Mackie 1202 (non vlz) or Tapco 6306?

I need a small format mixer for live gigs and I can't decide between the
two. I know its kind of splitting hairs, but I'm worried about these chinese
made mixers and haven't had the chance to actually touch one.

I can get an older Mackie off ebay for the same price as a new Tapco. They
both would serve my needs. Anyone used both? Anyone have an opinion?

Thanks.

In article Izaed.272$Ae3.241@trndny02 writes:

Mackie 1202 (non vlz) or Tapco 6306?

I need a small format mixer for live gigs and I can't decide between the
two. I know its kind of splitting hairs, but I'm worried about these chinese
made mixers and haven't had the chance to actually touch one.

I can get an older Mackie off ebay for the same price as a new Tapco.

I'd go for the TAPCO. It's ten years newer technology, it comes with a
warranty, and you never know what you're really going to get from an
eBay seller until you have it in your hands and if there's anything
wrong with it, the seller probably knows that and will give you a hard
time taking it back and returning your money.

--
I'm really Mike Rivers )
However, until the spam goes away or Hell freezes over,
lots of IP addresses are blocked from this system. If
you e-mail me and it bounces, use your secret decoder ring
and reach me he double-m-eleven-double-zero at yahoo

Matthew Pierce wrote:

Mackie 1202 (non vlz) or Tapco 6306?

I need a small format mixer for live gigs and I can't decide between the
two. I know its kind of splitting hairs, but I'm worried about these chinese
made mixers and haven't had the chance to actually touch one.

I can get an older Mackie off ebay for the same price as a new Tapco. They
both would serve my needs. Anyone used both? Anyone have an opinion?

While I've been using a "vintage" 1202 for a long time I'd not suggest
you buy mine nor any other old one. They wear out, like you'd expect for
a cheap mixer. I'm on the verge of needing to pop mine open and see if
some j WD40 /j will help the pots. If not it's probably going to be
history a year from now.

That said, you might want better EQ for live, depending on your style of
music, and though they cost more, the Mackie Onyx series is a whole new
ballpark for that.

--
ha

On 23 Oct 2004, (hank alrich) wrote in
:

While I've been using a "vintage" 1202 for a long time I'd not
suggest you buy mine nor any other old one. They wear out, like
you'd expect for a cheap mixer. I'm on the verge of needing to pop
mine open and see if some j WD40 /j will help the pots. If not
it's probably going to be history a year from now.

My good ol' 1202 developed some problem where the output section
distorted badly. Mackie refurbished it for about $100 - they fixed the
scratchy pots, too. Now, about 2 1/2 years later, the pots are getting
scratchy again. I probably won't have it fixed again.

In article writes:

My good ol' 1202 developed some problem where the output section
distorted badly. Mackie refurbished it for about $100 - they fixed the
scratchy pots, too. Now, about 2 1/2 years later, the pots are getting
scratchy again. I probably won't have it fixed again.

That's a good service life, and it's probably reasonable to decide to
retire it now rather than get it fixed again. It's like a car. When
it's 15 years old and needs $2,000 worth of work to get it back to
working smoothly but that doesn't replace all the parts, you have to
decide if it's worth putting the money into it just to see what will
fail next or replace it. There are some of each kind of people.

--
I'm really Mike Rivers )
However, until the spam goes away or Hell freezes over,
lots of IP addresses are blocked from this system. If
you e-mail me and it bounces, use your secret decoder ring
and reach me he double-m-eleven-double-zero at yahoo

On 24 Oct 2004, (Mike Rivers) wrote in
news:znr1098620504k@trad:

That's a good service life, and it's probably reasonable to decide
to retire it now rather than get it fixed again. It's like a car.
When it's 15 years old and needs $2,000 worth of work to get it
back to working smoothly but that doesn't replace all the parts,
you have to decide if it's worth putting the money into it just to
see what will fail next or replace it. There are some of each kind
of people.

Don't think that I'm not satisfied! I think I've gotten PLENTY of use
out of what I spent on the 1202. Definitely got my money's worth. As I
said, I would probably not spend another $100 on this, but I will
certainly consider getting another small Mackie mixer when this one
needs to be replaced.

Not really about the same subject, but I'm looking at my old
Harman/Kardon receiver that powers my computer's sound. I bought it in
about 1976. I never bother to turn it off... it's been powered on
constantly for about the last 6 years. Works PERfectly, outside of some
scratchy pots and switches. This has got to be the most reliable
electronic device I've ever owned.

In article writes:

Not really about the same subject, but I'm looking at my old
Harman/Kardon receiver that powers my computer's sound. I bought it in
about 1976. I never bother to turn it off... it's been powered on
constantly for about the last 6 years. Works PERfectly, outside of some
scratchy pots and switches. This has got to be the most reliable
electronic device I've ever owned.

My boss on the first job I had after college in 1965 used to talk
about "television set reliability." He said that if we could build
whatever we were building at the time to be as reliable as a
television set, he'd be happy, and so would the customers.

Honestly, I've had very few failures of audio equipment, and most of
those have been power supplies, easy to fix. Of course when a piece of
contemporary gear fails, it's most likely not cost effective to
repair.


--
I'm really Mike Rivers )
However, until the spam goes away or Hell freezes over,
lots of IP addresses are blocked from this system. If
you e-mail me and it bounces, use your secret decoder ring
and reach me he double-m-eleven-double-zero at yahoo

That said, you might want better EQ for live, depending on your style of
music, and though they cost more, the Mackie Onyx series is a whole new
ballpark for that.

Tell more about the Mackie Onyx and EQ please, as compared to the VLZ pro
series... Thanks

John F wrote:
That said, you might want better EQ for live, depending on your style of
music, and though they cost more, the Mackie Onyx series is a whole new
ballpark for that.


Tell more about the Mackie Onyx and EQ please, as compared to the VLZ pro
series...

On all but the smallest Onyx, there are two sweepable mids and an EQ bypass switch. The EQ sounds pretty decent. Both of these are major improvements over previous Mackie boards.

Kurt Albershardt wrote:
John F wrote:
That said, you might want better EQ for live, depending on your style of
music, and though they cost more, the Mackie Onyx series is a whole new
ballpark for that.

Tell more about the Mackie Onyx and EQ please, as compared to the VLZ pro
series...

On all but the smallest Onyx, there are two sweepable mids and an EQ bypass switch. The EQ sounds pretty decent. Both of these are major improvements over previous Mackie boards.

No Q control, though?
The EQ bypass is a really wonderful idea, though, and it's one of the things
that have driven me up the wall about earlier Mackie boards.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

Scott Dorsey wrote:
Kurt Albershardt wrote:

John F wrote:

That said, you might want better EQ for live, depending on your style of
music, and though they cost more, the Mackie Onyx series is a whole new
ballpark for that.

Tell more about the Mackie Onyx and EQ please, as compared to the VLZ pro
series...

On all but the smallest Onyx, there are two sweepable mids and an EQ bypass switch. The EQ sounds pretty decent. Both of these are major improvements over previous Mackie boards.


No Q control, though?

Whaddaya want for $660?



The EQ bypass is a really wonderful idea, though, and it's one of the things
that have driven me up the wall about earlier Mackie boards.

Yes, flat is now flat.

They seem to have incorporated most of the LSC Canada mods (sans the tone oscillator and 12V power option) making it a passable low budget location board.

Balanced (well, impedance balanced anyway) direct outs on DB-25's for recording are rather handy as well. Haven't tried the 1394 card yet but finding out that Echo dedigned it makes me a little more confident.