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Innofader, Mixars & DJ-Tech - handbags at dawn


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I don't know if anybody caught this, there was some very odd mudslinging on FB the other day.

 

It started with this statement from Innofader/Elliot

 

"Hello All. Many of you have probably recently heard of a new company breaking onto the scene called "Mixars". This brand is started by a group of key people who broke away from DJ Tech. Upon initial discussions with them, they indicated to me that they "would never do anything to harm the DJ Tech brand" and were "doing something completely different from DJ Tech". But the design similarities of the Mixars Cut to the DIF-1s and the Mixars Duo to the DIF-1M are very obvious.

As a supplier of mini Innofaders normally it is not my position to make judgements about our customers. However, I have been in this business long enough to have a strong dislike for this kind of opportunism. We do not need any more people getting in bed with the same overseas suppliers making essentially identical products but just changing the brand name. This market needs innovators who create product which has value for you the customers. This is the thinking which has guided me for many years with Audio Innovate and the Innofader and will continue to guide me.

So for this reason, I am announcing that as of today, we will no longer be filling new orders for Mixars with any mini Innofaders or Innofaders for use in their products as standard equipment. Their branding is the polar opposite of everything we stand for so we cannot be a part of this. We will still do our duty to fill existing orders and support you our customers if you have any issues with Mixars product which include mini Innofaders. We will also support customers who wish to upgrade Mixars products with any Innofaders as we would for any customers.

Thank you all for listening, and thank you for taking the time to read this post!

Sincerely yours,
Elliot Marx"

 

But it was the first Mixars were hearing about it apparently. All very odd.

 

Here's the thread

https://www.facebook.com/innofader/posts/10153564320022405

 

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The ruthless capitalist system will decide the winner eventually. It seems kind of pointless as it's not like people make huge moral decisions about buying dj equipment. Or I don't, and I am frightfully middle class.

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I think that's poor form from Elliot Marx. All it does for him is show that he'll throw you under the bus in favour of a bit of virtue signalling on Facebook, which at the end of the day does not mean much.

 

To me, the mixers from the rival companies don't look "essentially identical", but if Alessio Foti and others have done the dirty and basically broken away from DJ-Tech while taking their contacts and reinterpreting their designs (i.e. there is actual theft going on), then yeah, that is fucking shady, but that's for DJ-Tech and Mixars to sort out. Elliot Marx could have stood by his principles and stopping doing business with Mixars, but putting that post up like that..... nah.

 

From a business POV he may be cutting his nose off to spite his face, cos he's burned his bridges there it seems.

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I'm inclined to agree with you Steve. Announcing this via a public Facebook post, rather than contacting Mixars direct is not a good look.

 

I could agree that innovation is a good thing and all products on the market being being fundamentally similar is bad, but this doesn't really seem to be just about that but some other weirdness.

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We use an internal social media type platform (Jive) at work, the temptation to troll my global colleagues is so great sometimes I have to remember I am at work and will get in trouble if I abuse people.

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Guest rasteri

I thought it was the wussiest facebook beef ever... "hey I respect you so much but... " "I respect you too but...." "No, I REALLY respect you but..."

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I have never bought a pro x or Inno and have just cut with the stock faders, I hate how the new generation of scratch dj's need the next new thing in their mixers.

 

It's like a fashion item

 

Also I don't buy mixers based on what fader is in it so this whole beef just doesn't make sense to me. If I had the chance to use both mixers I would make my choice based on quality of build etc, couldn't give a shit if it had an Inno or not tbo.

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Very strange statement. Even more strange that it is a sponsored link.... he PAID for people to see that post. I like Elliot and what he has done for the tablism/skratch scene, but in honesty he needs some competition to keep him humble. It's a fucking DJ mixer. They are all the same or have stolen from other ideas/designs.

 

People buy products because of things like where the company is based, the price points, color, feel.. not just the end product or if the company innovates or not. Tell you the truth, DJ Tech is one of the least innovative DJ gear company I have seen and their products are very low quality.

 

Maybe Elliot had a no-compete clause in his contract with DJ Tech and he fucked up by supplying Mixars and this is how is avoiding a lawsuit?

 

So strange!

 

*DRAMA*

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Yeah agreed with all sentiments above that it was an odd, not very professional thing for Elliot to put out on FB, preaching the whole innovation thing came across unfounded from where I'm standing tbh. Where the fuck is the innovation in dj tech products? Dj tech seriously compete with numark for fuck ugly kit, the only things that make dj tech stand out is the low prices, dreadful mobile dj'n branding and the maybe their a bit more traditional when it comes to features, line curves on cheap mixer - #innovation

 

The whole post to me simply read

 

"Some mean dudes pissed on my bff's corn flakes, mean dudes can't hang with me no more, wah wah some other non related guff, etc"

 

I've def got time for what dj tech are trying to do, anyone releasing entry price level scratch friendly dj kit gets a double thumbs up from me, but as mentioned above, there branding is so god dam mobile dj. Mixarr on the other hand do both reasonable price and look the part for the market there scratchy stuff is aimed at. The way they spelt Mixarr, well street (init)

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I don't know if anybody caught this, there was some very odd mudslinging on FB the other day.

 

It started with this statement from Innofader/Elliot

 

"Hello All. Many of you have probably recently heard of a new company breaking onto the scene called "Mixars". This brand is started by a group of key people who broke away from DJ Tech. Upon initial discussions with them, they indicated to me that they "would never do anything to harm the DJ Tech brand" and were "doing something completely different from DJ Tech". But the design similarities of the Mixars Cut to the DIF-1s and the Mixars Duo to the DIF-1M are very obvious.

