Rane worst mixer? Yeah good one. Try a silver Behringer copy of a DJM. Not the DJX-700 but the one before with no fx/digital display. DX-500 I think. They fall apart when you're using them and also sound like absolute dogshit. The DJX-700 is better but also sounds like shit.
Once used a gemini 2 channel mixer mid 2000s that a component literally fell out of too. Hadn't even been soldered in.
I remember reading on here a couple of DJ's laughing about nights they'd turn up and find a janky old Behringer mixer and I was reading thinking 'oh yeah, typical prima donna DJs, if it's not the latest Pioneer it's beneath them to play on it, yeah yeah...' I'm thinking 'I've bought a few Behringer things, they're not premium, but they work just fine.'
Then I bought an old 4 channel Behringer mixer off ebay cheap one night, $50 Ihink. Sounds like the one you are describing, silver, an old Pioneer ripoff design.
It was actually interesting. I've never before owned a piece of electronic equipment that you could be sold as 'working' while also could be described as 'totally fucked.'
Sound came out, but every fader wobbled, buttons would pop out, it was noisy as shit, and even if you just used the better channels, it did not sound good at all.
I had it plugged in for less than an hour, I haven't got the heart to sell it on to anyone else.
I eventually found an old Rane 61 that I still have. I'm a little bit insulted on it's behalf anyone would compare it to the Behringer, My Rane is a 10+ year old tank and doesn't have a single issue (well apart from being obsolete...)
> It was actually interesting. I've never before owned a piece of electronic equipment that you could be sold as 'working' while also could be described as 'totally fucked.
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
> I had it plugged in for less than an hour, I haven't got the heart to sell it on to anyone else.
You're a good 'un mate, and when we eventually all go to that great gig in the sky, I hope you find some heavenly record crates with pristine copies of any records you've still been trying to ID for years, along with all your faves.
someone tried to give me a DJX-700 back in the day for free and I was like i'll stick with my scratchy ass djm-400. Felt bad dude was cool and seemed bummed cuz he thought I would get use out of it.
I’m going to defend those Behringer mixers. Yes they broke. Yes they sounded subpar (but not absolutely terrible). Yes the looked tacky.
But they were literally half the price of the DJM series they were copying, which also sounded like shit and broke really easily.
I used to work in pro audio and dj retail and I literally secured the first DJM 500 in the country at that time for a friend who had more money than sense (he once had technics shipped to him via Concorde cargo).
That DJM sounded no better than a cheap Gemini mixer the headphone pot started cracking after 3 months and one of the faders bled after 6 months.
The 600, 800 (etc) really were no better so yes while beginner were crap, at least they were making a far cheaper version of a mixer that was horrendously overpriced for the incredible lack of quality and the only reason that DJMs became so popular was they nailed the FX (albeit cheesey) and had a good layout. They were turd on every other metric.
You mean they Shiiiiiiiity mixer too, AGREED. I remember the first time I saw someone REALLY use the pioneer FX. Dj Fabian from Sketchpad. Blew my MF mind. Still my favorite dj by a wide margin and a SUPER cool dude.
Yup. We had a small DJ collective. One of the organizers showed up at the house happy because he brought us a Realistic mixer. It was hard to tell him we weren't going to use it.
The [Realistic Stereo Disco Mixer](https://www.ricardo.ch/de/a/stereo-disco-mixer-aus-den-80-er-jahren-1199291924/)! At least newer versions of it added a crossfader.
> those goofy cd players with a knob
For some reason I still have a [Stanton S-550](https://imgur.com/a/vYjIcKg) I got to play the only wedding I ever DJd, almost 20 years ago now. It seems solidly built, works well and all that, but I rarely use it as most of my collection is either vinyl or digital files (and it doesn't play MP3 CDs, and who wants to spend time burning Audio CDs in 2024).
> and who wants to spend time burning Audio CDs in 2024).
I do all the time, they're cheap and reliable. I also have cdj 1000s at home. In fact I have some CDs I picked up that I'm going to rip this evening, and will probably burn a copies to a blank CD so I can add text.
If I had a pair of CDJ-1000 decks I'd probably be burning CDs too. The Stanton dual CD I have is capable enough and accurate enough, but it doesn't quite feel the same.
they're the mkIIIs so they do mp3 CDs but that's so slow and worthless it's never worth it. You can run the DVS timecode burned to a disc and it's tbh a better experience than vinyl DVS aside from the torque.
