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-- why do they use crossfaders anyway...

why do they use crossfaders anyway...

hmm... never used it. the channel faders are giving me much more precision in operation. maybe you could tell a couple of tricks (really improving the mix) that i could do with x-fader, and not the channel faders?

um... if u cut between tracks back and forth its much easier to do w/ the x-fader than w/ volume controls.. but i do this more w/ house and hard house than w/ trance.. i dunno, be creative and find your own use for the x-fader

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Originally posted by hapamoto um... if u cut between tracks back and forth its much easier to do w/ the x-fader than w/ volume controls.. but i do this more w/ house and hard house than w/ trance.. i dunno, be creative and find your own use for the x-fader

i have already found: if i set the x-fader channels to the ones that are not currently playing, the sound will fade away if the x-fader is moved in either direction from the center, which makes the "fade-in - fade-out" thing much faster and can create a cool sound effect. but i doubt that noone else questions the usefullness of such a trick

hey man.. never doubt your creativity.. if you find out some cool tricks and shit, perfect them.. don't limit yourself!

It's an essential tool for scratchers and turntablists. I don't know too much about either to comment, but if you want the fading effect then it would probably come in handy; you know, instead of fading out one channel THEN fading in the other, the cross fader will accomplish the same task with more convenience and precision.

Exactly. You really need a crossfader for scratching - you try crabbing with a line fader!

As has been said, crossfaders are more useful in hip-hop/drum n bass than in house and trance, this is why many house-oriented clubs will have rotary mixers from Urei or Rane, whereas hip-hop clubs will have mixers with crossfaders.

Crossfaders are for tricks really, rather than creating smooth mixes.

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Originally posted by DJTJ this is why many house-oriented clubs will have rotary mixers from Urei or Rane

DJTJ, what's a rotary mixer?

Rotary just means that you don't have linear faders, but just like typical EQ's you have "knobs" which you rotate to change the level volume. I find this so much more comfortable as you can really get a smooth effect that cannot be matched using linear faders. Thats why I instinctivly go for the gain knobs before using the linear channel faders, I can get it so much smoother this way and then knock the rest of the volume off using the faders!

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Originally posted by Acid Circus Rotary just means that you don't have linear faders, but just like typical EQ's you have "knobs" which you rotate to change the level volume. I find this so much more comfortable as you can really get a smooth effect that cannot be matched using linear faders. Thats why I instinctivly go for the gain knobs before using the linear channel faders, I can get it so much smoother this way and then knock the rest of the volume off using the faders!

I have linear volume faders on my mixer, but I keep them up on both channel all the time, only using the rotary knobs for mixing. I guess that should qualify my mixer as a rotary one too, huh.

What mixer do u have? I've never heard of one with both knobs and faders for each channel......... or are u talking about the gain?

yes he is talking about the gain knob.. however on some mixers, the gain will not cut a track out completely.. meaning if u still have the volume all the way up for one track, u can still hear it even if the gain is all the way down, but you do get a smoother transition then if u were to solely use the volume fader to transition..

I'm not talking about the gain knobs, actually. I meant to say that when I mix, I turn the treble, mid and the bass knobs (the EQ knobs, in other words) all the way DOWN when I want to mute that channel, instead of shifting my linear volume slider. My volume slider is perpetually up all the way in both my channels.

So when I mix, I'm only touching the EQs on both channels and nothing else. It sounds wrong I know..

Leading on from this topic - My mixer has 2 channels - Mid - Gain - High - bass eqs. My bass is a quarter and the others are three quarters, Thats how i like them set. When i take the bass to 0 there is no differance, But my mate has a mixer and when he does that, the bass is completely taken out, to very excellent effect ! Im baffled, Its not as if my mixer is shite coz it isnt, Its pretty good to be honest. HELP ME.

well when I mix hip hop.. it's easier to slap the xfader left/right to kill a channel then it is to turn the nobs or use the upfaders.

when i spin trance, i hardly ever touch the xfader unless i feel like slapping it over to the other channel fast.

So to sum it up, u use the Xfader cuz it's naturally easier/faster to slap it from left/right than it is to use the Upfaders (especially if you're using a trance mixer). Not only that it's easier to scratch with. I cant ever imagine doing simple transforms with the upfaders. The only time i use the upfaders is if i'm trying to drum scratch.

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When i take the bass to 0 there is no differance, But my mate has a mixer and when he does that, the bass is completely taken out, to very excellent effect ! Im baffled, Its not as if my mixer is shite coz it isnt, Its pretty good to be honest. HELP ME.

what's the range on your lows? Mine is +6% or something and I have the RANE TTM56. They're noticeable but not as noticeable as my old Vestax PCV275 which I think has 12%.

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Originally posted by burns Leading on from this topic - My mixer has 2 channels - Mid - Gain - High - bass eqs. My bass is a quarter and the others are three quarters, Thats how i like them set. When i take the bass to 0 there is no differance, But my mate has a mixer and when he does that, the bass is completely taken out, to very excellent effect ! Im baffled, Its not as if my mixer is shite coz it isnt, Its pretty good to be honest. HELP ME.

His mixer has EQ kills, simple as that. Some mixers don't have them, but most new ones will as it is a pretty important feature these days!

yea.. i agreee with everyone that using your volume/channels is a lot better for fade in and out for beatmixing... i only know of HIP HOP DJ's that use heavy scratching that uses the crossfader.... i spin mostly trance and some hip-hop but i dont know how to scratch LOL so i dont really use it to much.

I personally dont recommend using any gain knobs for mixing electronic music, bc, as someonw said before, they simply dont kill the sound to completion. Thats what the volume slides are for...also, being an ex-hip-hop dj a long time ago, the x-fader is indeed essential..but for electronic music, unnecessary unless you wanna switch from one channel to another very quick (which happens very rarely)

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Originally posted by VisionsofPVD I personally dont recommend using any gain knobs for mixing electronic music, bc, as someonw said before, they simply dont kill the sound to completion.

I dont understand what you mean by "sound to completion", can ye clarify?

I use the gain knobs a lot because i need to hear what im cueing. If one track is too loud or too soft, then i use the gain to lower or increase the sound level. Keeping the sound level constant during cueing usually helps keep the sound level constant through the mix for me. I dunno, may be its different for other people's mixers.

he's talking about people who turn the gain all the way down and gradually turn the gain up to mix, and when you do that, the music isn't necessarly cut when you turn the gain all the way down...


my problem with people who gain mix is that how do you listen to the cued track in the headphones if you turn the gain all the way down?!

you can get the same smooth feeling with linear sliders if you have a gentle touch and don't let your hand float (i.e. put the heel of your palm somewhere on the mixer so you're just moving your fingers, not your whole arm)...and just know your redzones on your mixer

I don't have a crossfader, and I can't really say that I miss it.

Crossfaders are (as said before) only usefull for scratching or swapping channels real soon (which can sound quite good sometimes... .
)

So if you're spinning trance, house, or whatever, I don't think crossfaders are usefull.

The X-fader is also used by some techno djs, and it sounds really good when they can use it.

Listen to a Dave Clarke set, he uses this trick a lot

crossfaders aren't limited to those who spin hip-hop, jungle, etc.

its limited to those who have creativity and just don't mix 2 tracks together

heh... good

i was starting to think that i miss out some big secret of djing or something

Ive been spinning for almost 3 years now and I never use the channel levels. I mix using the cross fader, its pretty much the same depending on how you use it. I rarley see DJs using the levels at partys.

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