still using this one:
this was my first mixer:
still using this one:
this was my first mixer:
Last edited by JamesRoss; 06-12-2012 at 07:02 PM.
I'm pretty sure that the PMC-37 was just too much mixer for many folks to comprehend when it hit the scene. I have a friend who refused to play on mine for a year or so because he was too intimidated by all the controls.
It's a crazy powerful mixer, there's just so much that you can do with it. The isolator EQs sound super-clean, even at +6, so I like to max out all the EQs, drop the gain slightly to compensate, and use the EQs only to cut, with the first half of the travel giving a -6 cut, and the second half of the travel cutting quickly to full kill. The two aux loops allowed for each of two channels to be set to output to it's own aux out, so with a six-input recording interface, you can record mixes multi-track style, with separate tracks for master and each deck. The matrix inputs allow for some real fun by setting up the same input on different channels with different EQ/FX settings and then cutting quickly between them.
The only bad thing about the mixer is that the whole thing runs on single-rail 12VDC power. If it had been designed to use a +/-15VDC dual-rail supply...WOW.
Operational amplifiers (op-amps, which are the main workhorse in analog mixers) can typically be powered one of two ways. The first is to use a basic single-rail power supply, which supplies positive voltage and a ground line. The second is to use a dual-rail supply that supplies positive voltage, a matching negative voltage, and a ground line. The use of a dual-rail supply results in a much greater total voltage differential (the difference between +12V and -12V is 24V, whereas the difference between 12V and 0V[ground] is only 12V), which allows the op-amps to produce a higher signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio.
A dual-rail +/- 15VDC supply represents the practical maximum power for the type of op-amps used in analog DJ mixers. The advantage compared to a 12V single-rail supply would be more gain and higher S/N ratio.
On the PMC-37, no, although I can't speak for any other mixer. I used my PMC-37 with that EQ technique on a large, high-quality custom-built sound system (think V-DOSC or Meyer class, though the system builder swears it's better than both), and it sounded awesome.
Last edited by djpenguin; 06-14-2012 at 04:24 PM. Reason: clarity
Thanks Pengiun!
thanks for the explanation, Do you know if its possible to buy a separate +/- 15V power supply? I need one for an old mixer of mine but I can't find them
'George Clinton meeting Kraftwerk in an elevator'
You can buy almost any kind of power supply you can think of. The issues arise with implementation.
Some DJ mixers plug directly into 120VAC wall power, and do all the conversions down internally. Some use an external "wall-wart" or "line-lump" transformer for the first stage, then further refine/regulate the power signal internally. Regardless of how they go about doing it, the internals are designed the way they're designed, and there's no changing that without re-engineering the circuitry and redesigning the PCBs. If the mixer is designed for single-rail power, that's what it will always be stuck with.
An old 3-ch Peavy. Having no EQ on each channel made mixing dance music literally a blast. Mostly just played random tunes at my friends parties with it.
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