Mackie Mix 12 FX Review

EDIT 2:
Sigh...OK, after testing again, FX to main off, letting the board warm up for around 20 minutes, I'm getting the feedback issue with phantom power again...
EDIT:
The biggest issue I ran into with the phantom power is most likely my own error! If you watch the video, you can see I have the FX to main cranked, which when you enable phantom power creates the awful feedback noise.
.............
Quick review on the Mackie Mix 12 FX.
I demo the phantom power issue I ran into the board and quickly show off the onboard FX.
Imgur gallery of others mentioning the phantom power issue with this board: Mackie mix 12 phantom power issues imgur.com/gallery/8uAZrrO
Forgot to mention that there is no power button on the mixer, and it gets warm over time as well. Not a big factor if you don't mind plugging it in and out of the wall, but if you want a setup where the board is always available, it may not be a great fit for that specific use case

[@beachboy2463]

I have this board and ran into this problem with my condensers so I bought the phantom power block. Problem solved. Thankful for this video.

[@NickCapron]

No problem, and thank you!

[@gitumjoe]

I just purchased board and have the same problem with my phantom mics. I’m returning...Thanks for the information.

[@DimitriusMann]

I replaced my older Behringer Xenyx 1202fx which still operates fine with the Mackie as an attempt of an upgrade. I like its low noise ratio but the only issue I have is with its effects. As a singer/keyboardist I used to make use of a large hall type of effect on the Behringer Xenyx 1202fx for both the vocal and the keys but just sending out a different ratio of the effect to each track. That worked fine for my needs. The effects of the Mackie mixer though don't seem to be too close to what effect I was used to hearing on my Behringer. They don't seen to have the same "wetness". The few kinds of reverb available on the Mackie have more of a "ribbon" type approach to their reproduction from the manufacturer. I miss the Behringer effects some of which had a Lexicon approach to them (believe it or not) despite the fact that it's a commercial low budget unit. Any thoughts or opinions on this anyone? Thanks

[@NickCapron]

... and please, if you have this same board, and don't get the awful feedback when enabling phantom power, please let me know. Beyond this flaw, I've found it to be an adequate mixer for an amateur like myself to play and learn with.

[@darrendewolfe3947]

I bought this unit a little over a week ago. After watching your video I tried it out with the phantom power engaged. I used an At2035 condenser mic with XLR input on channel 1. The gain knob on the channel was left in the middle and the channel mix level knob the same. I didn’t run it through a PA but used AKG K240 mkII headphones to monitor. I plugged it into a power bar and nothing was plugged into any other channel on the mixer (everything turned down except channel 1). I’m happy to report that it was whisper quiet. The only noise was ambience picked but by the mic. I tried adjusting the phones level and the main mix level and a few of the on-board effects-same result. I’m hoping it stays that way, although I probably won’t use the phantom power much since I use a USB audio interface for that when I record.

[@NickCapron]

Thanks for this Darren, good intel, I may have just been unlucky and got a bad one. Glad to hear yours is working well. I might try to see if I can another power adapter or try it outside of my home to ensure it is the board.

[@gargoyled_drake]

i appreciate the upload, good to know, i'll keep looking for a mini board upgrade for my self

[@NickCapron]

No problem, good luck on your search!

[@angrytomasz]

I ended up buying this after picking up a Gemini 12 channel mixer that I thought was cheap.. They were actually the same price in the end and I was really upset when I read the reviews and noticed how many people were having this phantom power issue. I use condenser mics so this is really troubling. I think I may stay with the Gemini board but I will test them both either way.

[@scourneene]

I.jist bought...I'm getting some static...though Im new to mixing boards and perhaps it's the way I have the gain set up or what not. Thanks

[@keithstevens128]

HI WHERE DO I GET A NEW PSU FOR MY MIX12FX CANT FIND 1 ANYWHERE THANKS.

[@jonaaranda4561]

Hi, since this only has two main outputs but I would like to connect two subwoofers with left and right connected to each subwoofer how can I make this possible? I would not like to run L into one sub and R into the other. I read both L and R should be connected to each sub for better sound overall

[@NickCapron]

Hey Jona, not too sure myself, but maybe this link can give you a few ideas. sound.stackexchange.com/questions/44217/how-to-connect-powered-subwoofer-to-mixer

[@EzraBufford]

I am a keyboardist who doesn't know a lot about sound. I bought this board to go along with my keyboard Trace Elliot Elf speaker set. At my church's Christmas party, somebody bought their Shure mics along with their one EV amp, which had a terrible muffled sound. So somebody plugged that mic into this board and that mic sounded great! I don't know if that mic needed phantom power, I never pushed that button and that mic was very loud and clear. In the future, I want to get a wireless mic set but I don't know if it will need that Phathom button pushed or not. We will see.thx

[@joephillips7612]

I'm returning it because it has not Aux Send. you can use the FX send but you lose the internal FX if you do that. ? It's having a Send or FX, not both. (I don't use the send for external FX)

[@TheLVmusic]

I have one of this, no 48V issues, only noise I get from the board is with some effects if I push harder than 12 O'clock on the effects metter.

