Mackie Mixer Sale $99

[xmlguy]

Guitar Center currently has the Mackie DFX 12 mixer for $99. That's such an amazing price, I just had to share it here. I picked one up even though I didn't really need it at the moment.

 

I also got the Behringer UBB1002 that runs about $100. It's a smaller format mixer that's unusual in that it has good faders, lots of stereo input channels, and can run on battery power. Most of the small mixers use knobs instead of channel faders and have a smaller number of stereo channels. I probably wouldn't recommend it as a main mixer except for solo/duo performers, but it seems to be a nice option for use as a keyboard submixer or for remote locations on battery power.

 

I have no association with Guitar Center except as a customer.

[xmlguy]

I've been able to use the UBB1002 for several hours and I'm completely satisfied with its performance. Very low noise, great gain, very powerful headphone amp (most powerful I have now by far), and great feel on the faders and knobs. The faders in particular have a much better feel than any other mixer I've tried in the bottom feeder range - including Yamaha. There are some features missing compared to the Yamaha MG, no channel compressors, no effects return, only the first two channels have inserts, and it probably could be a bit lighter although it feels solid. None of these issues are a problem for me, but they could be negatives for other keyboardists.

 

Next I'll report on the DFX 12. One of the initial negatives is that it only has two band channel EQ, but the 5-band master EQ might offset that problem to some degree.

[Synthoid]

Any idea how long that sale lasts?

[xmlguy]

Any idea how long that sale lasts?

I think it's part of the their 40th anniversary event, but I don't know when it ends, probably the end of August. But the biggest problem is that your local GC will probably run out of stock long before the sale ends for a deal this good. I saw the deal at one store that was out of stock, had them do a store search and found another store that had one, but I got the last one there. The GC staff wasn't even aware of the sale at the second store, and several staff asked if any more were left when they heard of the deal. Get them while you can!! The normal online price for the DFX 12 is $250 new, and $200 open box/refurb.

[bhodaway10]

XML where do you live?

[Synthoid]

I don't need a mixer of course.....but what a good price!

 

They probably get 10 for each store and that's it.

 

 

[xmlguy]

Greater Los Angeles/ Riverside, CA

 

They had the EFX 6 for that price too, in case someone is interested in the smaller version.

[bhodaway10]

I'm going to look for the EFX 6 tomorrow. There are like 4 GC's within an hour's distance. Usually they can send one to the close one to me. They usually like to do that anyways so that the particular sales person can get the sale it seems.

 

XMl - did you just get it this week/weekend?

 

Thanks for the tip!

[xmlguy]

I got it yesterday, Sat. Aug 23rd. Hope you find one left! The price is still $299 on the website, so it appears to be an in-store special only. It wasn't just a specific store special, because that was the price in the GC sales computer.

[Mr. Nightime]

It seems to me that unless they specify that it's for existing stock only, if you go in to buy one and they are out-of-stock, they are required to supply a "rain-check" and honor that price after the sale ends. Otherwise it could be considered bait-and-switch advertising, which is illegal.

[bhodaway10]

I think I got the Guitar Center ad and I it said "limit to stock on hand" but I could be wrong. I'll let you guys know what happens today.

 

Brian

 

 

[bhodaway10]

Well I found one at a GC that is about 30 min away. Unfortunately, their system says $249 and not $99. I don't have the catalog anymore that said $99 and not $249. Darn. I don't want to drive down there and not get the mixer.

 

Does anybody else still have that 40th anniversary mailer? Via .pdf maybe? I'm just not sure what was the last day of the sale.

 

Thanks,

 

Brian

 

 

 

 

[bhodaway10]

Found the catalog - $249 and $199 - you got a great deal XML!! =) Darn......

[xmlguy]

Call the Rancho Cucamonga Store. They had the $99 price marked on the shelf for the DFX 6 & 12, but were out of stock. Perhaps one of the staff or managers can confirm the price for your local store, unless the sale happened to end yesterday. The San Bernardino store may have one left in stock, talk to Don, the live sound manager.

 

RC Phone: 909-899-9843

SB Phone: 909-799-6200

 

[xmlguy]

I had a chance to test the DFX 12 today.

 

The only disappointment was that the box was in resealed condition but didn't appear that way from the outside. One of the protective styrofoam endcaps was completely missing, and no power cable. Worse was that two of the faders were bent.

 

But fortunately, there was no damage that I couldn't easily resolve, nothing broken on the faders after I carefully bent them back into proper position.

