Feature:
I know plenty of musicians with home studio's and never met one that needed more than 10 mic pre's, this is why i didnt go for 1604 and glad i didnt waste the money. This has the 4 bus and it has direct outs aux's inserts,etc...just awesome, cleaned up my studio, replaced a 1402 pro vlz and you can double 4 buss if need be.I thnk this is the perfect home studio mixer, just perfect amount of options and ch's, wont be crying for more (or wishing I had gotten 1604 or onyx 1620 which is in price range but lame not 4 bus),

Quality:
this thing is alike a tank compared to my 1402provlz, really heavy,everything feels super solid, no loose stuff, has nice user friendly angle.I got a b stock version and a little plastic foot fell off ,but just needs glued on,actually mixer it totally solid

Value:
1604 is way too much for home studio IMO unless you have the 4 voice backup group singing when you record the band live?! Anyway, for me as a home recordist,its just perfect wth 10 mic pre's and 4 bus

Desirability:
The angled position of the mixer is really cool and the led's on each ch is great and yeah it looks really cool,but I love gear so what can I say, it doesnt look cheap though

Sound:
crystal clear, perfect for home studio digital recording setup, no audible bleed/crosstalk,no hiss, just sweet sound, mic pre's are much better than on vlzpro,not as warm as onyx,but less colored and for my dynamic mics,just perfect. sound is better than behringer mixers perdiod ( I like behringer but man this mixer just kicks the behringer line of mixers sound quaality wise).I dare say it makes my studio monitors sound better than direct from pc!!!

Ease of Use:
looks simple and can be used this way, but it can also do some amazing stuff routing wise!!! With sub groups, direct outs, inserts and auxes...I had it up and running in about 5 minutes, manual is good,simple, but options are amazing, running to recorders (2) and pa ,etc...no weirdness here, just solid and signal goes where it should.

Support:
called them before purchase for info;they were informative

Overall:
man, I would recommend this to any and all home studio recording musicians and a great live board too.Its just the perfect balance of ch's ,subgroups, sound quality, mic pre's and eq. Became center of my digital home studio.totaly recommend over onyx 1620 (because of 4 bus and less colored sound on mic pre's,but not as warm)and behirnger mixers sound quality wise).or me, has same features as 1604 ,but not paying for ch's I will never use).

Feature:
I can't say on features because it would take another ten years to utilize them all but it suits me fine for now and a few years into the future. Yes digital DAWS are taking over the world but you still need a real good quality analog mixer to bring in all your vintage music equipment and make them sound as good as digital and maybe a little warmer, but clean very clean! All components used are top quality here and it will not let you down live or in studio use.

Quality:
Fit and finish is better than some of the stuff coming out of Japan as of late and of course China, of course, China, Led anyone??? I can depend on it in the studio for at least ten years and more as long as you keep liquids and gritty dirt/sand off the face. Road worthy? Well as long as you don't smash the knobs and sliders off and throw it down a empty elevator shaft in a tall building, I think you will be ok to take it on the road, but use a case for it and sleep with it under your pillow at night , uh wait, no, maybe not?

Value:
If you consider what is out there in this price range, and I mean performance sound quality wise and long term durability, there is nothing out there period!!! And I really mean period. as in "." And you can drop it but not on the faders or knobs, those will break off down a flight of stairs, I should know, my friend took his Mackie for a long trip down some stairs and it still works/sounds good besides some of the knobs missing/broken. Doh'

Desirability:
Well besides sleeping with it under my pillow......??? It does one thing and one thing, well, actually many things it does well, but the sound of the EQ section and the Mic pre-amps on this baby' is a thing of beauty!!! And not to mention it kind of looks sexy too. It just gets sounds in and sounds out really well, so you can record it down to stereo or into your DAW, Reel to Reel, DAT or whatever you use.

Sound:
It blows away the competition by miles, I mean do you know of any Behringer and or Yamaha Mixers that still work like new 10 years later??? I bought a Mackie 1604 when they first came out in 1992 and it was the best sounding mixer for the price and built really well. Well it still works today like it was brand new and it saw allot of use in the studio. My only gripe about the old 1604 is that Mackie did use the tightest 1/4" jacks and you have to be careful what cable brand you use because they can and do get stuck in the mixer jack. I had to pull out a cable end that was stuck in the jack, and it broke off and I had to use pliers just to get it out, now that is just way too tight!!! And other people had this problem as well, so please use some WD-40 oil or something before pluggin' in! Sheesh........Mackie why??? This new Mackie mixer sound quality has improved over the old Mackie stuff and the improved headroom, total silence on the background hiss and warm sweet warm clear mic pre-amps round it off nicely. Not that the old 1604 sounded bad or their other mixers, they were clean and noisless for the most part and allot of headroom on my original 1604!

Ease of Use:
I think Mackie really gets it, unlike other mixer companies out there in la-la land. I mean Mackie always gives you a ton of examples in their manuals, and clear pictures on their brochures on what you really can and should try out and use with their mixers. I like their since of humor and advertising and they make real good sounding mixers built like a tank as they say, that actually work today and tomorrow and twenty years from now???

Support:
Warranty is alright I guess? Make sure a dealer who sells it to you can exchange in 30 days or so if you get a lemon which is rare with Mackie. I had my old Mackie 1604, one fader pot got crackily' noisly bad the first thirty days of use and so I took in to the dealer and they said, 'we have to send it in to Mackie', we can't give you another one', which pissed me off because I just bought it and spent like $900 dollars on it back then, grimminy!!! Never had a problem since, but the Mackie Service center did wire a turn knob in reverse polarity and I found about it after warranty ran out, of course!!! Grimminny', criminy', Oh well I don't use that knob adjustment often and when I do I just have to think Dis-lexic? I mean I don't know why they touched a knob when I had a slider fader go bad and it wasn't even on the same channel?!? mmmmmmm.......Mackie??? Why???

Overall:
I don't know yet, the perfect digital mixer has not come out yet for interfacing with my DAW for a reasonable price, instead something that cost as much as a full size real truck, fully loaded!!! When is this industry going to come out with 16 channels or more, digital mixer interface for your DAW at a reasonable price and is not buggy or sounds like a Behringer that has been dropped kicked and you don't have to refinance your home or something like that??? Huh, well......? If it was lost or stolen, I would say to the thief who stole it, you better make great music with it and make allot of money to pay me back so I can go out and buy the next best Mackie. Na' that would not happen, I would buy it again, I would hope so?

Feature:
Typical Mackie feature, route via the sub, or it does not work. I don´t like this

Quality:
Certainly better than Behringer, but not more

Value:
Value, well, you pay for all of Mackies advertisment. Ido not consider this as value for money

Desirability:
I want It - NO

Sound:
Well, the sound of this desk is OK, but not more than OK, some compare Mackie to Behringer, well, you should not do this because Behringer is a joke compared to anything else. The EQ´s on the Mackie desks are horrible, not better than Behringer

Ease of Use:
As any

Support:
Do not know

Overall:
Overall, a Mackie desk is OK,if there would not be anything better,for example "Allan & Heath" or "Soundcraft"