How To DJ: Dissecting The DJ Mixer

DJ mixers are an essential piece of DJ equipment, without them you wouldn’t be able to route the sound from your turntables to the speakers. What’s DJing without sound, eh?

You’re probably asking: What does a DJ mixer do?

In this post, I’m going to give you a quick overview of the DJ mixer, what it does and how it fits into your equipment.

Previously I gave you the basics of vinyl turntables so now we’re moving onto a breakdown of the mixer.

DJ Mixer Overview

There are many different variations, forms and types of DJ mixers available on the market. You could get lost just trying to choose one for your setup.

Some DJ mixers feature great built in effects, others are more minimal in design but either way, you need one to complete your DJ setup.

Take a look at the basic mixer overview:

This is the Stanton RM-3s mixer. It’s fairly basic but provides you with all the essential controls to mix. There are certainly mixers that are more basic and others that offer twice the features but the RM-3s is a great example to learn what each element does for your DJ mix.

Let’s break down each part:

Disecting The DJ Mixer

The DJ mixer fulfills 3 major tasks:

• Input sound from your turntables
• Allows you to control the mix
• Outputs the sound to your sound system

It’s the piece of DJ equipment which holds it all together. Each element of the mixer controls a different portion of the mix.

Because you’re generally going to be hooking up 2 turntables to your mixer, I’m going to cover just one side of it because the other is the same thing.

Note: On higher end models, you will have additional inputs and controls. These allow you to hook up additional turntables, controllers and effects to play around with.

Here’s a breakdown of a DJ mixer (in our case, the RM-3s):

A. EQ Knobs

The EQ knobs generally give you 4 controls:

• Gain – this is how loud the channel is
• Hi – controls the high frequency instruments such as snares and cymbals
• Mid – controls the middle frequency instruments and most vocals
• Low – controls the kick and bass

When mixing, you will generally twist and turn each of these so each track will transition into another. Without the EQ knobs, your mix will sound muddle and uneven. It will sound like the tunes are clashing.

B. FX Loop

You may be wondering what the hell an FX Loop is?

Well, in short, it helps control external effects you have connected to your mixer.

C. Cue

The cue, on the RM-3s, allows you to switch which channel you’re listening to on your headphones. Because you are cueing up your next track, the switch is aptly named the cue. Flipping it ‘On’ will send the sound to your headphones.

D. X-Fader Reverse

This control isn’t absolutely necessary but it is occasinally handy.

The X-Fader Reverse switches the routing of your turntables so left becomes right and vice versa.

E. Kill Switches

The kill switches are fun little switches that … kill the frequency.

There are generally 3 kill switches

• Low
• Mid
• Hi

Just like the EQs, they will cut out the sound as if you dropped them to zero. This is can add a great effect when you want to drop the bass out and blast it back in or if you’re using it on other parts of the songs.

F. Slider

The most essential part on your mixer is the slider. This element allows you to transition the sound from one track to another, it’s the basis of mixing.

You can also control the mix using the vertical sliders…

G. Vertical Slider

With the horizontal slider, you’re doing a hard mix between track one and two.

With the vertical sliders, you’re controlling the overall volume of each track which allows you to also transition between each tracks with full control.

Instead of cutting over to track 2, you can gently bring in the sound from track 1 by using the vertical slider – it gives you the most amount of control while mixing.

H. Input

The input switch sets the mixer to receive sound from multiple sources.

In terms of the RM-3s, they allow:

• Phono
• Line 1
• Line 2

With these additional lines, you could hook up an extra set of turntables or effects to route sound, giving you more control over you mixing.

I. Mic (Check!)

The microphone knobs and switches are basically the same as the rest of the mixer minus the addition of the microphone jack – an XLR port. This port allows you to hook up a microphone while controlling it using the knobs and switches.

J. Headphone Jack and Controls

The headphone input lets you plug in your headphones. This jack is usually 1/4′.

If you don’t have headphones which have a 1/4′ jack, you can always pick up a 1/4′ to 1/8′ adaptor at RadioShack or online.

Headphones also have a switch which allows you to listen to both tracks at the same time or isolate a track depending on which side it is playing from (in tandem with the cue switch).

K. Master Controls

Okay, so for the last main knobs of the mixer are the:

• Pan
• Level

The pan will make your mix go from left to right, hence why it’s marked with an L (Left) and R (Right). This is great if you want to use it for sweeping effects, pulling the sound from one side to another.

The level is used for the overall sound. The higher your crank it, the louder it’ll get.

L. Sound Meter

The sound meter is a display which shows the sound levels of your tracks.

Be careful because if you start to redline, you can cause damage to your speakers.

Sound Input/Output

In the back of most mixers you’ll have many different ports to input and output sound.

Most mixers use:

• RCA – turntables and controllers
• XLR – microphone
• 1/4′ – speakers or external mixer/sound controllers

Additionally, there are connectors on the back for ground wires from your turntables. The ground wires will eliminate the buzz caused by electricity throughout the turntable – it grounds the wire.

As indicated, the input ports allow you to plug in your turntables and other equipment while the output sends the sound out.

How It All Fits

Once you have your turntables, mixer and speakers. Simply plug the turntables into the mixer using the input ports, route the sound out using the output, make sure all the levels are low when you first boot everything on and then you’re good to go!

Final Thoughts

As I mentioned, not every mixer is going to have the same features.

There are some which costs hundreds (even thousands) of dollars that give you all sorts of great additional effects and controls.

For the beginner DJ, a simple mixer that allows EQ controls, slider and headphone port will do.

All low end models of mixers will come with the basics so you’ll be ready to go once you have everything plugged in. You can expect to buy entry level models for about $100 (or lower if you use eBay).

Always look through the manual and try to give a mixer a test run before you buy it. Make sure it feels right and does what you need it to do – if possible.

So, what kind of mixer do you have?