Mackie 802-VLZ3 Compact Mixer

The 802-VLZ3 is the slightly smaller brother to the 1202-VLZ3, but it includes a few handy extras that its bigger brother does not have.

This mixer features 2 "mono" channels with mic and line inputs, and channel inserts on each; and two stereo channels which can accept mono or stereo line sources; and then there's an "in-between" channel which can accept either a mic input, or a stereo line input. There is also a stereo aux return, so if you really play your cards right, you could mix 10 line inputs on this tiny little mixer.

Each channel features a single aux send (with a master pre/post toggle switch), three-band EQ, pan, Mute, and solo. The master section features all of the same goodies as the 1202 with one really great addition - there is a separate headphone volume knob! So you have your control room volume for your speakers as well as a totally independent headphone volume.

As with the 1202, there is an alternate stereo bus that you can assign channels to by pressing the Mute button. This has a corresponding subgroup output. There are also two sets of main outputs - one 1/4" TRS and the other XLR which can be switched between mic- and line- level operation at the push of a button.

There is another fundamental difference between the two: the 1202 has its power transformer inside the chassis, which means it can use a standard IEC power chord. The 802 uses a "line wort" power supply with a mini-XLR connector. On the one hand, this means that if you lose or damage the power supply on a gig, you are somewhat out of luck, but this also allows the 802 to be insanely small and light. I am able to carry this mixer in a rather small knapsack with plenty of other things inside.

If you need most of the features, but don't need as many inputs as the 1202 offers, and a smaller footprint and weight are attractive to you, this compact mixer is definitely worth a look.