Mackie Review: 1604 VLZ-Pro Compact Mixer

History:

Purchase: This board was bought for our church, so I am not aware of the exact price and place of purchase, but I remember it being about $900.00.

What I Like About This Mackie 1604 VLZ-Pro Compact Mixer: Low-noise, high headroom, preamps. "Real" faders, (not the flimsy things found on other mixers that feel like they will fall off if you touch em). 3-band musical EQ with sweepable midrange. 6 aux sends, 4 stereo aux returns. 8 direct-outs on channels 8-16 for direct connection to a multitrack recorder. Solo, pan, mute, imput gain ("trim") controls on every channel. Solo for aux sends 1&2, and effx send to monitors. Four assignable sub-groups. Stereo inserts on every channel. Incredible durability, practically indestructable! This thing is built like a TANK! We use it every week in church, and our band also borrows it on occasion for shows. It was because of this mackie mixer and some other mackie speakers (SRM450's) that got us more shows. The people who were in charge of booking us thought we sounded "so awesome and clear", might not have booked us anymore if it wasnt for our incredible sound quiality. Even the older guys, who normally hate rock N roll music, said our sound quality was incredible.

What I Do NOT Like About The Mackie 1604 VLZ-Pro Compact Mixer: Two things I wish it had is mute buttons that mute the whole channel, instead of just what comes through the mains. And, XLR main outs. The SRM450's and some other power amps have only XLR inputs. The 1604 has only 1/4" outs, so you have to use line-adapters or a snake with 1/4-XLR returns. But, these are the only complaints I could possibly have with this product.

Mackie 1604 VLZ-Pro Compact Mixer Quality Rating: The construction and quality is incredible. The knobs especially deserve great detail in durability. They are practically un-breakable. I have never broke one, or heard of somone breaking one.

Review Summary: This mixer is fantastic! If you want to get a awesome 16 channel mixer for under 1000.00, this is your absolute BEST option.

Rating of this Mackie product: 5

This Mackie 1604 VLZ-Pro Compact Mixer Mixers Review Submitted By: Jared

Review Date: 2001-06-29