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-- rotary & linear faders.... eh?

rotary & linear faders.... eh?

I'm a sound tech for a nightclub and I also spin house/trance/prog/etc.
I'd really love to know, what's the deal behind the rotary mixers versus the linear fader mixers??

The nightclub I work at has the Rane MP2016. Cute mixer, but I just don't get why the house DJs prefer the rotary style. I grew into linear faders cuz I'm just more comfy on them.

Does anyone know the history behind it if any? Why do others prefer linear?? are linear faders a rap music thing??

Re: rotary & linear faders.... eh?

quote:

Originally posted by SgtFoo I'm a sound tech for a nightclub and I also spin house/trance/prog/etc. I'd really love to know, what's the deal behind the rotary mixers versus the linear fader mixers?? The nightclub I work at has the Rane MP2016. Cute mixer, but I just don't get why the house DJs prefer the rotary style. I grew into linear faders cuz I'm just more comfy on them. Does anyone know the history behind it if any? Why do others prefer linear?? are linear faders a rap music thing??

mostly its due to preference and what your comfortable with I prefer linear though and I play house

Its all preference.

preference above all.

but it really IS smoother to work w/rotary. -once you get the hang of it.

the curve on a rotary mixer is usually A LOT more linear than channel sliders which usually have all the gain packed into the top of the slider. makes it a lot easier to make your mixes sound just right.

More natural, smoother- and more intuitive- movement to turn a knob than to push a fader.

quote:

Originally posted by sr126 preference above all. but it really IS smoother to work w/rotary. -once you get the hang of it. the curve on a rotary mixer is usually A LOT more linear than channel sliders which usually have all the gain packed into the top of the slider. makes it a lot easier to make your mixes sound just right.

There's no gain in a channel fader, only attenuation
[/pedantic comment]

It's just preference. It doesn't matter to me because all I ever do with faders is push them up to the top, so pushing it up or turning it up makes no difference.

quote:

Originally posted by sr126 channel sliders which usually have all the gain packed into the top of the slider.

THis is only the case if you have the curve set that way. Most modern mixers have the curve slope changing option.



and to add post recent posts...

I noticed that the faders on the rotary MP2016s, are rather logarithmic, leaving the most of the gain at the top.

Re: rotary & linear faders.... eh?

quote:

Originally posted by SgtFoo Does anyone know the history behind it if any? Why do others prefer linear?? are linear faders a rap music thing??

The Rotary mixer aquired its fame in NYC in the 70's. Bozak
was the first one to bring forth a quality mixer for DJs to
spin Disco music in clubs.

Using faders all my life and moving to a rotary mixer, I must
say, you will have a much smoother transition than using faders.
Your hand (By design) can turn a rotary knob much smoother,than
an up and down fader when, making slow transitions.

Back to mixers. In the 80's, Urei followed up, and, made a three
deck mixer (Bozak only used two) and became the new standard in
the Dance Clubs in NYC.

Other DJs from around the world experienced these rotaries, due
to mixing in clubs in New York. Thats when they became even more
popular.

Rotary Mixers were designed for DJs that spin music where seemless
mixing is high priority. The Crossfader was designed for DJs that
played Hip Hop, where, sharp quick transitions are needed.

Rotaries also offer some kind on tension or resistance, making
them more ideal, than having a very loose linear fader that a lot
of scratch mixers offer.

Learned Club gigging on a Urei 1620 at the Limelight in NYC back in 94, moved to the Rane and now the Rotary Xone 92. I like the resistance in the action. I can crank up the knobs very quickly if needed with an aggressive twist or just turn smoothly if I like. I really find faders boring and jerky, but of course I use them when there is no choice.

Recently, I recommended that the 4th and B Nightclub Venue here in San
Diego purchase the Xone 92 in the fader version for which they did. My reasoning against my personal preference was that DJs who can use rotaries can also use faders but not usually the other way around. And, of course the Xone 92 is the greatest DJ mixer available right now (anyone who has owned one for a while knows why).

Also, in terms of smoothness: Could you imagine that mixer eq controls incorporated some kind of fader rather than a rotary style knob? Not for the obvious reason that a fader style 3 or 4 band eq wouldn't layout logistically, but because of the difficuly in mantaining smooth curves for frequent adjustments to eqing should this not be done. The same goes for the overall volume control for each channel. The rotary is simply smoother and more intuitive than faders.

It all boils down to preference, either work reliably. The skill and results are reserved for the operator of the controls and not in the mechanics of the mixer. However, I know that rotary preferrers are a tight breed. I feel priveledged to experience such oneness with a mixer that I feel the rotary offers.

quote:

Originally posted by SgtFoo THis is only the case if you have the curve set that way. Most modern mixers have the curve slope changing option.

but on the ones that don't, gain/attenuation (thanks for the technical clarification stu ;p)it's not evenly spread out over the legnth of the fader. so it's hard to be as smooth as you can be w/a rotary. even if you can adjust the curve. i think it's still easier w/better results w/a rotary.

quote:

Originally posted by St. Michael And, of course the Xone 92 is the greatest DJ mixer available right now (anyone who has owned one for a while knows why).

had one for 3 months and its already the best Ive been on..when I go on a DJM-600 or a DJM-1000 i feel something missing

yeah i too have the xone:92r I have to say i love it soo much. I upgraded to it from a $99 Behringer POS. Amazing the difference a couple grand will buy you. I love it to death. The rotary knobs with there wonderful torque, the crystal clear sound quality and the amazing filters.

I really wonder why line faders became popular. I have a couple of the Rane 2016 and I just love them but I am the only person I know that prefers the rotary.

I'm investing in a club and designing the booth. I wish I could to a 2016 or 92r but a number of local DJs wanted us to stick with line faders. So the standard xone 92 it is...

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