Should I go with a two or four-channel mixer?

[MBOCHEY]

I bought a Vestax Typhoon to learn the basics of DJing knowing that I would have to upgrade my gear if DJing worked out for me. I am getting ready to get a pair of Numark NDX900s but I am not sure what mixer should get. I am afraid that if I get a two-channel mixer, I will want to upgrade it to a four-channel mixer. I only plan on using two decks but it seems like a lot of people still have four-channel mixers. In your opinion, is it important to have a mixer with more than two channels and why?
And if I plan on using the NDX900s to control Virtual DJ, will I need a USB mixer? (The NDX900s have MIDI capability)

Thanks,
Mike

[Andrew B]

A four-channel mixer is for four audio sources. If you're not planning on having more than two, then a two-channel mixer is fine.

[Panotaker]

With most two channel mixers, you can hook up two turntables and two CD players, but you can only play two of those at the same time. To play the turntables, you normally have to push a button or flip a switch and put the mixer on phono input, to play the CD's, you press a button or flip a switch and put it on line input. With a 4 channel mixer, you can play all four sources at the same time if you want to. Since most 4 channel mixers have the same switches, you can hook up more stuff to them, like 4 CD players and two turntables, or you can hook up an iPod or something else. It just makes it easier to have a lot of stuff hooked up to your mixer without having to unplug something and hooking something else up. My mixers are all 4 channels, but I normally just play two sources and not 4 at a time. Unless you really know what you are doing, playing four songs at once is not going to double the crowd on the dance floor, it will probably have the opposite effect;-)

[B.Frank]

Most people don't use four channels or even three channels, but it's still nice to have those extra channels just in case. They can be used to play samples, cue up another track or let a buddy plug in his controller.

[DJNR]

A four-channel mixer is for four audio sources. If you're not planning on having more than two, then a two-channel mixer is fine.

Some mixers even have 4 inputs like the Rain TMM57, which allow you to just switch the inputs to different sources even though it is only a two channel mixer.

[Andrew B]

Some mixers even have 4 inputs like the Rain TMM57, which allow you to just switch the inputs to different sources even though it is only a two channel mixer.

Yeah, I should've clarified. If he wants four simultaneous audio sources. Any two-channel mixer will accept four audio sources, you're just usually limited to two at once.

[KLH]

Since this is in the beginner's section, I'll chime in that the above discussion is focused on DJ Mixers. DJ Mixers allow multiple sources to be assigned to a channel (i.e. Phono in, Line in, Aux in, or computer in).

Regular mixers (i.e. straight-line, production, recording, etc.) don't usually allow different sources. What ever is plugged into the channel's input is the only source on that channel.

When DJing, most only use two sources - even though many may be available. For that reason, many DJ mixers only use two music sources at one time (microphone excepted). These are called 2 channel mixers (aka battle mixers).

Four channel DJ mixers allow for four music sources simultaneously. While certainly more flexible than two-deck mixers, very few use more than two channels at one time.

Which is better? It depends on what you want to accomplish. For most, a 2 channel mixer is all that's needed. IMHO, 2 or 4 inputs are just one parameter of what's important in a mixer...

-KLH

[Finnish_Fox]

Maybe you should just quit while you're ahead... haha.

Seriously, you can get away with a 2-channel mixer with no problems. Chances are you will not be using the 3rd or 4th channel in addition to channels 1 and 2 at the same time. If you think you may want to move in that direction and have the money for a decent 4-channel, go for it.

A decent to good 2-channel > a cheap 4-channel.

[mostapha]

The issue is that unless you're a hip hop DJ, most of the development has been on 3+ channel mixers. There are features available for 3 and 4 channel mixers that just aren't there on 2 channel mixers (for the most part). Whether you're using them and whether you can afford them are separate issues.

I use a 4-channel mixer with 2 decks. Before that, I used a 4+2 channel mixer (technically 6 channels, though 2 of them were limited in terms of EQ and input choices). Before that, I used a 3 channel mixer. I've used up to 3 channels at once, but the biggest reason for the bigger mixers was that 2-channel mixers were limited in terms of what they could do, not just the number of channels.

So…what kind of a budget are you looking at, and what do you want the mixer to do? That's a lot more important than just the number of channels.

[Finnish_Fox]

The issue is that unless you're a hip hop DJ, most of the development has been on 3+ channel mixers. There are features available for 3 and 4 channel mixers that just aren't there on 2 channel mixers (for the most part). Whether you're using them and whether you can afford them are separate issues.

Can you give examples? I can really only think of effects, which I don't use, but could be a deal-breaker for someone else?