The Mackie 1604-VLZ maintains all the features and functionality of its wildly popular predecessor, the 1604-VLZ Pro, yet adds even greater headroom, a redesigned mix bus, and an improved EQ section for an amazingly intuitive, musical feel. Whether you need a powerful board for your home and studio recording, or a live mixer for club work, the 1604-VLZ delivers incredible sound with its 16 acclaimed XDR2 mic preamps. Built Mackie-tough, and ready to tackle practically any sound application, the Mackie 1604-VLZ is a first-rate mixer!
Mackie 1604-VLZ at a Glance:
- Tremendous XDR2 Preamps
- Premium musical EQ section
- Versatile and professional
- Split-monitoring
- Sleek, rugged design
Tremendous XDR2 Preamps
If you want excellent, professional sound, you need great mic pres - that's why Mackie put a lot of heart into the design of the 1604-VLZ3's XDR2 (Extended Dynamic Range) mic preamps. Delivering pure, clean, studio-grade sound, these pres have an impressively wide frequency range, especially in the low end, and even at extremely high gain settings. Switchable phantom power means you can use any of your favorite microphones with your 1604-VLZ3 and expect incredible, high-quality sound. While it's true that the VLZ3 mixers have gained an excellent reputation for more than just their mic pres, we can't help but attribute some of that fame to the XDR2's superb design.
Premium musical EQ section
Mackie didn't cut any corners when they designed the 1604-VLZ3's masterful EQ section. Every channel features the the same world-renowned 3-band active EQ with optimized center points - the lows at 80Hz and the highs at 12kHz. Midrange compensation is handled by a peaking control with a two-octave variable frequency center, meaning mids can be swept from 100Hz all the way up to 8kHz, with a boost or cut of 15dB. This entire EQ section was designed to be practical and useful, but also tone-shaping to actually improve the musical nature of the original signal.
Versatile and professional
The Mackie 1604-VLZ3 mixer is loaded with premium features on each channel. Enjoy 75Hz Low-Cut filters, four aux sends, inserts, phantom power, constant-loudness pan controls, overload and signal present LEDs, sub and main mix assign switches, and an assignable AFL/PFL solo switch for ultimate control. An array of output options make the 1604-VLZ3 ready for any application with its control room/phones source matrix, master aux section with EFX to monitor, tape outputs, a high-volume headphone amplifier, channels 1-8 direct outs, and balanced XLR and balanced/unbalanced TRS outputs!
Split-monitoring
WIth split monitoring, you can use the first eight channels of your 1604-VLZ3 for your sound sources, such as vocal mics or drum mics. 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. In this way, the signals will be r ecorded or passed directly through the multitrack, depending on the 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 9, 2 to 10, 3 to 11, and so on. Thus, channels 9-16 will be assigned to the mixer's output section, delivering the signals to their ultimate destination - maybe your mixdown 2-track, your control room system, or your headphones. Split-monitoring makes the 1604-VLZ3 an amazingly powerful 8-track recording console.
Sleek, rugged design
Professionals around the world choose Mackie mixers for their road-proven, time-tested design. These 1604-VLZ3 Mixers are the same Mackie workhorses we've come to expect, designed to take some serious abuse, yet keep on sounding their best. With Mackie's legendary solid-steel chassis that protects it from any tough knocks, your 1604-VLZ3's control knobs even ride just above the surface of the chassis, transferring potential impact to the chassis - and not to the vital circuit board. Thick, horizontally mounted fiberglass PC boards add to the 1604-VLZ3's brick-like construction, giving it a shock-absorbing support structure that's truly built to last.
Mackie 1604-VLZ3 Features:
- 16-channel ultra-low noise compact mixer with highest possible headroom
- 16 studio-grade XDR2 Extended Dynamic Range mic preamps
- 16 high-headroom line inputs, 16 channel inserts
- Advanced DC pulse transformer RF rejection
- 60mm long-wearing logarithmic-taper faders
- 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
- Advanced DC pulse transformer RF rejection
- 4 Aux sends, level, pan, -20dB/Solo and Overload/Mute_LEDs on each channe
- 4 stereo Aux returns, 8 Direct outs, 4 Group/Bus outputs
- 3-band Active EQ with sweepable midrange
- 18dB/oct. 75Hz Lo-Cut filter
- Balanced 1/4" inputs and outputs (except inserts)
- Control Room/Phones multi-input source matrix
- 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
