Top sound quality dj mixer

Liukhaiden
Liukhaiden Member Posts: 1 Newcomer
edited October 22 in Tech Talks

I'm sure this has been covered if not beat to death, I'm trying to research the best sound quality available in a small or simple mixing board. Something capable of controlling two or more amps and mixing vinyl and or CDs. All too many of these are and sound like junk with cross channel noise, 60hz hum, cheap pots static slides. Do any of them not suck? Or at least suck less. More interested in sound quality than beat mixing features. Any suggestions?

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  • JesterMgee
    JesterMgee Member Posts: 2,929 Expert

    What are some brands you have already tried?

    what is your budget?

    can’t say I have had any issues with brand names mixers such as numark, pioneer etc. just go a brand name and you will be fine.

  • Derobert
    Derobert Member Posts: 1 Newcomer

    Although I haven't tried a wide range of DJ mixers in my system, I have developed biases and opinions along the way. In my opinion, most full-sized 19" mixers are adequate, while the small half-width mixers are subpar. There are many good DJ mixers available here, but if you want quality, be prepared to spend some money. Most low-cost mixers have poor build quality and produce poor sound.

  • JesterMgee
    JesterMgee Member Posts: 2,929 Expert
    https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/29287#Comment_29287

    Not really, the size doesn't always == quality, more application.

    There is a difference in what you get in a DJ mixer Vs say a pro audio mixer for sound mixing. MOst notably things like preamps for the mics will be better in a larger "desk" mixer than a smaller DJ mixer but when you are just dealing in line level signals usually most mixers these days will have perfectly acceptable sound for live mixing (which doesn't always need the high end like in recording situations).

    Where things will differ between price points is things like the quality of the UQ sxection, the quality/longjevity of the faders, the performance of the Xfader (important if you plan on doing a lot of fading or especially turntable cuts etc.

    I have a very old 3 ch Numark DM (something, cant recall) but it is pure analog, no effects and just for doing turn table scratches. Cost $190 15 years ago, still works (with replaced faders) and sounds perfect, no hiss, absolutely no difference in audio quality from input to output.

    I also have a very small 3ch el-cheapo mixer for mixing mic signals from wireless mics and again, that was like $50 and sounds just fine. For DJing I have the built-0in mixer of my Numark NS7III and as you would expect, that too is fine but all of the above on the same systems has no difference in what is running the sound through, just what each has for features.

  • D-One
    D-One Moderator Posts: 3,473 mod
    edited September 2022

    Price doesn't always mean much, my mixer (DJM S7) is around 1800$ and doesn't exactly sound great.

    Vinyl requires nice pre-amps, and that's a big black hole of subjectivity on what quality actually means, just like mic pre-amps or guitar amps. And it's not only the mixer/pre-amp, your turntable matters, your needles, etc...

    For CD's it doesn't matter much IMO since it's digital.

    Folks into Vynil and "quality" tend to prefer full analog mixers for the warmth and sound quality, tbh I'm not sure which brands focus on the real side of things and which are audiofile/hi-fi snake oil, they also tend to avoid faders and use mostly potentiometers (IDK if this is aesthetic based or if there's a real sound related reason)... For this target audience, the mixers I most often see are:

    • Rane MP2015
    • Omnitronic TRM-422 (sort of budget aimed for it's class, still not exactly cheap tho)
    • Allen & Heath Xone:96 (sort of a higher quality replacement of the typical Pioneer mixers you see in every club)

    Then you got the niche models that are in the 2000$-4000$ range like:

    • Condesa Lucia,
    • SuperStereo DN78 Phantom Valve,
    • MasterSounds Radius 4V, etc...

    but again, if what they offer justifies the prices I have no ideia.

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