mackie 1202

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jp
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mackie 1202

Post by jp » Sun May 11, 2003 11:35 am

anybody know anything about these mixers? i need something small quiet and cheap for monitoring. what about the behringer euromixer? thanks.

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markpar
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Re: mackie 1202

Post by markpar » Sun May 11, 2003 11:46 am

Do you mean control room monitoring (i.e. playback) or headphone monitoring (i.e. live room during tracking)?

In both cases, either one of those mixers would probably suit your needs well, I think. I'm biased towards Mackie (since I live very close to them) and against Behringer (since a lot of their products are blatant Mackie ripoffs). But, again, I think either one would work well for monitoring.

-mark

jp
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Re: mackie 1202

Post by jp » Sun May 11, 2003 12:25 pm

yea, i mean control room monitoring. i guess ill probably have to use two of the mic pres for now. can any body tell me what they might sound like?

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soundguy
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Re: mackie 1202

Post by soundguy » Sun May 11, 2003 1:49 pm

the mic pres sound like cardboard.

The EQ sounds worse.

the 1202 is however, an excellent little mixer for utility stuff as you described. I use one for monitor routing out of my computer and it pretty much has all the features you could want to get around to and from a few different sources. To mix on it, or do any kind of critical work however, is a whole different story. that said, for the money, its amazing, and to get something that you'd want to mix through would a) cost a bunch more money and b) be more than likley, very big. The small size of the 1202 is perhaps the greatest thign about it, they crammed a lot of stuff into a tiny little box.

dave

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Randy
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Re: mackie 1202

Post by Randy » Sun May 11, 2003 2:35 pm

I agree with Dave. The mackie is built to withstand a tornado, and even if you go on to get a bigger and better console later, you will probably want to keep the 1202 anyway. I have 2 that I still use even though I have a nice big desk.

jp
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Re: mackie 1202

Post by jp » Sun May 11, 2003 3:16 pm

cool, thanks guys.

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cassembler
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Re: mackie 1202

Post by cassembler » Sun May 11, 2003 3:55 pm

It reminds me of Fletcher's "Shit on a Stick..." Basically, he took an ADAT and a Mackie and jabbed a pole right through them. Alesis was very not thrilled, but legend has it that Greg Mackie told Fletcher, "Well, you bought it, you can do what you want with it... But I bet it still works!"

Great story.
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markpar
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Re: mackie 1202

Post by markpar » Sun May 11, 2003 5:14 pm

For those who haven't seen it.....

This is taken from http://www.mercenary.com/shitonastick.html

Image

electrofloss
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Re: mackie 1202

Post by electrofloss » Sun May 11, 2003 10:00 pm

the behringer gives you just about as many routing options as the mackie (there was a lawsuit for heaven's sake.) the preamps blow, but the mackie's are far from spectacular. between those two, i would take the behringer and put the money i saved toward some other part of my signal chain (an rnp would probably be a nice choice).

i haven't heard the soundcraft e series mixers, but other people tell me they blow mackie out of the water soundwise. cost the same, if not less than the mackie i believe. worth checking out.

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Re: mackie 1202

Post by eeldip » Mon May 12, 2003 9:51 am

i have an old 1202, pre vlz. back when the frame was totally metal. i used it for a while for monitoring, and even used the pres till i got a better mixer. now it functions as an amazing utility mixer. mostly as a stage mixer.

in this role i couldnt be happier. it has gone through the typical abuse, beer spills, falling every other night, stored with no case. getting snowed on. and it doesnt even have a scratchy pot.

the worst thing that happens is that i have to replace some of those jack nuts every once in a while.


conclusion.
as long as you get a good price, it cant hurt to purchase one.

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Re: mackie 1202

Post by jajjguy » Mon May 12, 2003 1:26 pm

buying my 1202-vlz was my first major gear upgrade. i used it to replace the preamp/mixer section of my 4-track, using aux returns and direct tape outs. it was a really huge upgrade, and made my 4-track stuff actually sound pretty good.

that said, i'm happy to have something better now and not have to use it anymore.

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markpar
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Re: mackie 1202

Post by markpar » Mon May 12, 2003 1:30 pm

eeldip wrote:conclusion.
as long as you get a good price, it cant hurt to purchase one.
That's the rationalization I use for just about every gear purchase I make. :)

-mark

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Re: mackie 1202

Post by trodden » Mon May 12, 2003 1:48 pm

I give a second to eeldip. I have a 1202 and its used for onstage use , routing the keyboards and sampler, cd player. And at times like last saturday night were we're playing a show with a below par pa, I've got half the band going through it as well, now that's a fun gig, being sound dude and performing at the same time in a room where you can't hear shit. Brings on a whole new level of "audience participation" between each song, "what needs to be turned up?" hehe. but yeah the thing is a work horse and granted it's got some issues as far as recording, but for hashing out rough demos at practice, no prob. but yeah the durability is great. got it used, real cheap. our drummer has dropped it twice (i wonder about him) it slid off the van loft and nailed one of the bassist in the head, drew blood! the things had beer, sweat and all other abuses that playing hardcore shows will allow. i've got one channel acting up but for the 4 years i've had it, its been one of the most reliable pieces of gear. I still would like to have something else dedicated to just recording though.

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Re: mackie 1202

Post by whosmatt » Mon May 12, 2003 2:16 pm

1202 will serve you well. don't monitor anything critical through the channels, though. use the tape in/ or aux returns, the channels color the sound (in a negative and audible way). for the same reason, use the mic preamps only by inserting a 1/4" cable to the first "click" in the insert jack, that will bypass the eq and "fader" and you'll be ok as long as you don't layer 24 tracks recorded through the same pre.

i use mine in conjuction with a mac and PTLE and it serves me very well.

jp
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Re: mackie 1202

Post by jp » Mon May 12, 2003 3:39 pm

thanks again guys. i just scored one on e-bay for a 175 beans. not bad i suppose. i will use it with my mac (dp), cd player and maybe route a few non critical things as well. thanks again guys. peace, jp

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