[@GuitArmijo78]

Same issue here, it also hum’s when I use the 1/4 channels on for items that have power adaptors.

[@NickCapron]

TY Hybrid, similar experience for me as well with mine.

[@DD_Franks]

Hi, I never tested the phantom power issue you got... I have one sitting on a shelf for almost a year. I'm afraid to use it because of the insane amount of heat it generates at the upper right corner, near the connection of the power supply. Even the power supply itself starts to develop a smell of heated plastic after 30 minutes of use.... I was hoping that this Mackie mixer would have been a nice entry level mixer into the world of dawless recording, but the joke's one me it seems. :)

[@dimitriapproved]

if you take a look at the plastic side pieces, turning the decorative dimples into holes will let some air flow through. For all we know, they were supposed to have holes and someone translated the instructions wrong over there in manufacturing.

[@mandolinic]

I didn't find the FX demo useful with that particular choice of test sound.

[@DimitriusMann]

I bought the mixer a few days ago and I set it up with my keyboards and a dynamic mic I usually use. Everything seemed to be very quiet and intact but when I saw your video I got concerned about this problem probably being a defect of the model. I tested it today with a condenser mic and with an XLR connection and I had no noise whatsoever. Maybe there might have been a bad batch of items and you got unlucky (?)

[@NickCapron]

I think it may be due to how I had the FX pushing out to the main, and for some reason the phantom power doesn't play nice with it. I need to do some testing to make sure that's the problem, but have been having too much fun figuring out the Digitone currently. I want to figure it out, as I'd hate to say crap about the product, when the problem is due to my negligence!

[@DimitriusMann]

@@NickCapron sounds like something that could happen if the main FX send was cranked all the way up indeed since the phantom power amplifies everything and might create distortion. I'm glad to hear you don't have a defective board after all. That would be a pity.

[@NickCapron]

@@DimitriusMann Yupp pretty sure I'm an idiot, I just tried it now with the FX totally off and no problem whatsoever with the phantom power. If you watch the video you can see I have the FX to main dial cranked. So at least in my case the board seems to be A-OK, with using phantom power on it's own. Now that I'm starting to get a tad bit smarter with this stuff.

[@TheLVmusic]

@@NickCapron I push effects to a little cajon with a condenser mic, no noise coming through :D

[@artbagtas519]

Where do I connect (to mixer) my compressor/limiter/gate? Thanks.

[@NickCapron]

Hey Art, does this video help at all: kzbin.info/www/bejne/hHeko5Znj6-Xh9k Still learning about all this myself, all I have is a noise gate. I usually use it on some of my noiser instruments(volcas). What I do(not sure if correct) is run the Volca into the noise gate, and then run the gate into the mixer.

[@davek1990]

I have the same phantom power buzz. I did the same thing just used a external phantom power unit. Bought new April 2020 Amazon.

[@NickCapron]

Ha, seems to be the way with this board for many. At least the phantom power box is a cheap/easy solution! Thx, NC

[@djguttydjgutty]

Hello, I have that mixer but I find that the transformer gets very hot, does anyone else think the same? greetings from Chile.

[@DimitriusMann]

Regarding the problem you mentioned that you encountered with the PAN: on channels 5 through 12 the PAN button is replaced with a BALANCE button so panning is not available to the stereo tracks. Hope this helps cheers

[@NickCapron]

Thank you!

[@matt414]

My board is fine as well. Works like a champ.

[@NickCapron]

=) Awesome, strange how some of us are getting general buzzing, and the +48V feedback issue? Wish I knew more about electrical engineering to figure out why mine is such a noisy bastard! Glad to hear yours is mint though.

[@matt414]

@@NickCapron any experience with high ohms head phones on the mix 12 preamp?

[@NickCapron]

@@matt414 Not really... I throw the main outs from my mixer into my ZIOA right now over here, then out to my SSL2 interface.... it works, but a lot of noise makes it into the ZIOA via the board I think...(had to do a bit of googling to find out what you are talking about as I'm still pretty amateurish at best with recording/mixers) But I'm about to mess around with my setup, and can try my 50 ohms Sennheiser HD 599's against the headphone output(if that would help, if it does let me know and I can run some tests

[@gangrenebob7281]

Same phantom power issue here, terrible flaw.

