Which mixer?

bleedinggums

hey guys, ive been making music on ableton for a while and am now looking to get a mixer to dj with, my budget is around 300 euro but could possibly go higher if needed...
any advice on good/suitable ones in this price range?
thanks, shane

Paul1979

if i were u i would get the best that i could afford (save a bit longer) so that in a years time u dont have to upgrade, i have bought loads of cheap mixers over the years only for them to go bust or sound ****e, oh and avoid pioneers they are shie, buy a allen & heath instead

eeloe

Pioneer aren't ****!

I've had a djm600 in the past, and loved it.
Currently have a djm800, and I think it's serious!

Selik

Just get an Allen & Heath Xone 22 and you won't look back.

BaZmO*

That Xone 22 looks sweet. No kill switches though, which could be a deal breaker for me.

electrogrimey

BaZmO* wrote: »

That Xone 22 looks sweet. No kill switches though, which could be a deal breaker for me.

Hardly any high end mixers have kill switches...

jtsuited

BaZmO* wrote: »

That Xone 22 looks sweet. No kill switches though, which could be a deal breaker for me.

yeah kill switches sort of died out in around 2001.
they're a serious liability on a mixer due to the fact that if the switch gets a little wrecked you can end up with a totally unusable mixer.

Paul1979

eeloe wrote: »

Pioneer aren't ****!

I've had a djm600 in the past, and loved it.
Currently have a djm800, and I think it's serious!

sound terrible and look like fisher price

BaZmO*

electrogrimey wrote: »

Hardly any high end mixers have kill switches...

Hey, did ya not know I'm oldskool! :cool:

jtsuited wrote: »

yeah kill switches sort of died out in around 2001.
they're a serious liability on a mixer due to the fact that if the switch gets a little wrecked you can end up with a totally unusable mixer.

Nonsense, most kill switches can be replaced just like faders.

And sure anyway, it was only a few years ago that you were telling everybody that vinyl was dead.......now look where you are on that stance. :D

jtsuited

BaZmO* wrote: »

And sure anyway, it was only a few years ago that you were telling everybody that vinyl was dead...

Really? I never thought that so I'm fairly sure I never said it.

BaZmO*

jtsuited wrote: »

Really? I never thought that so I'm fairly sure I never said it.

Ah ya probably didn't, just saying like..

Selik

BaZmO* wrote: »

That Xone 22 looks sweet. No kill switches though, which could be a deal breaker for me.

Don't need kill switches if the EQs are half decent and you can move your fingers reasonably fast!

LaughOrDie

Don't the Allen & Heath EQ's totally kill anyway? Could be wrong but I remember seeing it on one of theirs anyway. Or was it all a wonderful dream?

BaZmO*

Giles wrote: »

Don't need kill switches if the EQs are half decent and you can move your fingers reasonably fast!

Haha, you'd want to be Octoman to kill everything so!

LaughOrDie wrote: »

Don't the Allen & Heath EQ's totally kill anyway? Could be wrong but I remember seeing it on one of theirs anyway. Or was it all a wonderful dream?

The Xone 22 definitely does so I'd imagine the rest of the range does also.

It's not really the point though. I've just become very accustomed to using them and I use them quite lot while when in the mix, and particularly as lttle trick when a mix goes out of sync. It's not the end of the world though, I could live without them on a mixer, it's just a preference.

was.deevey

If your already using ableton what about a Behringer DDM4000 @ 309 euro

I know I know behringer :rolleyes:, BUT it does get damn good reviews..no its not allen and heath, but would give you the benefit of a midi controller for your software as well as analogue mixer as you can assign various parts of the mixer as midi controls

Of course depending if you are DJing analoge or digital :-s

BTW - "real midi' so you'll need a USB-Midi converter most likely

francois

Xone all the way-great mixer for the price from a company that makes some of the best pieces of kit I've played on
you don't need kills as another poster mentioned either as you can do this on the eq's

BaZmO*

francois wrote: »

Xone all the way-great mixer for the price from a company that makes some of the best pieces of kit I've played on
you don't need kills as another poster mentioned either as you can do this on the eq's

Using a Kill switch is not the same as using 3 rotary knobs to kill the sound. I thought a man of your experience would know that Francois.

francois

BaZmO* wrote: »

