Mackie VLZ4 60mm faders

[Kayvon]

I used to have a Mackie CR1604 and as good as it was I never got on with the short faders. To the point where I actually prefer the pots on my current 1202 VLZ.

Both mixers were well used by the time I bought them and had/have really annoying dicky channels so I'm planning on upgrading to a bigger first hand desk that can handle all my synth/sample/fx inputs plus 8 or 16 channels from my computer. The VLZ4 is very competitively priced and I'm certain will suffice from a sound quality POV but I'm a little concerned about those 60mm faders.

Can anyone with experience of similar aforementioned models speak on how the newer VLZ4 60mm faders respond? I often found it tricky setting fine levels on the CR1604 even after setting gain staging appropriately hence my preference for the pots of the 1202.

I'd love an Audient ASP4816 but at +10x the price it would be an extravagance beyond belief for what is de facto at this point a hobby. The Allen & Heath Zed series seems to find favour here and would net me 100mm faders plus on the bigger models an extra variable mid eq though I think the single variable mid on the Mackie would suffice. The level meters on the Mackie would come in handy but otherwise they seem somewhat similar and the 6 aux sends on either would definitely get fully utilised. Any difference in sound quality between Mackie/A&H would I suspect be neither here nor there for me.

But yeah, do people get on with the 60mm faders on the Mackie VLZ4 series? Ultimately I'd prefer 100mm faders and as far as I'm aware there aren't any >16 channel mixers with level pots!

Cheers

[Kayvon]

I should've mentioned I'm looking at the Mackie 2404 VLZ4 and I suppose the A&H ZED 428 although checking it again now the A&H 428 doesn't have any FX which no doubt would come in useful. Split desks look v cool but I'm not sure I'd exactly gain much by working in that way in a leccytronic music capacity vs live/band setting.

[Mike Stranks]

I had a ZED420 for a while. Absolutely loved it! A real step-up from what I'd owned and mostly worked with before. The second swept mid was a real plus!

Only reason I sold it was because it was too big and heavy as I was a lone-operator not exactly in the first flush of youth...

ZED4 series or Mackie? ZED 4 without a moment's pause...

[Sam Spoons]

+1 When I was doing regular live sound gigs I used various A&H Zed series desks and liked them a lot.

[Arpangel]

A&H, 100%.
I felt exactly like the OP regarding Mackie, the faders spoil the show, I’ve owned many, and stopped using then ages ago.
The A&H has better faders, better EQ, and a better overall sound IMO.