UK Mixer selection

[Flexinoodle]

So whats the current thinking on a fair priced quality mixer in the UK, we have limited selection available over here to us really, I'm currently still rocking the Stanton Focus and a Behringer Nox with Infinium and an 05Pro II that needs to be sent to the man up north to be repaired, I don't have any time to drive up to London to test any kit out and down here in Devon the closest thing we have to a DJ store is an Ice cream parlour hahaha.

Right now i am looking at..

 

NI Z2 (Seems to have had a bunch of issues in the past, they still shitty QC ? )

DJTech DIF 1s DIF 2s (Only heard good things about this mixer for the price, are the 1s 2s DIFx any different)

Rane 56 (A ton more expensive than anything else in this list, is it worth the extra wedge, or better to just wait it out and get one second hand ? )

Mixars Cut (I know nothing about these, didn't they have some issues with the crossfaders, most shops still list as inno on board ? )

A&H 23 (I'm told the QC has gone right down hill last few years on A&H, since they moved manufacture from Cornwall to China ? )

Ecler Hak360 (I have heard the build quality is terrible, to be fair the only Ecler i have is built like a a tank haha, quite hard to get in UK though)

 

Have i missed any low to mid priced gems ? (The Behringer Nox were near impossible to beat at the price on release)

Are these all pointless and just save a little and get the 57 or S9 ?

Or should i just hold out and find a Vestax 08 or such on ebay ?

And just to go a little out of field a bit, anybody tried a Korg Zero8 or the bigger Xones with an Inno on board ? this would be a good crack to get a ton of my samplers and stuff all going without a second mixer.

 

[DJ Rock Well]

Depends on your needs and budget really and if you want a DVS mixer...

 

If you want it for Traktor, get the Z2

 

If you want Serato, maybe try the Mixars thingy.

 

If you don't see yourself using any DVS that much, get something decent secondhand off eBay - original Rane 56, Vestax 05 IV or Rodec Scratchbox would the ones I'd look out for personally (and what I have or have had). If you can afford it and find such a thing I'd probably pay a little more for a clean, lightly used example over a rough round the edges, well used one.

[Deft]

I'm old fashioned, Scratchbox or 56. Never really liked much else though I did enjoy my Hak320 and my SA-5 was great for the price.

Haven't tried any of the newer things on that list.

[Flexinoodle]

Never even seen a scratchbox for sale !!

[DJ Rock Well]

Never even seen a scratchbox for sale !!

Yeah, that is a potential issue! I was very lucky to get mine off Jimmy when I did. Being nerdy, I never deleted it from my saved searches on eBay after getting one - for a while there was old stock around, but in the last couple of years I've only seen two on there. The first was up for £350 but looked hammered, the second was mint with bag/case and had a really low start price. I would've had a low bid myself but had no real need and no money at the time, I mentioned to a couple of other mates who expressed interest too... in the end neither myself not anybody I know bid on it and it went for £201!!! I'm still salty I missed the chance to have two of them

[Chris]

HAK 360 is amazing - I just sold one for 250 and the UPS guy lost/nicked it. There might be one going for a steal out the back of a van/crackconverters in Manchester around now. Lovely lovely lovely sound with fantastic eq and gain and it's built great - hollower than a 56 but it's solid. The z2 is unbeatable for the price and feature set if you're using Traktor. If you want to go off the beaten path and are looking at the korg zeros, take a look at the ecler evo 5 - it's a behemoth. Traktor certified, sounds great, dsp effects, plenty of inputs, eternal compatible, amazing routing both physical and internal, full midi, editable eq curves... just a complete failure for its intended install market (you can store your settings and transfer them mixer to mixer). Bit tough to find and FireWire based but it's a real curio. Allen and Heath xone 02 seems to be getting forgotten about nowadays too but I've seen them go for less than 200 which is ridiculous. I've also seen a new Numark v5 somewhere, forget where, in the past 18 months for under 200 and that's a really great deal too. That said if you can find a ppd they tend to go for about 50 so that's a contender for best bargain ever too. If you want something new though, either go cheap and get dif1 or choose serato/Traktor and get z2 or probably s9. Or get a 900 nexus if you want a 4 channel, because why get anything else? V1 is probably fine for 99% of people too and price has come way down so for people that need them it's basically a steal, especially since the dual Traktor/serato fe update.

[Mutis Mayfield]

As I'm Barcelona based and Ecler was a French/spanish brand... Ecler are usual in second hand market here. From 320 to 380. Nuo X.0 series are also common and well priced.

[savwar]

i might be selling a HAK 380 in a month or so.

[Guest rasteri]

Z2 - Great mixer (I just bought one) but unless you plan to use Traktor it's a pointless purchase because you won't be able to use half the features. The first batch had issues with their crossfader but that's all sorted now.

DIF1S/2S - like you said, wonderful for the price. QC isn't great but you can buy two of them for the price of any of the others

56 - I've never been a big fan of the 56, I always thought it was overrated and people want frankly stupid amounts of money for them, but the faders are lovely.

Mixars - I believe the first batch have innofaders because they were built before their big fallout with Elliot. Build quality is supposed to be better than the Djtech stuff but I've never used one.

A&H 23 - Not a scratch mixer, don't waste your time. Curve control/lag/decay sucks and there's no hamster switch. Dunno where the rumours about QC come from though, we never get any back for repair (or if we do it's the users' own fault).

Hak360 - Like you said quite hard to get hold of, pricey when you can, but I'd take this above the 56.

 

Pretty much all of the Xone mixers are useless for scratching, except (as Chris says) the Xone:02 which is one of the best scratch mixers ever. The Korg Zero4/zero8 are very cool too and are scratchable.

 

And yeah, if you want a 4-channel mixer the Pioneers are always a good bet, if you stick an innofader in them they are really great mixers. Even the older DJM700/800 is great. I've heard good things about the djtech DIF-4S too, but I've never personally uses one.

[Flexinoodle]

Right, so

A Z2 for controllerism

A choice between DIF1 and Mixars for cheapie (Edging towards Mixars here)

Xone:02 second hand cause it is british and kicks ass

HAK360 if i can find one SH

 

I think i might diss the big DJ Mixer and hope that something like the MX1 from Roland comes round, that isn't just based on their USB crap

[savwar]

theres a RANE 56s on Gumtree for 200 quid

 

https://www.gumtree.com/p/audio-dj-mixers/rane-ttm-56s-dj-mixer-%C2%A3200.00/1187916783

[Flexinoodle]

Gutted, im right down in Devon