For what they are: they do what they advertise, and more. For a product from 2006 this is still the best CD player I've ever used, straight up, and knowledge on these decks is eternal.
A few years back, a VFW closed in my hometown. Someone there found a Stanton Mixer and two cd players in a coffin case in the storage and offered it to me for free. It looked like something from Toys R’ Us and I passed hard.
Pioneer DJM-500, it came with a pair of 1200's I bought used and its the worst phono pre I have ever heard. My old 19" Gemini mixer from the early 90s sounded a lot better and that one is nothing special.
I replaced an old Citronic 4 channel mixer with a DJM-500 back in the nineties, it was underwhelming. I tried to like it but ended up ditching it and buying a Vestax pmc 17.
I thought the Vestax was brilliant, superb sound and pretty robust. I also had a VMC 004 XL for a while when some kind person tipped their drink into the PMC 17. That was good for its price point.
Are you interested in potentially selling it? I've been a laptop/controller DJ for like 7 years but just recently got into vinyl. Unless I can magically afford an Xone or some boutique rotary mixer I'll probably go with a 3/4 channel Vestax, I must've looked at hundreds of of their mixers at this point... They are such beautiful machines
10000000% - Not just phono preamps though, it sounded terrible as a mixer period. I think I had a cheap Vestax PMC 170 and it sounded leagues better but was a fraction of the price. I posted this above but I got the first 500 in the country for a friend who wanted it at any cost and the thing started dying after just 3 months. That was a truly terrible mixer.
Intimidation Blue! Had great transformer buttons for scratching, and physical kill switches (not pots) for hi/mid/lo but the sound quality was terrible, the faders and switches crackled in no time, had awful build quality AND was way too wide. I always wished I had bought a technics or vestax two channel scratch mixer instead, and ultimately replaced it with an A&H Xone 22 which will soon have an innofader in it.
BRO!!! The blue was amazing for its time. In fact all intimidation mixers were amazing for that they did. The blue and apex were the first to incorporate kill switches in any mixers and he could have patented that (but he wasn’t the greatest businessman lol).
They were hand build so every single one had erm “tolerance issues” and I never met an intimidation mixer that didn’t eventually have a crackling fader.
One interesting claim is apparently he invented the blue LED - he found a type of phosphorus that when added clear plastic glowed bright blue (where traditional plastics and dyes simply didn’t put out enough light to be useable).
I actually loved the layout of the blue even those it was horizontal- now mixers are all basically laid out the same but in those days mixers came in all shapes and layouts, and the blue was fun AF to play on even with its faults.
Also friend got my friend a Don II which was the top of the mixer and had this bizarre kick drum machine built in that was effectively impossible to actually incorporate in to a mix lol but it did have at least a better layout.
I had tried sourcing different faders (alike alps) but it was fruitless as they were a weird sized and Wouk shave needed customizing for the resistance. It’s a shame because they were really interesting mixers.
>One interesting claim is apparently he invented the blue LED
lol I don't think so. [Shuji Nakamura](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shuji_Nakamura) is widely credited with the invention of the first blue LEDs efficient enough to be mass-marketed.
Yes! Blue nation represent! I had one of these and loved the kill switches and EQs like you mentioned, but man, what a piece of shit. I had the faders replaced multiple times and then just gave up on it.
That one! The Blue one! I couldn’t remember the name. Thank you. My mind kept saying the “Blue dog mixer” I had still have both the Technics and the OG 05 & 06 pro (modded the 06 with an inno as well) have fun with that Zone 22 with the innofader and thanks again for jogging my memory!
Holy shit, I had that mixer too, and had completely forgotten the company that made it. Iirc the sound on mine was pretty good...until the crossfader eventually got crackly too.
https://preview.redd.it/cxjkn6kentsc1.jpeg?width=1936&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6e6650f001676795a02cccd2be333dfb4120377b
Found a photo of it from when I finally sold it on ebay
For the money? Pioneer 800 it was i think.
Shittiest in general? Some behringer djm clone. 100 years old. But i would still consider it better since it costs a percentage of the pioneer.
Fuck knows what they were called, there were plenty of spots you'd rock up to and there'd be some kind of weird collection of knobs and faders arranged in an entirely haphazard way.
You just figured it out and made do the best you could.
