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Posted by MIthrandir on Jan-17-2001 22:01:

Ok enough of "best turntables" (1200s!!!!!! ) and now let's talk about best mixers .. I'm beginning DJing and I wanna know what is the best mixer you can find .. and also maybe the best mixer with the ratio quality/price .. maybe someone can help me? cya!

Posted by skywarp on Jan-17-2001 22:15:

Best mixer (price not an issue):
Allen & Heath xone:62

Best (cheap) mixer:
Stanton RM Three

Best REALLY cheap mixer:
no such thing (hehe), maybe the Numark 1001x

Posted by QRIUS1 on Jan-20-2001 06:34:

pioneer rox...

The DJM-600 is an awesome mixer. You can find it for around U$1200 on the web and it offers you all the goodies you need, including lots of effects and a built-in sampler. I have a DJM-500 myself and I purchased it after it dropped in price shortly after the DJM-600 came out, and I love it to death. And Pioneer equipment, although pricey, is worth every penny. Their CDJs are amazing as well and no other brand comes close. You can get a lot of great info and support as well in their forum.

Posted by Slipstream on Jan-22-2001 16:03:

Pioneer DJM-500 for sure.

The DJM-600 is nice too, but it's still a lil' bit too expensive for the few features it adds to the DJM-500. The DJM-500 is a 4 channels mixer.

If for some reason you don't like Pioneer or whatever, my second choice would be the Vestax PMC-270A (3 channels) or PMC-55 (4 channels). Both are kickass mixers.

Martin

Posted by DJ Flipstream on Jan-22-2001 20:28:

You never said how much money you could spend, we might be able to help you out a little more since you know the basics now....

Posted by MIthrandir on Jan-23-2001 02:38:

ok I didn't know until now how I should spend .. but at first I thought like $400-500 CAD = $600-750 USD .. is it too cheap to have something good for a beginner? (i know i should maybe spend more to keep it longer .. but you know how it's hard to stop buying cds .. it gets all my money ) .. thx for the previouses answer and i hope you will be able to help me cya!

Posted by atom17 on Jan-24-2001 00:12:

OK, my suggestion would be to save some money and buy Pioneer djm-500 or djm-600 instead of buying some cheap numark or gemini that you will have to throw away once you have a pretty good idea how mixing goes, and believe me, it doesn't take long to become a pretty descent dj. Make it easy on your self, Pioneer is really worth it, and it should last you for long time unless you get too excited and brake all the knobs on it, LOL

Posted by Slipstream on Jan-24-2001 21:05:

I agree... saving to buy a Pioneer DJM-500 REALLY worth it, even if you must stop buying discs for a few weeks.

You won't regret it!

Martin

Posted by MIthrandir on Jan-24-2001 21:36:

Hey thx a lot guys .. I think that's what I'll do .. Pionner seems to be the best one Thx again!

Posted by Jocker on Feb-04-2001 08:00:

DJM-500 for 667$

Check out http://www.bid2bid.com
I found DJM-500 there for just 667 bucks...

But I still have to write about some guys writing "Don't buy cheap-ass mixer... You'll only have frustration".

Let me ask you: if a mixer has 2 channels and an EQ, what else do you need? Except for special effects (which is definetly a suckable thing as long as it is built-in, there is nothing you can do with DJM-500/600 and can't do with Numark DM-1001X

Why's that? Because:

1) Two channels = 2 turntables (cd-players, whatever)... Only about 2% (from my own experience through listening to dozens of them) of DJs use more than 2 channels (for sampler, drum machinde, synthesizer and the third turntable).

2) Built-in SFX doesn't mean anything. Let's just put away the fact that effects produced by 500/600 can't even compare with, for example, TC Electronics appliances. The ones, who own DJM-500/600, how much do you use these effects in your mixes? I bet, only for some intro/outro (During the mix, all the normal DJ's will be listening to the music, knowing the fact that pitch still shifts, whatever you got there - 1200MK2, 1300YT22 or 9999xTcx97)

3) During the live mix, when you play for the crowd (the compilation is quite a different topic: it has to be impeccable), it actually doesn't give a truck how you play as long as you have the right selection of songs... And, of course, noone will notice, whether you mixed that using DJM-500 or HomeProductionOfa5y.o.Kid-1.

Posted by Jocker on Feb-04-2001 08:11:

I'm sorry... It's not Bid2Bid.com, it's djmart.com

Posted by metchoun on Feb-04-2001 09:32:

what?

im very surprised what i read here. well, people here in .cz dont have enough money to buy prioneers etc mixers. novices use here omnitronics or another mixers, yeah, they suck, i know. i have numark, its price was around 200 usd, i am using it two years and never had probs! and i wouldnt buy any other mixer for home! reasons? for the first, they are too expensive, right. and for the second - im at home, not at any party, i wouldnt be able to use everything this gives me. why bpm counters? you wont use them, when youll be more experienced. 3 channels, kill switchers - all you need for home training. this is of course my opinion, like i said, pioneer is more for bigger parties.

look at this if it isnt enough for you. i think its great for begginers, advenced and for home use. yea, i play on this one on smaller parties (< 100 visitors).

