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bare minimum, 2 channels with bass and treble EQ as well as gains on each channel, and a headphone cue. line faders and a crossfader, a master volume knob, and some lights to show you if you are overloading the mixer (going into the red).
I've just described a scratch mixer. Ask dkny_lady how much she likes hers. It will do, but your mixes could be much smoother with a better mixer.
one more suited to house and trance will have 3 band EQ (low, mid and high) which makes it much easier.
also it might have other nice things, like split cueing (hearing live channel in one ear and cue in other) or even a knob to adjust the mix of how much live vs. cue you hear. or level meters for each channel which is nice too. none of these are neccesary, but they make mixing easier imo, especially at keeping the levels even.
another thing to consider is the fader sharpness. scratch mixers generally have very "sharp" faders, meaning the volume curve is not very gradual. on my friends stanton for example, the line faders do virtually nothing from 3 to 10, at 3 they are all the way on. the crossfader is similar, you move it just a tiny bit, and the other song is full blast. these mixers are made for scratching.
if you want to mix, make sure not to get one of those.
finally, you can consider extra channels, if you think you will ever need more than 2 sources in the mix. If you want to use turntables, but think you might eventually get CD decks too, you do NOT neccesarily need a 3 or 4 channel mixer, because most can have the input switched from phono to line easily.
that's about it, don't worry about effects, BPM counters, kill switches, VQFs or anything else if it's your first mixer.
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What do u need in a mixer?