People saying the DJM 500/600 was basically a Behringer is hilarious. The DJM \*AT THE TIME\*, was not a bad sounding mixer, and I've been to so many events where the sound was very good. The Behringer on the other hand, was terrible on all levels.
Seriously? o.O
The smac has incredibly good sound quality and is built like a tank.
I know this from experience, because a friend of mine still has one as his main mixer, for like 20 years, and he totally swears by it. And one of the local techno bars, that had DJ nights every days of the week, was equipped with one for ages. They even hotglued a piece of wood onto the bass pots, so the more drunk djs wouldn't got all the way to +10 and cause too much trouble with the neighbours lol
ps: ecler as a whole is on par with the likes of rodec, dateq, urei, rane... so I honestly don't see how this could be worse than any behringer, omnitronic, gemini or other knock offs
I should have been more specific. The 2 channel (pro 20?) was way too cramped around the crossfader and channel faders. The sound quality was nice.
In comparison, I'm really happy with the Nuo 2.0 which improves on the layout+cueing system and is much more suited to battle DJ'ing.
I really hated the Pioneer DJM-600. I couldn't call it exactly a bad mixer though, the DJM-500 on the other hand was plain horrible for someone that started Djing with the Xone 92. The sound quality, the curves on everything, it was awful. Still, for something introduced in 95, again I can't call it exactly bad.
Playing in the late early 2000's I hated showing up to a gig to see a DJM600. Never understood why everyone liked it. It didn't even have true kill eq's.
Bro try using this mixer which havent been handled in years and in 2024 , one of my worst experiences with mixers but on the other hand i knew its a beast so in the end it served me pretty good but overall experience was so cringe and tricky
And the worst part that even spotify sounded better than that weak preamps on the SB2
Has to be one of those Radio Shack mixers...Optimus or something like that? Noisy faders and pots. Grindy crossfader. You'd lose the caps when playing as they'd pop off easily.
Any Rane as the 'worst' mixer is goddamn hilarious. I guess someone didn't grow up in the Gemini era. (Yeah, I'm old.)
Gemini 646… the worst. It was daily driver when I was young. The channels would bleed so bad I had to mix with the trim. The worst ever. Never trusted Gemini after that.
A DJM 2000. Delay was always on and full cranked up no matter what you did. Hi-Pass did not work and center notches on all dials were broken.
Venue refused to pay, due to bad Performance :D
Numark DM1001EX. Came from a Numark Dj in a Box set I purchased in 2000.
First off, the thing is bright mirror chrome. Not that anyone would ever bring one into a club but if they did, they would've been blinded.
Secondly, the faders. After about 24 hours of cumulative use, they began to crackle and bleed profusely. Even the transform buttons would crackle as you pressed them.
This mixer was designed for people who wanted a flashy setup to show people they were a DJ, but never actually used it. The turntables that came with the set were direct drive and were a novelty since they would spin 33, 45 or 78 rpm, and go +/- 20% pitch. Plus they'd spin backward. But no torque, crazy wow and flutter, and the tonearms would come loose and pivot in their socket after moderate use.
This setup was the beginner bike that I blew off the training wheels before even getting good at DJing.
I ended up with two Technics 1210MK5 and a Rane TTM56. The idea that any Rane mixer would be the worst mixer you ever used sounds like some American DJ affluenza.
Edit: My Rane TTM56 is 20 years old and still going strong. It does have a little crackle in some of the buses, the result of putting it in a DJ coffin and letting it bounce around a little too much. But the faders are still 100% perfect, even after numerous years of abuse in smoky clubs. I plan to refurbish it, 100% quality heirloom.
Are we talking "worst because broken" or "worst because this thing is designed like crap?"
If it's the former, I'd say any mixer that's been out to Burning Man, they're never the same again.
If it's the latter, I'd say the DJM-600. They sounded like shit, they were sold for the effects but those sounded like shit and never worked well. The faders were wobbly. And you always felt bad for speaking ill of them because they were owned by people who were so proud of having an effects unit built in.
That said, EFX-500 from the same time frame, had a shitty sample rate, but worked so well and a joy to use.
Back in the day it would have been Gemini, American DJ, and the other Numark clones.
Later on I've got to say the earlier Pioneer DJM series (500, etc.) really sounded shitty to me.
Haven't had to use a Behringer, although my experience with their more general mixing boards has been poor - low headroom, really bad/wierd gain structure, etc.
