This mixer takes audio from my E-MU 1212m (balanced TRS connections) and distributes it to my headphones and to my amp (and onward to my speakers). I also have a couple of extra inputs for my laptop, Zoom H4, and whatever else I want to hear over my monitors, or headphones.
It sounds great. The headphone out is fairly powerful, and the headphone gain is independent from the master gain. I have a very clean and clear signal. Of course, this is partly accomplished by using balanced ins and outs.
The gain knobs are fairly large and turn smoothly, but still take a little force to move. They're breaking in nicely. Also, I can feel a little bump as I pass zero gain.
The metering is adequate. The 8 segment LED meter on the main outs is accurate enough. There's also clipping indicators on channels 1 and 2. One drawback is that if I'm monitoring with my headphones and the main mix is turned all the way down (to mute my monitors), then there's no metering on the headphone out.
The tape in is handy for mixing an extra two channels of unbalanced audio. It has its own level knob, and there's a switch for sending the tape in to the main mix. This effectively makes the 402 a 6 input mixer.
The first two channels have pres, low cut and a very basic EQ. By engaging the stereo link switch, channel one is panned hard left, and channel two is panned hard right. This makes up for the lack of panning controls, which I don't miss.
The design of the EQ is a little weird. There are 80hz and 12khz bands, both shelving EQs. Also, the low cut is fixed at 100hz. That's right, the low cut is higher than the bass boost. hmmmm... Well, I didn't buy it for the EQ.
Craig Anderton over at Harmony Central wrote a very positive review of the build quality of this mixer: link
I didn't bother to open it up and see for myself, but after reading the article I'm satisfied that the mixer is well built. It definitely feels solid.
Paul White of Sound on Sound also wrote a review on the 402 and its bigger brother, the 802: link
Considering the quality of the signal and construction, I'd say that it's worth the $100 I was willing to spend on a compact utility mixer.
Other than that...
I don't know how many of you are looking for a DAW, but this mixer comes bundled with the basic version of Tracktion 3, which is the same as the full version minus the sample library and a few third party plugins (it still has all the Mackie plugs, and no track count limit).
For audio eiditing and mixing, this DAW works really well. Also, the "Rack Filters" can be used to route audio from VSTs, ASIO connections and internal tracks any which way, modular style (think Plogue Bidule/AudioMulch, etc) . It's what I was hoping Propellerhead's Record would be. After a short learning curve the mouse and keyboard controls are very intuitive. It's the DAW I've been searching for all this time. I had tried using a demo of it previously, and I thought it was OK... but after really sitting down with it, I've been converted. Tracktion is the best!
So, including Tracktion 3, this mixer (+ DAW) package suddenly looks like an amazing value! Highly recommended! After I cut a full track with Tracktion 3, I'll give that a review as well.
 
Cape Cod, Masschusetts, USA
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James Nicholl
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Electronic Music review: Mackie 402 VLZ3
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Written October 20 2009 , Tags: Mackie, mixer, tracktion
Comments
Hmmmmmmmmmmm........
so wait.. you need this, why? If you cant rig the inputs AND the outputs of the 1212m then surely its not a 'solution'? The breakout box is stil a better purchase no?
Very good read/review! looks like a cool mixer.
ekstrak said: "so wait.. you need this, why? If you cant rig the inputs AND the outputs of the 1212m then surely its not a 'solution'? The breakout box is stil a better purchase no?" The breakout box doesn't allow me to set the levels to my headphones and monitors independently. It's just a mess of connections I have no interest in using. I'm using this mixer to distribute audio to my headphones and monitors, not as a back end for my 1212m. Though, I guess it does that as well, in a way. I guess I could buy another mixer for the inputs, but I don't use the inputs. Just the balanced outs. If you can find a PCI interface with a pair of high quality balanced outs, some DSP and NOTHING ELSE, for a reasonable price, let me know. I've complained about this before. Why the hell does every audio interface manufacturer assume I need preamps? WTF? I don't want your crappy preamps on my damn interface, thank you very much! I don't use my desktop computer for recording. It's too f'ing noisy! I like Tracktion a lot. Aside from the racks, the Rewire works really nicely with Reason, so it's extra great. It's sad that it seems to be a somewhat dead product I think.
"I don't want your crappy preamps on my damn interface, thank you very much! I don't use my desktop computer for recording. It's too f'ing noisy!"
So you record with the zoom recorder? how do you synchronise it with your computer? i just bought myself a 802 VLZ3, and i am more than happy with that mixer !
it allows me to get 3 nice preamps, and using the tape in + the alt output, i can make some nice 6 tracks at a time recordings. the sound is awesome and... and... really i don't see how i could buy a better pack, tho i didn't like Tracktion that much. pillowtalk said: ""I don't want your crappy preamps on my damn interface, thank you very much! I don't use my desktop computer for recording. It's too f'ing noisy!" So you record with the zoom recorder? how do you synchronise it with your computer?" I just sample. All samples all the time. No synchronizing necessary. timmo said: "I like Tracktion a lot. Aside from the racks, the Rewire works really nicely with Reason, so it's extra great. It's sad that it seems to be a somewhat dead product I think." I found this on the KVR Tracktion forum: link Apparently, it's not dead yet!  Signup to comment
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