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[(Brian) Frost]

doing sound for a jazz trio at a convention.  had to replace the mackie 1202 with a mackie dfx so I could get some reverb for the flute.  I am amazed to find out how much thinner the dfx board is with the exact same settings as the 1202.  surprised two different low end mackies sound this different.  

ps, no - neither is broken, i tried 2 different dfx boards.

[Dick Rees]

(Brian) Frost wrote on Tue, 08 December 2009 14:19

doing sound for a jazz trio at a convention.  had to replace the mackie 1202 with a mackie dfx so I could get some reverb for the flute.  I am amazed to find out how much thinner the dfx board is with the exact same settings as the 1202.  surprised two different low end mackies sound this different.   ps, no - neither is broken, i tried 2 different dfx boards.

Why are you surprised that there is very little consistency between economy priced gear?  The bottom line is whether or not it is capable of producing the results you require, not whether or not you end up pointing all the knobbie things in the same general direction to achieve the desired end.    

Years ago there was a company named "Tate's" which made cheap compasses for explorers.  True, they did seek magnetic north, but the dials underneath were not always calibrated exactly the same so those that failed to follow the underlying principles were hopelessly off-course which gives rise to the classic phrase, "He who has a Tate's is lost!"  

[Gus Housen]

The DFX was i believe not intended to be "as good" as the 1202.
The DFX had more junk for the same price.
Besides did you expect good performance out of a mixer with a name that sounds like Defects

[(Brian) Frost]

am just surprised as the b-xxxxxxx cheapo mixers always seem to sound very good until they stop working.  figured the two mackies had similar circuitry. guess not

[Mike Butler (media)]

(Brian) Frost wrote on Wed, 09 December 2009 00:42

am just surprised as the b-xxxxxxx cheapo mixers always seem to sound very good until they stop working.  figured the two mackies had similar circuitry. guess not

Guess not. Like Gus said, the DFX is a lower series. It has more features but lacks the VLZ mic preamps (and who knows what else) of the family that the 1202 is in, and targets a different market.

[Charlie Zureki]

Mike Butler (media) wrote on Wed, 09 December 2009 01:06

(Brian) Frost wrote on Wed, 09 December 2009 00:42 am just surprised as the b-xxxxxxx cheapo mixers always seem to sound very good until they stop working.  figured the two mackies had similar circuitry. guess not Guess not. Like Gus said, the DFX is a lower series. It has more features but lacks the VLZ mic preamps (and who knows what else) of the family that the 1202 is in, and targets a different market.

Some that visit this site could go in to great detail about pricing/cost, market, and design on products from the same Company.

I believe your perception, that they do sound different. One has the added features of the EFX built in....so... they probably cut their expenses in quality of components or design.

I've had a 1202 since they first hit the streets... at the time it was pretty amazing in it's quality and function. Mackie sold Millions of them.  

 Haven't touched it for about 12 years...if it's still around.

Cheers,
Hammer
ps. see the thread about the Midas/KT acquisition in the Lab.  

[Clay Weston]

Charlie Zureki wrote on Wed, 09 December 2009 15:56

I've had a 1202 since they first hit the streets... at the time it was pretty amazing in it's quality and function. Mackie sold Millions of them.    Haven't touched it for about 12 years...if it's still around.

Same here, only I got mine out a few weeks ago to do a drum submix when I ran out of channels. The first thing I noticed was how tiny it is. I couldn't believe I used to mix my band on that thing! The second thing I remembered is how crappy the EQ is. Other than that it's a pretty good board.

Clay

[Bruce Gering]

I once used one of the original runs of the CFX-12, still USA made, as a bands soundman. Since it only had about 12 chnnls, after a while the bands leader decided to upgrade to CFX-20, although I advised him to get a MixWiz. The CFX by this time was made in China. The EQ sounded terrible and the whole thing sounded rather brash. Big difference between the 2! He ended up going with the MixWiz and never looked further.

[Steve Hurt]

The 1202 is superior to the DFX.

Your ears are working well!