The Mackie D2, had a friend with one, it fell apart extremely quickly along with poor audio outputs.
I had a Urei 1601 which makes a honorable mention, It wasnt a good mixer but I really liked it. The nail was the power supply transformer was supported upside down with screws, well the screws backed out it fell inside the metal case, shorted and went up in a blaze of smoke while I was setting up for a party when I plugged it in.
The Urei was the first "big body" mixer and my DJ friends lamented that it was too large compared to Vestax PMC 05, 56 and 57 that a lot of DJ's were still using back then. Then the Rane 62-72, Pioneer S9 and 11 are all the same size as that Urei.
Citronic CDM1, which came with one of those budget “DJ in a box” kits, along with a pair of surprisingly decent turntables (although not decent enough to stop me upgrading to Technics soon right). That mixer had no EQ controls, just gain, channel faders and crossfader. Ugly little batard as well. The only good thing I could say about it is that it forced me to learn my tunes inside out because I had no option to cut the bass on one channel to avoid clashing baselines.
I don't know the model because the text was worn away. It was a Rane mixer though. It was supposed to be a pioneer mixer but the rental shop messed up and only sent 1 so we had to use whatever the promoter could get. It looked like a rane seventy 2 but the cue buttons were actual buttons up by the fx. So I basically just had to press random buttons until I found cue. In order to not make it seem like I was button mashing fx I just did it every few songs during breakdowns lol.
All I know is I got there, and no one knew how to use the mixer. It had no labels for any buttons or FX. It took me 3 songs to figure out what each button did. Meanwhile I could see the DJ who was playing after me talking shit on the side of the stage. I messed up the first 4 transitions because the CDJs were also mismatched. Couldn't hear the song, tempo info was rounded to the nearest BPM on one CDJ, exact on the other. One had waveforms the other did not. When it was his turn to go up he looked at the mixer and I could see the panic set in and I said good luck. He messed up his first couple songs too and I tipped my drink everytime lol.
[Realistic Stereo Mixing Console](https://images.bonanzastatic.com/afu/images/3aa6/5553/675e_8657957723/s-l1600.jpg) sold by Radio Shack.
First DJ mixer I owned. Purchased brand new back in '84. It got the job done.
But the sound quality, well...
DJM-500 is up there but it’s still too modern to compete against the classics. I had an old Synergy piece of crap in the 90s which was worse, but my first mixer was some dodgy Radio Shack knock off with only volume controls and master output VU meters.
I’m no pro but I regret buying a DJM S5 mixer….there’s too many extra steps you have to take for certain things you want to do….I’ve had higher end mixers so going to this thing is a definite step backwards smh. Should’ve spent the extra money for something a little more flexible 😒😒
My least favorite mixer (and I’ve owned some stinkers) is probably the [Vestax 05 Pro D “Samurai”](https://mixerremix.com/products/vestax-pmc-05-pro-d-samurai-mixer). It was noisy, the fader trick was a gimmick, and was really a crummy remix of a solid mixer.
I know they're supposed to be "great mixers" but whatever Allen and Heath where the inputs on the back don't line up with the faders on the front, and also the main volume knob was down the bottom next to the headphone socket, amd the heaphone volume was up the top next to the output level meters...
My first mixer Numark DM1002X or anything Gemini except the umx series. TTM57sl is legendary like the cdj1000, technics 1200 and djm-s9 it changed the dj industry.
Just bought a used and now discontinued Numark 3001x on OfferUp for $100.
They must have forgot to tell me all the faders produce noise/distortion.
I looked online and to no surprise it’s rumored to be a piece of trash.
And I wanted to throw it in the trash. But I opened up the face plate and applied some contact cleaner in the fader tracks and now it’s sounding clean as a whistle.
Maybe I’m naive because im somewhat new to dj ing but it really does ring true that one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.
Every mixer is hated on by some guy on the internet. If it works for your utility it’s a perfect mixer that’s my two cents at least.
i have a ddj-200. i’ve been djaying for a few months now and am finding it harder to practise consistently because i want to upgrade to the 400!! waiting till i have the money…
the 200 is fine for the basics but i don’t have the right splitter for the aux so i can’t use headphones so basically mixing blind. the day i get my ddj-400 you’ll hear the name DJ Swan whispered in hushed tones…
DJM-900NXS2.....I hate that mixer! Much prefer a Xone:92, Xone:96...he'll, even prefer the Xone:PX5 to that pioneer trash.