Posted by Jocker on Feb-05-2001 01:23:

Actually, DM-2002 is quite good (even though it was initially designed for scratching techniques), but it doesn't cost that amount of money. The only difference from 1001 is one more channel (which I doubt you will ever use on the small parties or at home), and 2002 costs 100+$ more than 1001... I found and bought 1001 for my home use (something like 85$) and am quite satisfied with my choice.

Posted by metchoun on Feb-05-2001 06:15:

2 channels?

two channels of a mixer wont be enough for me. ever tryed mixing from more than two channels together? my idea of mixing sometimes is with my co-cplayer nailer from 6-8 turntables and two mixers, of course pioneer or something like that. and not to play records and mix them together... youll run one or two ambient vinyls on background and on other turntables youll mix infinite loops... and mix THEM.

i dont want to play records, i want to experiment with them. thats what i love on djing, and i dont like restrictive 2chan mixers :P

Posted by metchoun on Feb-05-2001 06:25:

ok, you got me, you cant play trance like that, i play techno, hehe

Posted by Jocker on Feb-05-2001 06:28:

congratulations!!! you really got fresh ideas in your head.
as for me, i like to experiment with music too... all started with listening Oakenfold's "Another World"... It didn't impress me with the song selection, but there I first heard how a trance song can be mixed with, for example, pure vocals and some organ in the background.

The only problem is that it takes (I think VERY MUCH energy to do a set with 3 tt's, a drum machine, a synthesizer, a sampler, an FX processor in the period of 1 or 2 hours. Some people can't just do that every day in the club. And moreover, crow can simply not appreciate it. However, there is a wise rule "from simple to hard". Noone buys Fender as his first guitar (those, who buy it as a first guitar, guided only by the name, never become the greatest), noone buys RANE as his first mixer. I think, the most considerable factor is money. More exactly, its shortage.

Still, Metchoun, I bet you didn't start off by putting an ambient sound in the background and looping the drums, right? So if a guy is a beginner, why would he buy something he could use only for 5% of its capability?

Posted by metchoun on Feb-05-2001 12:22:

yeah, its hard when yiou are alone... ths style of playing needs more than one dj to be behind turntables and all those machines. we want to play in three on nine tt, but i think that it will be horrible ) ill let you know ow weve finished...its planed on fryday. yo said that crow couldnt like i.. yeah, thats truth... but we have to show these new style to clubers, right?

i think that too. thats why i dont recomend expensive proffessional mixer (pioneer) to begginers. but my opinion is that after month, two or half year he could find one more channel effective. between numark 1001/2002 there isnt big price difference as with pioneer. i dont know much people who were starting on two channel mixer, but when i played on 1001x, it was very XXX. choose what do you think it will be better. if you have money, choose 2002x, if not, take the other one.

Posted by MIthrandir on Feb-05-2001 22:10:

thx a lot for the suggestions guys .. I didn't want to buy expensive mixer like the Pioneer ones and I think I will probably go for the Numark 2002x .. but I have one more question (maybe it will seam stupid but I have to ask if I wanna know it) .. What is the use of a "kill" button and is it absolutely necessary .. cause I was checking infos on mixers and some have it and others not .. or seem to not have one .. so is it necessary?

Posted by Impulse on Feb-06-2001 01:02:

the use of the kill switch is pretty important if you want to have more of an edge with your mixes. it's great because with the touch of a button, you create silence...then you can put in whatever you want (sound file, intro, cue for talking) and simply release it at a precise moment. i love it, lets just put it that way . you don't necessarily need it but its good to have. i could talk for hours about mixers but alas, i don't have the time..hope this helped.

--Impulse

Posted by Jocker on Feb-06-2001 05:28:

The kill function was especially designed for scratching. It created the fastest scrathes wich sounded very edgy. In the nonstop dance mixing (for example, two trance tracks) it can bring some harsh results because the mix can be very "acute" and it's what you need the least: to let the public notice the mixing process itself (perfectly, the crowd should have no sense of changes, like the unstoppable flow of energy). So, practically there is not so much of a use of kill switches for a trance DJ. However, DM 1001 and 2002 both have them since they are both scratching and techno mixers... That shouldn't actually bother you... If a mixer has kill switches - good. If it doesn't - not worse either...

Posted by Jocker on Feb-06-2001 05:50:

As my last instance in trying to convince you, let me cite my #1 DJ, Judge Jules:

"What are kill switches? Buttons that remove the bass, mid range or treble from the mix, creating a breakdown for the dj whenever it's required

Actually, most mixing decks in clubs don't incorporate kill switches. They offer independent eq on each deck. This is used to make a mix flow more freely. Kill switches can be too harsh and sudden to achieve an equally good effect."

Posted by skywarp on Feb-06-2001 06:30:

Kills can be very fun to mess around with when spinning certain styles (acid techno, in my case) since they allow you to completely cut a certain frequency and bring it back again very quickly and accurately (impossible to do with EQ knobs) and on some mixers they don't affect the headphone cue so you can preview the track without the kills applied. On the other side, most kill switches I used aren't very high-quality so whenever you activate them, you can hear a loud pop ... which isn't that great. So if you get a mixer with that feature, make sure they work good ... if you don't have them you won't be missing too much.

peace