefighters 9-11 Disaster Relief Fund". This is the only fund officially endorsed by the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) and the Executive Boards of Uniformed Firefighters Association of New York, Local 94 and New York Uniformed Fire Officers Association, Local 854, for the September 11 victims, families, and their children. Additional information about this tax deductible fund is available at the IAFF website, daily.iaff.org To listen to mp3 samples from "September Rising", purchase the CD, volunteer, participate as a sponsor, assist with distribution, or simply request further information, please visit Blue Dove Music’s website at www.SeptemberRising.org or contact Blue Dove Music's spokesman Dr. Trond Bjornard at (954) 946-2214. Music Gear ReviewsAria Nextar N-20H Electric Guitars I bought this lovely guitar from my local guitar shop where I take lessons, Twin Rivers Music of Columbus, OH. I paid $219 for the guitar. I bought it because it was in my price range, and for price/value ratio, this guitar sounds great. I also decided on this because it had already been sent to a custom shop for set up. The Aria packs a powerfull number of playing options. With triple pickups, the bridge being a humbucker, and the standard 5-position selector switch, I'd take this over a Fender any day. The humbucker has a coil-tap, for single operation as well. The guitar has impecable sustain, and will go as long as you'll let it. The action is nice and low as well, without any buzz, allowing for flawless rythym playing for fast riffs. Aria dosn't package as many custom options with this model as its others the main colors only being black and white. Other than that I'm quite satisfied The Nextar is boasts a solid Alder body, with Maple neck, and Rosewood fingerboard. It comes with no-name tuners and pickups which work great as is. This guitar for its price is one of the best values out there. For those of you weary about foriegn guitar makers, go out and try and Nextar, or even an Aria period, I'm sure you'll like what you hear. This guitar will play anything you want it to, it just wants to be heard. 4 Derek McLaughlin Godin LG Acoustic Guitars I bought this guitar for $499.00 Canadian. I was looking for something that was different. Being in a band with a Strat and a Tele I thought that a humbucker equipped guitar would find a different place in the mix. This guitar was not my first choice. I had tried out a Jay Turser copy of a resoelectric. The Turser was a gas unplugged but just another cheap electric plugged in. When I returned to Musicstop in Halifax Nova Scotia I asked my guitar guru Brian Mitton for a recommendation. The LG was his answer. I wish that I'd had this guitar when I was 18. It is a very stable simple to use instrument. LaSiDo made their name manufacturing top of the line guitar necks in a little Quebec township and this shows in my instrument. I felt at home the minute I played my first barre chord. The tuners are first rate and seem geared a little lower for fine adjustments. Leastways they are smooth and easy to use. I find myself changing my tunings frequently from G to standard. Two Seymour Duncan Humbuckers are controled by a single volume and a surprisingly useful tone knob. Switching is accomplished by a five way Strat style that works very quietly between settings. The strings are held in place by a Gibson-style bridge and the strings pass through the body and are anchored in a brass plate on the back of the guitar. The body contours in very realistic comfortable ways and I have heard many positive comments on the transparent red finish. Nothing I'm afraid that I have fallen deeply in love with this guitar. It delivers on its promises. There is one thing - perhaps this is the never puts the toothpaste cap back on complaint in our relationship - I'd sure hate to be in a hurry to change a light guage string on this guitar. Trying to poke a .009 through the guitar is kind of like pushing a rope. This is my only complaint and I feel guilty making such a big deal out of it. I feel like I'm badmouthing a friend. Solid construction with a KISS (Keep It Simple...) ethic leads me to believe that LaSiDo sent spies to scan me so that they could build me my guitar. What can I say, we connected, I hope that she and my mom get along. 5 Chett Buchanan Godin LG Acoustic Guitars I bought this guitar for $499.00 Canadian. I was looking for something that was different. Being in a band with a Strat and a Tele I thought that a humbucker equipped guitar would find a different place in the mix. This guitar was not my first choice. I had tried out a Jay Turser copy of a resoelectric. The Turser was a gas unplugged but just another cheap electric plugged in. When I returned to Musicstop in Halifax Nova Scotia I asked my guitar guru Brian Mitton for a recommendation. The LG was his answer. I wish that I'd had this guitar when I was 18. It is a very stable simple to use instrument. LaSiDo made their name manufacturing top of the line guitar necks in a little Quebec township and this shows in my instrument. I felt at home the minute I played my first barre chord. The tuners are first rate and seem geared a little lower for fine adjustments. Leastways they are smooth and easy to use. I find myself changing my tunings frequently from G to standard. Two Seymour Duncan Humbuckers are controled by a single volume and a surprisingly useful tone knob. Switching is accomplished by a five way Strat style that works very quietly between settings. The strings are held in place by a Gibson-style bridge and the strings pass through the body and are anchored in a brass plate on the back of the guitar. The body contours in very realistic comfortable ways and I have heard many positive comments on the transparent red finish. Nothing I'm afraid that I have fallen deeply in love with this guitar. It delivers on its promises. There is one thing - perhaps this is the never puts the toothpaste cap back on complaint in our relationship - I'd sure hate to be in a hurry to change a light guage string on this guitar. Trying to poke a .009 through the guitar is kind of like pushing a rope. This is my only complaint and I feel guilty making such a big deal out of it. I feel like I'm badmouthing a friend. Solid construction with a KISS (Keep It Simple...) ethic leads me to believe that LaSiDo sent spies to scan me so that they could build me my guitar. What can I say, we connected, I hope that she and my mom get along. 5 Chett Buchanan MusicYo Yo-200 Acoustic Guitars Purchased guitar over the internet for $89US. I needed a flattop guitar to use while teaching. The high quality of workmanship. and materials, solid spruce top and reputation for good value of MusicYo. Everything about this guitar is as advertised. The unit is well made (Indonesia) - the materials and workmanship are first rate for the cost. I particularly like the low action of the instrument - helps with barre chords up the neck. Great value for a beginning, or intermediate player. A pickup can be added from the same company (www.musicyo.com) for a nominal price - either soundhole or permanently mounted type. 5 Jim Pepoon |
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