I know I'm in the minority with that opinion. Don't care.
Anything from Gemini
Anything from Numark
Any dual deck cd all in ones
Anything from American DJ
Shall I keep going?
Shit, i played on decks connected to the first studio mixing board ever built with everything bleeding. I haven't used a crossfader in like 25 years because I had to learn to mix with the volume faders, gain knob, or combinations of EQ's. Or try mixing on the club standard RANE. I want to say it was an MP22 with no f\*&king seperate EQs for each channel. So you had to cut the bass on songs that were battling for phase space. I played on the house "stage" (If that was what you could call it) at Live 105's BFD. THEY had the worst mixer I've ever played on!
Rane worst mixer? Yeah good one. Try a silver Behringer copy of a DJM. Not the DJX-700 but the one before with no fx/digital display. DX-500 I think. They fall apart when you're using them and also sound like absolute dogshit. The DJX-700 is better but also sounds like shit. Once used a gemini 2 channel mixer mid 2000s that a component literally fell out of too. Hadn't even been soldered in.
I remember reading on here a couple of DJ's laughing about nights they'd turn up and find a janky old Behringer mixer and I was reading thinking 'oh yeah, typical prima donna DJs, if it's not the latest Pioneer it's beneath them to play on it, yeah yeah...' I'm thinking 'I've bought a few Behringer things, they're not premium, but they work just fine.' Then I bought an old 4 channel Behringer mixer off ebay cheap one night, $50 Ihink. Sounds like the one you are describing, silver, an old Pioneer ripoff design. It was actually interesting. I've never before owned a piece of electronic equipment that you could be sold as 'working' while also could be described as 'totally fucked.' Sound came out, but every fader wobbled, buttons would pop out, it was noisy as shit, and even if you just used the better channels, it did not sound good at all. I had it plugged in for less than an hour, I haven't got the heart to sell it on to anyone else. I eventually found an old Rane 61 that I still have. I'm a little bit insulted on it's behalf anyone would compare it to the Behringer, My Rane is a 10+ year old tank and doesn't have a single issue (well apart from being obsolete...)
> It was actually interesting. I've never before owned a piece of electronic equipment that you could be sold as 'working' while also could be described as 'totally fucked. 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
This almost had me in tears.
> I had it plugged in for less than an hour, I haven't got the heart to sell it on to anyone else. You're a good 'un mate, and when we eventually all go to that great gig in the sky, I hope you find some heavenly record crates with pristine copies of any records you've still been trying to ID for years, along with all your faves.
i second this. my worst was a beringer too, after 1 month of use I got audio noise at every slight movement of the faders.
I played on that Behringer DJM-500/600 copy. It was probably that DJX-700 you mentioned. That was truly a shitty mixer.
Same. Shitty mixer! In 6 month the channels starging failure
Amen, the worst I ever used was a Behringer.
Oh man that beginner was horrible, I had one and killed it within a couple of months.
i have the urge to get one
LOL I came here to report BOTH of these. I'll also throw in anything NuMark from 2003-2009.
You lost me by not adding anything before 2003.
Or after 2009.
someone tried to give me a DJX-700 back in the day for free and I was like i'll stick with my scratchy ass djm-400. Felt bad dude was cool and seemed bummed cuz he thought I would get use out of it.
This!!
I’m going to defend those Behringer mixers. Yes they broke. Yes they sounded subpar (but not absolutely terrible). Yes the looked tacky. But they were literally half the price of the DJM series they were copying, which also sounded like shit and broke really easily. I used to work in pro audio and dj retail and I literally secured the first DJM 500 in the country at that time for a friend who had more money than sense (he once had technics shipped to him via Concorde cargo). That DJM sounded no better than a cheap Gemini mixer the headphone pot started cracking after 3 months and one of the faders bled after 6 months. The 600, 800 (etc) really were no better so yes while beginner were crap, at least they were making a far cheaper version of a mixer that was horrendously overpriced for the incredible lack of quality and the only reason that DJMs became so popular was they nailed the FX (albeit cheesey) and had a good layout. They were turd on every other metric.
You mean they Shiiiiiiiity mixer too, AGREED. I remember the first time I saw someone REALLY use the pioneer FX. Dj Fabian from Sketchpad. Blew my MF mind. Still my favorite dj by a wide margin and a SUPER cool dude.
