Mackie 1604-VLZ Pro
Sixteen channels, an XDR preamp with 130 dB of dynamic range, and a fuse drawer that takes a standard IEC cord. The compact mixer that became the default.
Overview
The 1604-VLZ Pro is a sixteen-channel, four-bus compact mixer built around Mackie's XDR (Extended Dynamic Range) mic preamp. The numbers Mackie published for that preamp are why the console earned its reputation. The company's own manual specifies a full gain range from 0 to 60 dB, +22 dBu line signal handling, a 130 dB dynamic range, and distortion below 0.0007% from 20 Hz to 20 kHz. Those are studio-grade figures, printed in the owner's documentation for a desktop mixer. They explain why the 1604-VLZ Pro turned up in so many project rooms and live rigs. As Mix (April 2005, p.102) put it, Mackie's VLZ line set the standard in desktop consoles for a generation of studio engineers and live musicians, and the 1604-VLZ Pro is the model that sentence is really about.
The manual describes the layout as three zones: a patchbay of jacks on the rear "pod," sixteen channel strips down the left, and the output section on the right. Every input and output is balanced except the insert, phones, and RCA jacks. Every input and output also accepts unbalanced lines except the XLR jacks. The main left and right mix outputs can deliver +28 dBu into a load as low as 600 ohms. The other outputs manage +22 dBu into the same load. That headroom means the console plays nicely with virtually any output impedance you feed it and doesn't fold up when a hot source arrives.
The channel EQ is a three-band design with a sweepable mid. Low shelving is at 80 Hz with ±15 dB. The mid peaking band sweeps from 100 Hz to 8 kHz at ±15 dB with a fixed 1.5-octave bandwidth. High shelving is at 12 kHz with ±15 dB. There's also an 18 dB/octave low-cut filter, 3 dB down at 75 Hz. The manual recommends engaging it on every channel except genuine low-frequency sources like kick and bass. The PAN controls use what Mackie calls "Constant Loudness." Panning a channel from hard left to center dips it about 4 dB, so the sound doesn't jump in apparent volume as it moves.
Input noise is quoted at -129.5 dBm unweighted with a 150-ohm termination at max gain. Common-mode rejection at 1 kHz is better than 90 dB. The mic input impedance is 1.3 kilohms. All other inputs are 10 kilohms or greater. Tape out is 1.1 kilohms and all other outputs are 120 ohms. The whole console weighs 20 lbs (9.1 kg) and draws 50 watts from a 120 V AC, 50/60 Hz supply. It's fused at 1A Slo Blo (5 x 20 mm) for 120 V units and 0.5A Slo Blo for 220-240 V units.
The 1604-VLZ Pro takes a standard 3-prong IEC cord, not a wall wart. Mackie's manual is almost gleeful about it. Wall warts are "inconvenient, fragile," radiate hum fields, and hog jacks on the power strip. Lose the cord and any electronics shop sells you another. Lose a wall wart and you're stuck.
Two factory-documented modifications exist for special applications. One changes Aux Sends 1 and 2, with the pre switch engaged, to be post-EQ instead of pre-EQ. The other changes the Source matrix's Main Mix selection to tap the stereo signal pre- rather than post-fader. Both require soldering experience, and the manual is blunt that this is not the place to learn. Mackie also notes that of all its products returned for service, roughly half come back coded "CND" (Could Not Duplicate), meaning the fault usually lives somewhere other than the mixer.
Mix (April 2005, p.102) describes the 1604-VLZ Pro as ubiquitous. It also notes that in 2004 Mackie introduced the Onyx line as a step-up from the VLZ Pro family, with the flagship Onyx 1640 sharing the same 16x4x2 architecture and six aux sends. Period advertising for the mixer ran in EQ (June 2001, p.59) and Mix (July 2001, p.71), pitching the XDR preamps and the VLZ Pro line's headroom. Treat those as marketing, not verdicts.
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