Using a Kill switch is not the same as using 3 rotary knobs to kill the sound. I thought a man of your experience would know that Francois.

if only i could afford this, proper rotary knoberry

http://www.ureidj.com/product_1620le.aspx

BaZmO*

francois wrote: »

if only i could afford this, proper rotary knoberry

http://www.ureidj.com/product_1620le.aspx

Those type of mixers always remind of the superstar American DJs from the early 90's that used to use that type of mixer along with the telephone receiver/one can headphone

francois

BaZmO* wrote: »

Those type of mixers always remind of the superstar American DJs from the early 90's that used to use that type of mixer along with the telephone receiver/one can headphone

They had a rotary mixer in Henry's; though I remember some DJ's used to moan about it, mainly because it was out of their cross fade/slider comfort zone

jtsuited

Still happening today.

Certain International Dj's request rotary mixer. Resident warm up dj completely can't get used to it. Said International DJ comes on, blows everyone away with their rotary jiggery pokery. Everyone goes home wanting a rotary.

seannash

francois wrote: »

if only i could afford this, proper rotary knoberry

http://www.ureidj.com/product_1620le.aspx

Used one of those every friday night for 2 years.
I fecking hate them mixers mainly because the crossfader was broke on the one i used so no quick cuts back and forth were possible.

Paul1979

francois wrote: »

if only i could afford this, proper rotary knoberry

http://www.ureidj.com/product_1620le.aspx

I am lucky enough to own a rotary mixer, sound wise they blow everything else out if the water, once u go rotary u never go back to faders!

Paul1979

seannash wrote: »

Used one of those every friday night for 2 years.
I fecking hate them mixers mainly because the crossfader was broke on the one i used so no quick cuts back and forth were possible.

There is no faders on the urei though, btw u can do quick cuts on a rotary, just takes practice!

seannash

Paul1979 wrote: »

There is no faders on the urei though, btw u can do quick cuts on a rotary, just takes practice!

Actually it was a Rane rotary,with seperate eq section which had the crossfader on the eq section that i used(my bad)

Rotaries simply wont allow me to do the cuts i want(cutting in high hats of another track in between kicks for a good few bars,playing another beatmatched track where the kick hits inbetween the other tracks kicks and allows you to make your own little drum fills for example).

I did play on that Urei rotary a few times but the soundsystem was terrible so it was a bit pointless

seannash

Paul1979 wrote: »

I am lucky enough to own a rotary mixer, sound wise they blow everything else out if the water, once u go rotary u never go back to faders!

rotaries dont effect sound though,rane rotaries sounds the same as the same model with faders.

Paul1979

Sean, rotaries do effect sound, the reason why they are so expensive is because of the high quality components under the chassis. According to the wave music board the rane sounds the worst of all he mixers and that the bozak is the best

BaZmO*

My understanding of rotaries was that they are used because they give you a greater range of increments compared to a fader.

Essentially they go to 11.

Paul1979

I found this on the urei 1620LE website:

"The Urei 1620 was born in a golden age when great sound really mattered, and where an uncluttered, intuitive control surface freed up the DJ to really connect with both the music and the dancefloor. The new, limited edition 1620LE holds true to all those Urei traditions, using the same circuit designs and components as the original to deliver the fat, smooth and detailed sound that no other DJ mixer has ever come close to."

BaZmO*

Doesn't really tell you anything other than how fantastic their mixers are.

Paul1979

Yeah I know but I was tring to highlight how the schematics/circuitry/components affect the sound

Paul1979

The formula sound (fader) mixer is meant to sound great..
http://www.formula-sound.com/products/ff6000/

BaZmO*

Paul1979 wrote: »

Yeah I know but I was tring to highlight how the schematics/circuitry/components affect the sound

Schematics?

Of course the other two affect quality, I thought that was a given. What was up for debate was whether or not rotaries were intrinsically better than faders. I'd have me doubts.

Paul1979

The lads over at the bodytonic forum are going to a/b test a load of mixers in the twisted pepper I'm gonna bring my bozak, another chap is bringing his urei were gonna test Allen Heath and a pioneer dim, I'll post up the results here!

Paul1979

BaZmO* wrote: »

Schematics?

Of course the other two affect quality, I thought that was a given. What was up for debate was whether or not rotaries were intrinsically better than faders. I'd have me doubts.

