What is the best sounding 4U 19" rack mount analogue d.j. mixer for home use

[Evil Steve]

The signal levels are all similar. It's all 'line level' output from whatever signal processing gear you use (mixer, pre-amp, switch...)
One difference would be balanced signal versus unbalanced signal. Doesn't sound like a problem in your situation
There might be some connector/adaptor games. Adapting RCA to 1/4" or XLR can be a pain.
Voltage-wise the components should all play ok with each other.

If you want to try an analog mixer, I have a Furman DJM8. It's three spaces. The connectors are on the bottom. Let me know if you want to give it a try.
I assume you're in the GTA.

Pm me if you're interested.

[light-o-matic]

The pro equipment is generally standardized at a higher level, the home equipment is standardized at a lower level. These used to be -10dBm and +4 dBm.. a 14 db difference which is pretty significant. But it's not necessarily a problem.. the pro gear usually has enough gain to make up a lot of the difference, and the home gear these days sometimes has higher level outputs than in the past. So in many cases, a simple RCA to XLR adapter will be ok. If not, there are level matching units you can buy.. of course if you have a high quality preamp you'll also want a fairly high quality matching unit.

[Huck50]

The signal levels are all similar. It's all 'line level' output from whatever signal processing gear you use (mixer, pre-amp, switch...)
One difference would be balanced signal versus unbalanced signal. Doesn't sound like a problem in your situation
There might be some connector/adaptor games. Adapting RCA to 1/4" or XLR can be a pain.
Voltage-wise the components should all play ok with each other.

If you want to try an analog mixer, I have a Furman DJM8. It's three spaces. The connectors are on the bottom. Let me know if you want to give it a try.
I assume you're in the GTA.

Pm me if you're interested.

That is most generous for the offer! Would your Furman have a different 'sound" than my Denon here: http://www.musiciansfriend.com/pro-a...0-pro-dj-mixer Thanks,Huck50

[Daniel S]

I am basically trying the 'pro" gear approach,as I have sold all my 5 channel home theater gear,(speakers,receiver,SVS sub). My hearing is not as good as when I was younger,so,this 'new' set-up serves me fine....just can't get the same effect as when I was running my old Dahlquist DQ-10's with Janis W-I sub,Threshold NS-10 pre-amp,Bryston 4B. Just trying something new is all. Guess I should have known better! Thanks,Huck50

There's pro audio and there's pro audio. DJ equipment and it's cousin live audio are not really made with sound quality as the first priority. Ease of use, portability and durability are higher up on the list. Also, as we have discussed before, the jump from the typical DJ or weekend warrior band equipment up to touring grade equipment is quite high.

The other end of pro audio is studio and broadcast equipment, where sound quality is of much higher concern. The higher end of this spectrum will sound very good, but there's a reason that, for example, a Solid State Logic mixing desk is in the 6 figures price range. Even a broadcast mixing desk of decent quality will be in the 5 figures range.

If you don't need the ability to mix, a hifi preamp will almost always be better than using a mixer.

[mostapha]

Full professional recording and mixing setups can easily hit 8 figures if the room(s) is(are) good enough to justify it. And at least the mathematical differences between recording and DJ sound cards at a roughly equivalent price level are....yeah....

SL4: 104.5dB A-weighted dynamic range and -83.1dB relative THD+N
Apogee Duet: 123dB A-weighted dynamic range and -113dB relative THD+N

The SL4 costs 50% more than the Apogee Duet.

Why? Well...DJs care more about actually being able to run DVS software, portability, and durability. A studio-grade sound card that has the outputs a digital DJ would need to equal the capabilites of an SL4 or A10 costs 4 to 8 times as much. It unquestionably sounds better....but then, the vast majority of DJs run it into a cheap club sound system that sounds like junk and negates all of the advantages anyway.

You can find similar measurements for mixers, preamps, and pretty much everything else.

Even that awesome rane rotary that I rave about, by the numbers, sounds like crap compared to relatively cheap studio gear. It sometimes makes me wonder why I use a mixer (as opposed to mixing in software with a controller) at all. It would be cheaper and would sound better.

Basically....DJs are cheap.

[Huck50]

[QUOTE=light-o-matic;415968]When you are coming from stuff like Threshold, Bryston etc.. not much else is going to sound really great in a home listening environment.
The home theatre setup I am sure was not as good.

Re your Denon mixer.. first of all, when you are dealing with a mixer VS a preamp you are right away starting out with a liability because the mixer has more amp stages in it. Secondly you are paying for multiple channels of preamp when you are only using one.. so the value proposition is different. That said, I think there are DJ mixers where the performance of any one channel comes up to the performance of a good hifi preamp.. but your Denon is actually not a high end model...

You could try bypassing the mixer entirely and see how you feel about it.

How do I by-pass the mixer and still be able to go through the x-over on my sub first,then to the tops? Do you mean running one of my c.d. players(Oppo) direct via xlr to the sub?....the Oppo has it's own volume control.
Thanks,Huck50

[Huck50]

Hi:
I have my eye on a"home-style" pre-amp and I was wondering what part of the spec sheet should I be concerned with when matching up electrically with my "pro-style" RCF subwoofer and Yamaha tops,since I will be going from the pre-amp to the xlr in on the sub and from there to my tops. The problem that I don't want is either too much volume control from the pre-amp,for low level listening,or not enough volume(turned all the way up and still not enough?!).
The pre-amp has these output figures:Maximum Output >8volts before clipping( doesn't say whether it's xlr or rca outs?).....Output Impedance:60 ohm's
Input Sensitivity of the DXR10's:+1dBu...Input Impedance:12k ohms....no in/out figures for the RCF sub,but I will be going through the sub first,then to the tops. Thanks,Huck50

[Evil Steve]

That is most generous for the offer! Would your Furman have a different 'sound" than my Denon here: http://www.musiciansfriend.com/pro-a...0-pro-dj-mixer Thanks,Huck50

Sorry Huck
I missed this post.
The Furman is from a different era. It will sound different if the gear you use with it can reproduce the difference.
I wouldn't say Furman is in the same class as Bozak or Urei. It's a step down from that.
Still, it has a 'warm' vibe.
Only way to tell is to listen to both a/b and judge for yourself.
That's one of those analog things.

[Huck50]

Sorry Huck
I missed this post.
The Furman is from a different era. It will sound different if the gear you use with it can reproduce the difference.
I wouldn't say Furman is in the same class as Bozak or Urei. It's a step down from that.
Still, it has a 'warm' vibe.
Only way to tell is to listen to both a/b and judge for yourself.
That's one of those analog things.

Thanks! Huck50