As a supplier of mini Innofaders normally it is not my position to make judgements about our customers. However, I have been in this business long enough to have a strong dislike for this kind of opportunism. We do not need any more people getting in bed with the same overseas suppliers making essentially identical products but just changing the brand name. This market needs innovators who create product which has value for you the customers. This is the thinking which has guided me for many years with Audio Innovate and the Innofader and will continue to guide me.

 

So for this reason, I am announcing that as of today, we will no longer be filling new orders for Mixars with any mini Innofaders or Innofaders for use in their products as standard equipment. Their branding is the polar opposite of everything we stand for so we cannot be a part of this. We will still do our duty to fill existing orders and support you our customers if you have any issues with Mixars product which include mini Innofaders. We will also support customers who wish to upgrade Mixars products with any Innofaders as we would for any customers.

Thank you all for listening, and thank you for taking the time to read this post!

Sincerely yours,

Elliot Marx"

 

But it was the first Mixars were hearing about it apparently. All very odd.

 

Here's the thread

https://www.facebook.com/innofader/posts/10153564320022405

 

What a fucking bitch move. I was extremely dissatisfied with my DIF-1m mixer. The Duo looks to have superior features and design in comparison to both the DIF-1s/m. XLR, Serato, larger cue buttons and probably actually the ability to monitor your master channel (mind blowing concept, I know). So basically what he's doing is taking sides to prop up the inferior product. Not looking out for the consumer at all. Competition is key. Mixers are all super damn similar. DJTech didn't invent mixers. They are standing on shoulders just like everyone else. Hopefully Mixars takes this as a challenge and makes their own faders.

 

Edit: supposedly Mixars did some sady ish but sounds like DJtech are fools and basically helped him out. Regardless, inno getting in the middle makes me not wanna fuck with any of them.

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wasnt there beef between inno and pro x when elliot moved away from them? dunno if its related....

 

I wasn't aware he was involved with both. I like pro x much more than inno. What went down?

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wasnt there beef between inno and pro x when elliot moved away from them? dunno if its related....

I wasn't aware he was involved with both. I like pro x much more than inno. What went down?

 

One or two of the Ebsel guys were pissed off at him. He was demoing the AEM-100 mixer at DJ expos about 10 years ago - that mixer that had the rows of transform buttons either side of the crossfader. The fader itself was shitty though, but apparently Elliot was banking on people being attracted by the buttons and effects. Some of the Ebsel guys told him they thought he was mistaken and gave him some advice regarding the design and marketing. He ended up agreeing to use the Pro X in the AEM-100, and the AEM-100i (which did away with the transform buttons) was supposedly made partially based on the advice he'd received from the Ebsel fellas.

 

Of course, then he came out with a fader with adjustable tension, lag and what not, and a couple of the Ebsel guys saw that as a slap in the face, like they'd helped this guy with his mixer designs, but now he was coming out with a product that rivalled theirs and used some of its ideas. That led to a lot of salt being spilled online for a while.

 

One of the Ebsel guys seemed like he couldn't take any criticism at all. In 2008, Gizmo posted an article on Skratchworx about the faceplate on the new Xone 02 and how he wasn't a fan of the design (who was?). That version of the Xone 02 had a Pro X in it. One of the Ebsel doods commented on the article a whole bunch of times, basically slating Gizmo and Audio Innovate, saying shit like Gizmo doesn't know about scratching, his opinions can't be trusted blah blah, and also making some borderline libellous comments about the Innofader potentially causing people's houses to burn down.

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Jeez. Who knew (rhetorically speaking) that there was so much gear drama especially in the niche scratch market. That is pretty lame tho. Seems like practically the same thing.

 

On the flip, I learned a lot today. This morning I had never heard of Mixars and thought DJtech was the same company as DJtechtools. Also that people are jerks. Although, guess I already knew that last bit.

 

Seems kinda ironic that by bashing Mixars he turned me on to them. Guess there's no such thing as bad publicity. Altho I'm somewhat turned off by all three companies now.

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I've def got time for what dj tech are trying to do, anyone releasing entry price level scratch friendly dj kit gets a double thumbs up from me..."

 

Yeah, got me there. I can't really complain about DJ Tech's price points on their starter gear Pretty cool the cost of getting into the art has lowered so much. Too bad Elliot just shut down another company that was trying to get people into the scene. How about that for innovation? Lame.

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Further proof that generally most people involved in dj'ing are idiots.

 

I prefer the idiots that are artists in the dj-game (like the ruck) to the idiots in dj-ing who come from the blogs/manufacturer side

 

Elliot is a copy-cat trying to unmask a company he sees as a copy-cat...

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I didn't realise that the Mixars mixers were so expensive. The Duo - the one that looks like a Z2 - has an RRP of 990 dollars/euros and 785 quid.

 

The DIF-1M, which Elliot seems to believe is what the Duo is a clone of, is £209 on Amazon right now.

 

There are going to be obvious similarities between all mixers, but I'm really not seeing the Duo as a clone of the DIF-1M. It's not like it's a carbon copy in terms of features and layout, and it's certainly nowhere near when it comes to selling price - it's not even in the same market in that respect. It makes me even more suspicious of the motivation behind Elliot's FB post actually.

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