 

Everything works fine on it, and there were no scratches, dents or dings, so all looks in mint condition now.

 

I used one of my SM58s and hooked up my Kaossilator to it. It's very quiet and I like the quality on the effects, although I'll probably only use one or two kinds of mild reverb. I have a VoiceWorks Plus for my primary vocal preamp, compressor/limiter, effects, and harmony, so the master effects on the Mackie will just be to give some unified ambience. The effects do get into a pretty bad sounding distortion when clipping, but there's plenty of headroom to get a pretty wet sound before the overload LED lights. The lack of compressor/limiter before the effects will limit the ability to get a strong chorus, phaser, or flanger effect, I think. There's also no parameters for any of the effects, so no joy if you don't like how it sounds.

 

I think I will use the UBB1002 for my keyboard submixer, with the DFX 12 as a backup or if I want enough inputs for jam sessions with my buddies. I think the DFX 12 will work fine for most small bands. I like the layout and feel of both of them. The faders on the Behringer UBB1002 still have a much nicer feel than the Mackie, as they are very smooth with a light touch, but not in any way sloppy. The Mackie faders are more stiff and not as smooth, but still a step up from most of the bottom end mixers.

 

The only problem now is that I'll need to pickup some more mics, cables, stands, and a snake if I want to make full use of the DFX 12.

[xmlguy]

I checked with Guitar Center about the sale. They said it was a special manufacturers promotion that ran only last weekend on Saturday and Sunday. It might run again on Labor Day weekend, so check again this Saturday morning. $99 is below their normal cost for DFX mixers, so they can only do that kind of promotion with vendor support.

[bhodaway10]

I'll call Sat - Thanks for the tip!

 

Brian

 

 

[jimmymio]

I'll call Sat - Thanks for the tip!

 

And please keep us posted.

JP

[Griffinator]

That sucks. There's not a GC within 100 miles of me.

[FIREBIRD]

I just got a real sweet Yamaha mixer yesterday on clearance from Sam Ash - although no Mackie, it was a real sweet deal for my purposes - just check out the Yamaha mixers in the clearance section if interested.

 

I do not work for or am affiliated with Sam Ash or any other retailer - although I appreciate when someone gives a heads-up on good deals for gear - I was influenced to buy this mixer after the discussion on mixers a few weeks ago - thanks for all of your input.

[bhodaway10]

Oh cool. I heard that mackie mixers have a great tone?

 

Brian

 

 

[xmlguy]

Brian, you don't want a mixer with good tone, you want one that's invisible except for where you need to alter it for a specific purpose. Low noise, reliable and durable construction, good features for the intended purpose, that's what you want, and the harder you'll ride it, the tougher it will need to be.

 

Use outboard effects and processing for any tone altering, since it will be much more powerful that what mixers can, or should, do. I want to pick my outboard gear and I don't want it in the mixer. If the mixer happens to have some effects I can use, great, but that's not part of my decision process whatsoever.

 

The Yamaha MG and Peavey PV series mixers are a good value too, probably a better value than Mackie at normal prices.

[bhodaway10]

I'm definitely not a mixer expert. I need one to drive my accugroove's I just got from the qsc....

 

I would think the effects might be good for vocals so I don't have to bring another box in?

 

The Yamaha does have usb which is nice....

 

 

[xmlguy]

If you have the choice between two mixers, one that is cheaper without effect or USB, or one that is more expensive with them, get the cheaper one and use the difference saved to put forward to a selective rack gear, like a 31 band EQ, compressor/limiters, or speaker managment system like the dBX driverack PA or PX.

 

In my case, I now have a $99 mixer to go with my $500++ TC-Helicon VoiceWorks Plus vocal processor, which is a better combination for me than a $500 mixer with $99 worth of vocal effects.

[bhodaway10]

I called gc and they told me they had the dfx12 for $99. I drive 40 min only to find out one was bought over the phone and the only one available was the floor model. However the dfx6 was only $79! Score! Btw, I could have ordered it Internet and price matched - I had a decent gc salesperson. If you want it call ahead and have them ship it to your house or at least buy it over the phone.

[xmlguy]

Glad to hear you scored on this deal, even better for $79!!

[bhodaway10]

Yeah it's a little bit larger than I was looking to get (was thinking of the mackie 802 - vlz3 - $170 price @ GC) but for $79 it's simply a deal I couldn't pass up!!

 

How do you guys carry your mixer? I have this laptop backpack that I got "free" for doing this survey. Maybe I'll use that? I'm just a little nervous about messing up the "knobs."