Your welcome to come along bazmo and hear for yourself

seannash

Yeah sorry Paul1979 i think rotaries and faders are just volume controls not a whole lot to do with the sound of the unit

Im not for one second questioning the sound of a Urei

Paul1979

seannash wrote: »

Yeah sorry Paul1979 i think rotaries and faders are just volume controls not a whole lot to do with the sound of the unit

Im not for one second questioning the sound of a Urei

Fair enough lads, if u wanna come along and hear for yourself though ur more than welcome

seannash

Paul1979 wrote: »

Fair enough lads, if u wanna come along and hear for yourself though ur more than welcome

Again im not doubting your mixer sounds great im simply saying that because you have a rotary version(i know yours doesnt come any other way) of a particular mixer doesnt make it sound any worse or better than the fader version(if one exists)

Paul1979

Cool, I see what your saying, what we are gonna test though is which mixer sounds better rotary or fader by having a blind fold test on a proper soundsystem, it's gonna be interesting !

jtsuited

A/B testing in the twisted pepper????

I'm there!!

LaughOrDie

was.deevey wrote: »

If your already using ableton what about a Behringer DDM4000 @ 309 euro

I know I know behringer :rolleyes:, BUT it does get damn good reviews..no its not allen and heath, but would give you the benefit of a midi controller for your software as well as analogue mixer as you can assign various parts of the mixer as midi controls

Of course depending if you are DJing analoge or digital :-s

BTW - "real midi' so you'll need a USB-Midi converter most likely

Have you got one of these? Was seriously considering getting one. Mainly cos of the price to feature ratio and the good reviews.

Do you know if you can just assign certain parts of it to midi while still using it as a normal mixer?

was.deevey

Have you got one of these? Was seriously considering getting one. Mainly cos of the price to feature ratio and the good reviews.

Do you know if you can just assign certain parts of it to midi while still using it as a normal mixer?

Yep you can assign certain parts as Midi while still utilizing other aspects as midi only .. i WOULD buy one but Im over in Asia and the import duty in this particular country means i'd be paying over 500 euro to get one in from HK or Singapore booo!

Someone above mentioned Formula Sound .. and I can vouch they are one of the most clean sounding mixers on the planet I used one for 5 years....all the channels are completely modular too meaning if you break one you remove and repair that single channel or order a 2 channel model and increase as needed (when you can afford).. only downside is/was the stock crossfader setup dipped in the middle (to equalize the sound) .. there was a fix though if I remember right.

The penny and giles faders (expensive upgrade!) are SOOOO friggin sweet though.. you can throw them up and just sence how far they'll travel once your used to it

If I was going for pure audiophile gluttony it'd be my first choice... really plain box, without "toys" to get in the way of the sound routing... I saw one on adverts a while back for a really good price.

jtsuited

Just on the Urei thing. Weren't the original Urei mixers made as clones of the Bozak's? (or did I dream that).

Be very interesting to hear them a/b'd. Although I have no idea how well the Soundcraft Urei's compare to the originals.

Paul1979

Yeah the urei is a clone of the bozak, according to the experts(one of which i am not!) the bozak sounds better but the urei has better functionality (more inputs etc). Again from what I have read the soundcraft urei has nothing to do with the original, a British company bought the name, according to the bods on the wave music tech board (best place to go for info on rotaries) it doesn't sound anything like the original.

Paul1979

http://www.wavemusic.com/community/forumdisplay.php?f=9

ianuss

For Urei fans

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZTZthjEhZM

electrogrimey

Message of that ad, you don't need pills when you have a Urei.

ironclaw

LaughOrDie wrote: »

Have you got one of these? Was seriously considering getting one. Mainly cos of the price to feature ratio and the good reviews.

Do you know if you can just assign certain parts of it to midi while still using it as a normal mixer?

I have one. Sound quality to be fair is actually very good. With regards Midi, yes, you can select what aspect you want to use. However there is a huge downside.

If you use the crossfader as midi, you can't use it for sound. So you can control your VDJ crossfader but not the mixer sound crossfader. If you wanted to play like a convential DJ (Two lines and a cross fader) Its sort of useless. In fact, I've never used the Midi in a serious way, its sort of next to useless. What is needs is extra non-mixer buttons to Play, Cue etc.