New mixer

[icbicb]

Hi,

Need help with choosing new mixer. What I need is this:

- great sound quality
- great build quality (built to last)
- 3 or 4 channels if possible
- nice EQ section and quality faders
- cheapest as possible with these features

What I dont need:

- FX
- sampler
- MIDI capability
- bells and whistles

My ideal mixer would be A&H XOne 42 but its out of my price range so I have narrowed it down to these 2 basically:

A&H Xone:22
Vestax PMC-280

PMC280 has 4 channels, but I read some bad stuff about it, primarily about a lot of background noise, bleeding channels , bad channel meters and so on. Anyone owns this mixer to give me opinion from first hand ?

Second option is to go for XOne:22 but only 2 channels are putting me away as I might go with 3 decks soon enough.

Help is appreciated.

[Estacy]

youre forgetting Ecler. Ecler Nuo 2.0, 3.0 or even 4.0 are great mixers. Same faders as in the Evo 5 and 4, same EQ (which is great) and tons of in and outputs. build quality is outstanding. sound quality is great as well. very neutral

[icbicb]

youre forgetting Ecler. Ecler Nuo 2.0, 3.0 or even 4.0 are great mixers. Same faders as in the Evo 5 and 4, same EQ (which is great) and tons of in and outputs. build quality is outstanding. sound quality is great as well. very neutral

No, I'm not forgetting Ecler, actually I would LOVE the ability to get one of the Eclers (Nuo 3.0 would be best for me ), but in Bosnia we don't have any shop dealing Ecler products. Even Vestax is a problem, this one I can get is second hand. Only A&H, Pioneer, Numark, Berhringer here.

Btw, how is Nuo 3.0 priced? Is it in range of Xone:42 or maybe cheaper than that ?

[l0ckd0wn]

Best 3 channel available I'm guessing would be the Rane Empath.

[Chay]

It seems like you want a vanilla mixer, check out the Denon DN-X1100, comes with 4 channels and their "flex fader" :)

[icbicb]

Best 3 channel available I'm guessing would be the Rane Empath.

I will check the availability, but all Rane stuff are so expensive (here at least) so I doubt I will be able to get empath. It will prolly be more expensive than Xone:42.

[Lost Connection]

It seems like you want a vanilla mixer, check out the Denon DN-X1100, comes with 4 channels and their "flex fader" :)

This will probably be too expensive, but the DN-X600 is a great mixer.

Also Rane Empath if it is possible for you to get your hands on it. And the Xone:02 and Xone:22 are good mixers too.

[icbicb]

Anyone ever tried Vestax PMC-280 ?

[mostapha]

It's a much better mixer than the xone:22. Also, the vmc-004xl is good for the price as a solid, vanilla, 4-channel mixer with basically no features. Just well built and clean sounding.

[icbicb]

It's a much better mixer than the xone:22. Also, the vmc-004xl is good for the price as a solid, vanilla, 4-channel mixer with basically no features. Just well built and clean sounding.

I read some bad reviews, especially that second one:
http://www.skratchworx.com/reviews/pmc280.php
http://www.denondjforums.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=5904?rb_v=viewtopic&f=27&t=5904#p73864

Also I'm not sure what's wrong with the gain knob in this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKj4xB3MxGQ#t=09m49s

So I'm interested if you actually used PMC-280 or you just gave your general Vestax opinion ?

[Estacy]

Also I'm not sure what's wrong with the gain knob in this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKj4xB3MxGQ#t=09m49s


theres nothing wrong with that gain knob, its like on every mixer.

[icbicb]

theres nothing wrong with that gain knob, its like on every mixer.

What do you mean on every mixer? When line fader is all the way up, Gain knob should increase or decrease volume still as you turn it right or left. In this video it doesnt do anything and this guy explain it in the video ?

[Estacy]

and it does. what he says is, that when turned all the way to the left, it doesn't kill the music. It still works normally. to the left, less gain, to the right, gain. If you look at the level meters in the video, they go down. They work. the gain doesn't have to kill, there aren't all that many mixers that do so. It's really not something you need since you have channel faders.

[icbicb]

and it does. what he says is, that when turned all the way to the left, it doesn't kill the music. It still works normally. to the left, less gain, to the right, gain. If you look at the level meters in the video, they go down. They work. the gain doesn't have to kill, there aren't all that many mixers that do so. It's really not something you need since you have channel faders.

Ah, my bad then. Ye, gain doesn't have to kill, I thought it doesn't do anything, but after watching again I got it :)

Thanks for clarification.

[icbicb]

ok, tested used PMC-280 today. Crossfader don't work at all (bleeding all the way). Now I don't actually use x-fader but its kinda lame to give money for something broken. All other stuff seem to be ok. A lot of background noise when all 4 channels open but expected from Vestax as I heard. Faders are really nice and smooth (but not too smooth and I like it; very nice for me, I don't like completely easy faders), knobs little more stiff then expected but very nice EQ section.

Not sure what to do. I'm more leaning towards Xone:22 new then this used PMC-280. Afraid I might find something else not working on it.

The point is I have to decide by tomorrow as I can get Xone :22 with better price but only tomorrow (still more expensive then used PMC-280)......

Is Kore Zero 4 good mixer? I can also get good price on it as its last one in the shop... But knobs are so high and thin, seems not good for aggressive mixing...

[icbicb]

Is Denon dn-x1100 good mixer? I like the outputs and general overlay, is the sound and build quality good ?

[mostapha]

Honestly, I'd get the broken 280 over the xone:22 and have it fixed, but I just like vestax.

The 1100 is a very basic mixer with a lot of IO, but I'd expect it to sound good. I had some weird experiences with Denon gear and wouldn't buy too much from them, but I'd definitely give the 1100 a try.

[icbicb]

I'm gonna go with DN-X1100 prolly. Have everything I need and nothing I don't. Also build and sound quality should be on high level. Xone:22 is prooly very good mixer but I will want something more very soon.

I will let you know my opinion when I get my hands on it :)