In a world, where high-end consoles dominate the floor, one company stands alone for the needs of the struggling budget producer. That company, Mackie, has introduced four new small format mixers, all of which serve the needs of live sound, as well as computer-based recording. The ProFX8 ($230 MAP) and ProFX12 ($280 MAP) both feature 3-band EQ per channel, as well as a 7-band graphic EQ on the master output and a built-in 32-bit effect processor with 16 gig-ready effects. Their USB ports provide stereo I/O for recording and playback.

Two even more compact mixers, the U.420 ($299 MSRP) and the U.420d ($359 MSRP), come with 24-bit 96 kHz FireWire connectivity for recording and playback. Both are 4-channel mixers, but whereas the U.420 offer 4 stereo line inputs and a phono input, the U420.d includes 2 premium Mackie preamp mic/line inputs, two stereo line/phono inputs. The U420.d also adds faders on channels 1 & 2 and a crossfader between channels 3 and 4.

Both mixers also include 3-band “full kill” EQ per channel and Mackie Tracktion 3 production software.