DJ Mixers Based On Your Skill Level
Thursday, August 5th, 2010
This guest post is by David D. He is an editor at sonicelectronix.com which specializes in DJ equipment. If you would like to add your own guest post, please contact BeginnerDJ.
There are many different variations of DJ Mixers and DJs. DJs can be categorized as beginners, mid level, or professionals and there are DJ mixers that will meet the needs of your skill level. In this article, I will describe 3 different Mixers according to the category of DJ they fall in.
Beginner DJ Mixer
The Mackie 402-VLZ3 is a 4-channel recording mixer with 2-band active EQ and high headroom design. This affordable mixer is perfect to get you started in the DJ game; it is equipped with 2 XDR2 extended dynamic range mic preamps.
This Mackie mixer has Lo-cut filter on each microphone channel, 8-segment high resolution stereo meters, dedicated stereo line input and tape input channels, and is constructed from smooth, tough steel chassis that will hold up when moving mixer from place to place as most DJs do.
Midlevel DJ Mixer
Numarks iDJ2 is a mobile DJ mixing work station that features a built-in universal iPod dock. The integrated iPOd dock allows users to play and mix two songs at the same time from a single iPod without the need of a computer.
The large backlit, full color display provides a user friendly interface and is located directly beneath the iPod dock. iDJ2 is equipped with 2 large jog wheels that allow seamless looping, pitch control, scratching capability and provides easy navigation when searching through the interface.
The rear panel USB ports allow the hook up of multiple mass storage devices including additional iPods and external USB Hard drives. The dual scratch pads can be scratched as if they were an actual disc, which makes mixing easy and convenient.
This Numark mixer is also equipped with a microphone inputs well as a pair of RCA inputs and outputs for easy connectivity.
Professional DJ Mixer
The Presonus StudioLive 24.4.2 is a 24-channel recording digital mixer with a graphic equalizer. This mixer has everything you need if you are a professional DJ and live in the studio.
Its digital recording interface is compatible with all the top softwares including Logic, Nuendo, Cubase, Sonar, Digital Performer, Ableton Live, and more.
Presonus StudioLive has 4 subgroup buses each featuring solo, +mute, and access to fat channel function. The 10 auxiliary mixes each have solo, pre/post fader send, output level control, access to fat channels, and mix/pan fat channel metering.
This professional DJ mixer also has 2 internal effects sends, 24 main inputs, 2 1/4″ stereo (L/R) aux inputs, 1 XLR talkback-mic input with phantom power and level control, 2 FireWire 400 ports, and many many more. If you need to get more advanced than this, the daisy-chain capability will allow 2 StudioLive 24.4.2s to get up to 48 input channels and 8 submix buses.
So when choosing a DJ mixer, keep in mind your skill level, believe me, if you’re a beginner, the StudioLive 24.4.2 might scare you away.
David D. is an editor at sonicelectronix.com specializes in DJ equipment.
Tags: beginner dj, dj mixers, intermediate dj, professional dj
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