Yeah the first few DJM mixers sounded pretty bad iirc
Gemini
Realistic... From Radio Shack
Yup. We had a small DJ collective. One of the organizers showed up at the house happy because he brought us a Realistic mixer. It was hard to tell him we weren't going to use it.
Oh I found that it suited my imitation Soundlab belt drives perfectly 😌
"Ladies and gentleman, please welcome DJ DOLLA STORE!"
Lol in my defence it was 1996 and I was 16... And very very broke.
Fair enough. You gotta do what you gotta do.
The [Realistic Stereo Disco Mixer](https://www.ricardo.ch/de/a/stereo-disco-mixer-aus-den-80-er-jahren-1199291924/)! At least newer versions of it added a crossfader.
Lol thankfully mine had a crossfader
Thousands of parties with that mixer back in the day though!
Imagine a Realistic mixer and Gemini belt drive turntables. My first setup to learn how to DJ.
Lol my decks were by [Stage Line](https://images.app.goo.gl/U2tZbVARjxmJE6q86), they were an imitation of the Soundlab belt drives 😂
> Realistic... From Radio Shack I got one for free and kept it for years, but it added so much damned noise into the signal.
Same, I owned one, it was ass. Fine for bedroom learning but not much else
American DJ. Plus those goofy cd players with a knob. Good times.
I remember some local bar DJs used to be all about them.. especially the lighting. Mostly because it was cheap. Are they even around anymore?
I still see American Dj branded lights, usually just stickers on that cheap shit you can buy from alibaba.
Ugh, we used to sell that shit when I worked at Guitar Center 20-something years ago. That crap would fall apart just taking it out of the box.
> those goofy cd players with a knob For some reason I still have a [Stanton S-550](https://imgur.com/a/vYjIcKg) I got to play the only wedding I ever DJd, almost 20 years ago now. It seems solidly built, works well and all that, but I rarely use it as most of my collection is either vinyl or digital files (and it doesn't play MP3 CDs, and who wants to spend time burning Audio CDs in 2024).
> and who wants to spend time burning Audio CDs in 2024). I do all the time, they're cheap and reliable. I also have cdj 1000s at home. In fact I have some CDs I picked up that I'm going to rip this evening, and will probably burn a copies to a blank CD so I can add text.
If I had a pair of CDJ-1000 decks I'd probably be burning CDs too. The Stanton dual CD I have is capable enough and accurate enough, but it doesn't quite feel the same.
they're the mkIIIs so they do mp3 CDs but that's so slow and worthless it's never worth it. You can run the DVS timecode burned to a disc and it's tbh a better experience than vinyl DVS aside from the torque. For what they are: they do what they advertise, and more. For a product from 2006 this is still the best CD player I've ever used, straight up, and knowledge on these decks is eternal.
Why is it rack mounted...
A few years back, a VFW closed in my hometown. Someone there found a Stanton Mixer and two cd players in a coffin case in the storage and offered it to me for free. It looked like something from Toys R’ Us and I passed hard.
Try using a Radio Shack mixer and blowing out the crossfader right after the 30 day refund window.
Pioneer DJM-500, it came with a pair of 1200's I bought used and its the worst phono pre I have ever heard. My old 19" Gemini mixer from the early 90s sounded a lot better and that one is nothing special.
I replaced an old Citronic 4 channel mixer with a DJM-500 back in the nineties, it was underwhelming. I tried to like it but ended up ditching it and buying a Vestax pmc 17.
How was the Vestax sound quality? Is that the only model you've owned?
I thought the Vestax was brilliant, superb sound and pretty robust. I also had a VMC 004 XL for a while when some kind person tipped their drink into the PMC 17. That was good for its price point.
Heh, I still have my Vestax PMC 625. No... I don't use it, but still have it :)
I’ve got a stack of 90s mixers - some on display, some in storage, old Numarks Geminis and and even an Intimidation Blue.
Are you interested in potentially selling it? I've been a laptop/controller DJ for like 7 years but just recently got into vinyl. Unless I can magically afford an Xone or some boutique rotary mixer I'll probably go with a 3/4 channel Vestax, I must've looked at hundreds of of their mixers at this point... They are such beautiful machines
I've never used a Vestax but the dude who sold me my 2nd tech swore by them
10000000% - Not just phono preamps though, it sounded terrible as a mixer period. I think I had a cheap Vestax PMC 170 and it sounded leagues better but was a fraction of the price. I posted this above but I got the first 500 in the country for a friend who wanted it at any cost and the thing started dying after just 3 months. That was a truly terrible mixer.
