strong well build mixer

works great. makes the mic sound woundfully mellow and operates easily Well built

Does everything I need

I use the 802-VLZ3 as a nerve center for my PC, recording inputs, and monitors. It's got all the features I require, and nothing that I don't need. Compact and solidly built. I like the independent control room and headphone volume knobs, most of the mixers I looked at in this price range didn't have that. A lot of routing flexibility for a little mixer.

Great for submixing keys + front-end input to DAW

When I put together my first simple DAW, I went for an 8-input mixer with built-in DAW integration. The form factor was much too big, and it had features like onboard compression that I didn't really need. Then I went to a rackmount IO, but the mic pres were too noisy, the software drivers a bit wonky, and I lost a lot of the mixer hands-on control that I previously enjoyed.

Lesson learned: get the right components. So, new mission: stay within budget, but get a PCIe based I/O and the Mackie on the front end.

With the Mackie, I get the right form factor (roughly same footprint as a sheet of paper), exceedingly low noise, better gain on the pres, suprisingly flexible routing (check the manual to see some suggested setups),and heavy, solid construction. Nothing feels cheap. Controls are smooth, knobs are rock solid, connections are tight.

For a hobbyist setup with two workstation synths + a couple of mics, this is _perfect_ (and leaves room for more!). Quality/price ratio is nuts.

solid clean sound!!

I was actaully quite suprised how such a big sound can come from such a compact mixer.

I have had behringer , soundcraft mixers but this one was much more punchier. Lots of headroom, i previously had a mackie DFX 6 which was great but this one was steets aheand of the DFX 6 with cyrstal clear sounding XDR extended range mic pre's.

Also no noise issues

Swiss Army Knife Mixer

This mixer is configured in a way that makes it a great tool for a number of applications. I still have not figured out the assign switch section and control room knob, or how they function in relation to the meeter and main outs. I've had it for about two years now.

I first used it as a live mixer and it works great for that, just be conciouse of the number of ins, aux and outs. And know that the preamp on the channel 3 only functions on the xlr input, not the stereo 1/4 inputs. And also know that there are no fx here and you will need them for playing live. AND a good outboard fx unit is hard to find and they get expensive quick. Couple this need with one aux out and you've hit a functional ceiling. Exept for, that is, the well placed insirts on channels 1 and 2.

The inserts can be used in a number of ways. Couple them with the aux and the additional stereo channels and you can hook up a number of sweet wiring configurations. At one point I was out and back to eq's and loopers seperatly and simotainiously. It really is a very nice switchboard.

That brings me to recording. (I own an h4, monitors and eq, fx and rnp.) Using this unit for recording opened a second side of this mixer. it was neat to discover how well the mixer is set up for not just live sound, but recording as well. Looking at it from the recording standpoint allowed me to appreciate the usefulness of the assign section. It makes a lot more sense from this perspective. So, I've learned to work with it a little better, but i still don't have it figured out.

Nice board for the price. Has good build and functionality.

Also, Mackie thank you for some nice gear over the years. I own a first generation cfx12 and srm450's and they have been work horses for me for over 10 years. THANKS

Mackie 802-VLZ3

Outstanding piece of equipment. Does exactly what I wanted. My only gripe is that the documentation is not there until you download the manual off the internet. Instructions to do so are somewhat vague.

The Heart of My Live Sound

I bought this little mixer from Sweetwater about a year ago without a clear idea of how I would use it. I knew I wanted to simplify my live rig for some of the tiny stages I play.

It took some experimenting but I've finally found a simple repeatable live sound that just kills and saves a ton of floor space. My #1 Strat (Warmoth HSS w/ Rio Grandes) goes to the Pod HD500 (also from Sweetwater), then the left 1/4" mono out of the HD to the left mono "in" on the 802 (channel 7/8), the aux out goes to a QSC K12 sitting on an Auralex "Great Gramma" isolation pad. I also mix my vocals into channel 1 of the 802 and monitor through the K12 (eliminating a separate monitor). The left Main out from the 802 goes to the house PA...fortunately, the 802 left main has a built-in mic-level pad that keeps things under control when the signal hits the main board (Allen & Heath Mix Wizard).

Not only has this little mixer simplified my setup, it has become an integral part of my sound both in mixing and preamping my vocals before they hit the house and in tweaking my guitar tone on the fly...mostly adding/subtracting bass and midrange to suit the local house conditions. I now don't know what I'd do without it.

Great little mixer

I bought this for a baseball field sound sytem. It works great - feels like it was built pretty solid. It is configured very nice, easy to use. Very small and compact. Sounds great on the speakers! defintaly would reccomend it!