How do you improve on perfection? The Mackie 1604-VLZ Pro has been the long-running favorite of audio professionals the world over for its sound quality, ease of use, and rugged dependability. Thousands of recordings have been tracked and mixed solely on a 1604. Designing a mixer to take its place was a tremendous challenge, indeed. But our engineering team thrives on this kind of stuff, so they tackled this one head on, creating one of the best compact mixers weve ever offered: the Mackie 1604-VLZ3.

While keeping the features and functionality of its predecessor, the Mackie 1604-VLZ3 offers even greater headroom than the original. We could have stopped right then and there, but were obsessed with perfection. So we redesigned the Mix Bus and made a few circuitry upgrades to the EQ, giving the 1604-VLZ3 a highly intuitive, more musical feel. Whether you need a live mixing board for club work, or a full-featured workhorse for home and studio recording, you owe it to yourself to check out the new Mackie 1604-VLZ3. Youll think its perfect, too.

Our new XDR2 (Extended Dynamic Range) second-generation mic preamps are better than ever. They offer incredibly low noise, with individual mic pre THD below 0.0007%, and overall mixer THD less than 0.0025%. With 60dB of available gain per channel, the 1604-VLZ3 can handle inputs ranging from a whisper to a scream, and can even handle hot line-level signals up to +22db, without any added coloration. You simply wont find preamps this good on any other mixer in this price range.

Don't let its size fool you. The Mackie 1604-VLZ3 mixer is packed with premium features on every channel; 75Hz Low-Cut filters, four Aux Sends, inserts, phantom power, constant-loudness Pan controls, OL (overload) and signal present LEDs, sub and main mix assign switches, and assignable AFL/PFL Solo switch. And since you can never have too many output options, we provided a Control Room/Phones source matrix, Master Aux section with EFX to Monitor, tape outputs, high-volume headphone amplifier, channels 1-8 direct outs, and balanced XLR and balanced/unbalanced TRS outputs.

High-quality equalization is a must for any good mixer, that's why we didn't cut any corners when it came to our 3-band Active EQsand why we include them on every channel. Tremendous resources went into optimizing the center points of the channel EQ. As a result, we put the Lows at 80Hz and the Highs at 12kHz. Midrange compensation is handled by a peaking control with a two-octave variable frequency center. This means the Mids can be swept from a low of 100Hz, all the way up to 8kHzwith a boost or cut of 15dB. This gives VLZ3 mixers practical, useful equalization, providing not only sonic enhancement and correction, but also the tone-shaping facility to actually improve the musical nature of the original signal.

With split monitoring, you can use the first eight channels for your sound sources: vocal mics, drum mics, etc. From there, the channels manipulate the sound, but are not assigned to the output section. Instead, they're patched from the channel's DIRECT OUT jacks to the corresponding multitrack input (DIRECT OUT 1 to multitrack input 1, 2 to 2, 3 to 3, etc.). The signals will now be recorded or passed directly through the multitrack, depending on each track's record-ready status.

The outputs of the multitrack are then patched to the next eight LINE inputs on the 1604-VLZ3 (multitrack out 1 to LINE input 9, 2 to 10, 3 to 11, etc.). Aha! That's why it says "TRACK 1" next to channel 9's fader, "TRACK 2" next to channel 10, and so forth. These channels (916) will be assigned to the mixer's output section, delivering the signals to their ultimate destination, which could be your mixdown 2-track, your control room system, or your headphonesmaking the 1604-VLZ3 a truly powerful 8-track recording console.

Features:

• New ultra-low noise VLZ3 design with highest possible headroom
• 16 studio-grade XDR2 Extended Dynamic Range mic preamps with:
  - Ultra-wide 60dB gain range - 130dB dynamic range
  - +22dBu line input handling
  - Extended low frequency response
  - Distortion under 0.0007% (20Hz - 20kHz)
  - Phantom power for studio condenser mics
• 16 high-headroom line inputs, 16 channel inserts
• Advanced DC pulse transformer RF rejection
• 60mm long-wearing logarithmic-taper faders
• 4 Aux sends, level, pan, -20dB/Solo and Overload/Mute_LEDs on each channel
• 4 stereo Aux returns, 8 Direct outs, 4 Group/Bus outputs
• 3-band Active EQ with sweepable midrange
• 18dB/oct. 75Hz Lo-Cut filter
• Control Room/Phones source matrix
• Balanced 1/4" inputs and outputs (except inserts)
• Rack-mountable design with three physical configurations via rotating I/O pod
• Sealed rotary controls to resist dust and grime
• New Multi-Voltage power supply for worldwide use
• Rugged steel chassis
• Includes Tracktion 3 Music Production Software for Mac or PC