View other reviews for this product:
moosers
Published on 06/11/10 at 11:23
The Mackie 1202 is a small analog mixer that can be used for a variety of purposes. You can use it as a traditional mixer, or just for routing purposes. The application that I've used the 1202 for is a bit out of the ordinary, but it still works great for it nonetheless. I've used it as a headphone mixing station in the recording studio. In other words, we send channels from Pro Tools out to the 1202, and players in the booth or in the live room can set their own mixes using this mixer. While they certainly make boxes that are specifically designed for this type of use, the 1202's work just as well. As far as characteristics go, it's got 12 channels in total, with four mono channels and four stereo channels. It's got four microphone preamplifiers, and each channel has it's own EQ and aux sends. It's overall a pretty standard mixer and doesn't present anything out of the ordinary.
UTILIZATION
Using the Mackie 1202 is really not too difficult, but if you don't know your way around a mixer, any mixer will seem complicated. However, this is probably the easiest type of mixer to learn on if you are unfamiliar with the make up of mixers, since it really just has the essentials. A manual would be a good idea to have around if you are indeed a beginner, but definitely isn't necessary otherwise.
SOUNDS
I haven't done any recording with the Mackie 1202, as I've only used it as a headphone box as I previously mentioned. I have used another version of the 1202 for other applications, which I would imagine would be pretty similar to the original 1202, but I can't say so for sure since I haven't used the mic preamps on this one. I will say that it does a good job of allowing control to players in the studio trying to get their own mix. It definitely doesn't degrade the sound quality in any fashion when used in this way.
OVERALL OPINION
For a home studio owner, the Mackie 1202 wouldn't be a bad choice if you're looking for a simple mixer to route everything through. However, the only application that I could see it being used in a professional studio would be for a headphone mixer as I previously mentioned. The price isn't too expensive at all, as these can definitely be had for cheap since there are a number of other newer version of the 1202 out. I'd definitley consider it as a cheaper option to headphone boxes.
UTILIZATION
Using the Mackie 1202 is really not too difficult, but if you don't know your way around a mixer, any mixer will seem complicated. However, this is probably the easiest type of mixer to learn on if you are unfamiliar with the make up of mixers, since it really just has the essentials. A manual would be a good idea to have around if you are indeed a beginner, but definitely isn't necessary otherwise.
SOUNDS
I haven't done any recording with the Mackie 1202, as I've only used it as a headphone box as I previously mentioned. I have used another version of the 1202 for other applications, which I would imagine would be pretty similar to the original 1202, but I can't say so for sure since I haven't used the mic preamps on this one. I will say that it does a good job of allowing control to players in the studio trying to get their own mix. It definitely doesn't degrade the sound quality in any fashion when used in this way.
OVERALL OPINION
For a home studio owner, the Mackie 1202 wouldn't be a bad choice if you're looking for a simple mixer to route everything through. However, the only application that I could see it being used in a professional studio would be for a headphone mixer as I previously mentioned. The price isn't too expensive at all, as these can definitely be had for cheap since there are a number of other newer version of the 1202 out. I'd definitley consider it as a cheaper option to headphone boxes.