Help an indecisive guy decide: Rane related

This could probably go in the mixer section, but I'm looking for as much opinion as I can get. So mods, please allow this thread to stay here for a couple days.


Ok, so we all know Rane sold out to inMusic, and by doing so are moving production the "Far East". I'm old, fear change, and have no desire to purchase Chinese made junk to use at gigs. So, I'm at a crossroad on what to do.

I currently own a 13 year old 56(with sl3) and a 3 year old 61, both combined with dicers. I love both of them. I want to purchase a very recently produced Rane mixer to keep for another 13+ years. I have $800 to spend. Here is what I am considering:

1) buy a new in box 56s, because it's a tank and had less features that may fail as time goes on. Plus I can pair it up with whatever DVS may be the standard 5 years from now.

2) buy another used 61. I love mine. It still fits in my budget. Cons are that I already have one, and wouldn't mind more features if I'm going to get an all in one. That brings me to...

3) buy a barley used/open box 62 with money and sell my current 56/sl3 combo to make up the difference. The pros speak for themselves, but cons are more stuff to fail in the future.

What would you do?

P.S. I have no desire to buy an S9 because I've never used a pioneer mixer I like and I'm not too keen on paying $1600 for chipping paint either. Another reason I don't want the S9, and you can add the 57mkII to this reason too, is that I'm not a big fan of SDJ. I plan on sticking with SSL as long as technologically possible.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jvine

Chinese made junk

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Just a comment on manufacturers outsourcing to the Far East...... the Chinese can build to whatever tolerance they're told to, but just as in any other country finer tolerances cost more. As I understand it there's a lot of competition between the Chinese factories, so if a factory doesn't measure up they'll lose the contract. If Rane specifies the same tolerances as what they built to in the US, then there won't be a difference. But if Rane gear suddenly gets crappy, you can only blame Rane.

if i were you i would get a brand new 56s. I regret not keeping it. I sold it for a Traktor z2 and while i liked it it def had its problems. Now i have an s9 and i love it but, still, miss that 56s. Like you said, you already have a 61 and i hate the 62 with a passion. You could just continue to use the 56s with whatever is the dvs of choice in 5 years. Eventually, updates to our OS's will deem SSL unusable so, just switch over. A lot of the dj's i know who were scared to switch over finally made the change and they love it. Sure it has its bugs but they get fixed as the updates come rolling on. After Numark pulled that stunt with the El Capitan driver issues, leaving my NS7 and 2 V7's as paper weights for almost a year, i vowed to never buy from them again so i can only imagine what theyll do to Rane's stuff.

Try a 62. If you don't like it, I imagine it will have a descent resale value.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by djknowledge

...You could just continue to use the 56s with whatever is the dvs of choice in 5 years. Eventually, updates to our OS's will deem SSL unusable so, just switch over. A lot of the dj's i know who were scared to switch over finally made the change and they love it. Sure it has its bugs but they get fixed as the updates come rolling on.

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Yeah, I made a goof. I put off upgrading my DJ computer for ages (2011 15" MBP with OS X 10.7.5, four versions of OS behind).

I primarily used it to DJ, but occasionally I needed to send an email or download from the music pool. I started getting warnings that the browser soon would not have support or protection for my OS X. Additionally, the hard drive in my backup 13" MBP died, so I didn't have a laptop I could use online, other than the DJ laptop. Over the summer, I thought, "It's slow this time of year. I'll replace the 13" drive with an SSD, and upgrade my OS X on the 15"."

Replaced the 13" drive, upgraded it to El Capitan with no problem, then upgraded the 15" to El Capitan as well, again with no problem. SDJ worked fine, life was good... Until I set up my turntables at an event, and realized that my Rane TTM-57SL won't play nice with El Capitan.
:banghead:

Never even dawned on me verify if it would work before I updated, or to test the mixer at home with SSL before an event, because SDJ worked fine.

Thankfully, I had the Pioneer DDJ-SX in the van, and had enough time to set it up before the event.

So... since I don't have 10.7.5 on a thumb drive or anything, I can't re-install the old OS. Not sure what I will do. The TTM-57SL is perfect for the kind of mixing I do. I like the looks of the S9 and the hot cue pads, but the QC gripes concern me.

Not sure what I'll do now. Don't really want to spend the $$$$ for a new Serato enabled mixer presently. Guess I'll just run the controller for a while instead of my 1200's. :(