[@NickCapron]

Yeah, it seems to come and go on mine, there was a couple of times I tried it and it worked fine. I thought it was due to how I had the FX settings dialed in, I even made an edit to the description of the video saying I was an idiot and not using it properly. Haha, after posting that, it did the feedback again with no FX enabled, so I'm at a loss with what is causing it. Thankfully the cheap phantom power box fixed the issue for me, and I just don't use phantom power on the mixer.

[@presleyjayaweera1420]

Price

[@skymusicpracticetracks]

i have mine same thing phantom power problem!!!!

[@NickCapron]

Yeah I thought I figured it out, I thought it was due to how I had the FX to main dialed up when I filmed the review, but upon doing additional testing I was able to reproduce it with no FX to main and no daisy chain on the output.

[@tommytbonescramer3908]

good thing I'm not using condenser mics... and I have a power conditioner.... that's because it is a balance nob not a pan. panning on 1, 2, 3, and 4 balance on 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12. it is truly only 8 channels just count the nobs.

[@NickCapron]

Thanks Tommy, yeah I was pretty green when I filmed this and had no idea really about EQ at all. I was kinda cheesed about the issues I had with the board with the phantom power, so that was the driving factor for me at the time to film a review =), it's kinda loud in general, but okay for just jamming/experimenting on my own when I try to put musical ideas together with my setup. Thx for the comment!

[@tommytbonescramer3908]

@@NickCapron I'm still waiting for mine to arrive, although I did my research prior to my purchase. Over all I like how you presented the facts, thanks

[@NickCapron]

@@tommytbonescramer3908 hope you enjoy it when it gets there, have a good one!

[@BREEDINGGROUND1]

That's Flanger, with a soft G

[@neil148]

I watched another video and there is a difference between pan and balance the one you pointed at has balance just saying

[@NickCapron]

Totally cool Neil, yah I was pretty green with audio gear when I filmed this (only been goofing around with it for a few months) so I'm sure I messed a couple of things up! Sorry for any confusion.

[@BadChizzle]

Yeah… mine does the same thing. Grrrr

[@NickCapron]

Bummer, yeah it's an annoying defect for sure, I've yet to find a fix for it unfortunately

[@ponyphonic]

Mine does this too. Shame.

[@leswhite3524]

Okey-dokey. A minute and a half in, I'm gonna take a hard pass on this. I have a dinosaur MS1202 series and it's a TANK! It's getting hot these days and did crap out on two channels on a gig so..... maybe the 1202VLZ4......

[@NickCapron]

Les, probably a good call, if I could do it over again, I would have paid more for a better quality board. Like it's fine for just jamming/geeking out on my own, but when I want to record anything, or feed the output into my Zoia for effects, there is quite a bit of noise on this board. And yeah, the random phantom power screech isn't great either =)

[@mrlionel1965]

Effect demo would have been much better had you used just the microphone. The music playing did nothing for this demo, sorry my friend.

[@NickCapron]

No problem, thanks for the feedback, I'm trying to get better =)

[@ag4ua]

all it sounds like to me is a grounding problem

[@NickCapron]

It might be, the AC adapter that comes with the mixer looks dirt cheap, I should see if I have another adapter that would work with it and give that a shot. My house is from the 1950's so maybe I got some dirty power going on too =)

[@ag4ua]

@@NickCapron drive a copper ground rod outside from where your equipment is in run a copper ground wire inside your house and ground all your equipment with this ground. I am a extra class ham radio operator my call is AG4UA I can be found on qrz.com.

[@ag4ua]

@@NickCapron Also look up audio isolation Transformer.

[@ag4ua]

@@NickCapron get two of these and put them between your computer and your mixer line in on your computer and line-out on your computer. it takes care of any line noise works wonders. www.amazon.com/Install-Bay-IBGLI-Ground-Isolator/dp/B01BWMTPPU/ref=sr_1_5?dchild=1&keywords=IBGLI+Ground+Loop+Isolator&sr=8-5

[@ChazSeamus28]

No problem with phantom power on my board, knock on wood

[@NickCapron]

Nice, looks like you got a good one, thx for sharing!

[@ag4ua]

Yamaha is junk

[@presleyjayaweera1420]

Price

[@NickCapron]

Oh crap did I not mention it? Anyway it looks to be around 170 CAD at the moment.