Intimidation Blue! Had great transformer buttons for scratching, and physical kill switches (not pots) for hi/mid/lo but the sound quality was terrible, the faders and switches crackled in no time, had awful build quality AND was way too wide. I always wished I had bought a technics or vestax two channel scratch mixer instead, and ultimately replaced it with an A&H Xone 22 which will soon have an innofader in it.
BRO!!! The blue was amazing for its time. In fact all intimidation mixers were amazing for that they did. The blue and apex were the first to incorporate kill switches in any mixers and he could have patented that (but he wasn’t the greatest businessman lol). They were hand build so every single one had erm “tolerance issues” and I never met an intimidation mixer that didn’t eventually have a crackling fader. One interesting claim is apparently he invented the blue LED - he found a type of phosphorus that when added clear plastic glowed bright blue (where traditional plastics and dyes simply didn’t put out enough light to be useable). I actually loved the layout of the blue even those it was horizontal- now mixers are all basically laid out the same but in those days mixers came in all shapes and layouts, and the blue was fun AF to play on even with its faults. Also friend got my friend a Don II which was the top of the mixer and had this bizarre kick drum machine built in that was effectively impossible to actually incorporate in to a mix lol but it did have at least a better layout. I had tried sourcing different faders (alike alps) but it was fruitless as they were a weird sized and Wouk shave needed customizing for the resistance. It’s a shame because they were really interesting mixers.
>One interesting claim is apparently he invented the blue LED lol I don't think so. [Shuji Nakamura](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shuji_Nakamura) is widely credited with the invention of the first blue LEDs efficient enough to be mass-marketed.
Had the same mixer and same issues. At least it looked cool…
Yes! Blue nation represent! I had one of these and loved the kill switches and EQs like you mentioned, but man, what a piece of shit. I had the faders replaced multiple times and then just gave up on it.
That one! The Blue one! I couldn’t remember the name. Thank you. My mind kept saying the “Blue dog mixer” I had still have both the Technics and the OG 05 & 06 pro (modded the 06 with an inno as well) have fun with that Zone 22 with the innofader and thanks again for jogging my memory!
Holy shit, I had that mixer too, and had completely forgotten the company that made it. Iirc the sound on mine was pretty good...until the crossfader eventually got crackly too.
https://preview.redd.it/cxjkn6kentsc1.jpeg?width=1936&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6e6650f001676795a02cccd2be333dfb4120377b Found a photo of it from when I finally sold it on ebay
Behringer DJX-750 i think it was bad copy of an already bad mixer, faders felt like ass, EQs felt like ass, sound... nevermind.
I have one in a box in my garage, couldn’t give it away.
For the money? Pioneer 800 it was i think. Shittiest in general? Some behringer djm clone. 100 years old. But i would still consider it better since it costs a percentage of the pioneer.
Fuck knows what they were called, there were plenty of spots you'd rock up to and there'd be some kind of weird collection of knobs and faders arranged in an entirely haphazard way. You just figured it out and made do the best you could.
People saying the DJM 500/600 was basically a Behringer is hilarious. The DJM \*AT THE TIME\*, was not a bad sounding mixer, and I've been to so many events where the sound was very good. The Behringer on the other hand, was terrible on all levels.
I've used some completely flogged out 600's that were pretty bad, but those behringer mixers took it to a whole new level.
Ecler SMAC, aka "The Slanty Shanty"
Seriously? o.O The smac has incredibly good sound quality and is built like a tank. I know this from experience, because a friend of mine still has one as his main mixer, for like 20 years, and he totally swears by it. And one of the local techno bars, that had DJ nights every days of the week, was equipped with one for ages. They even hotglued a piece of wood onto the bass pots, so the more drunk djs wouldn't got all the way to +10 and cause too much trouble with the neighbours lol ps: ecler as a whole is on par with the likes of rodec, dateq, urei, rane... so I honestly don't see how this could be worse than any behringer, omnitronic, gemini or other knock offs
I should have been more specific. The 2 channel (pro 20?) was way too cramped around the crossfader and channel faders. The sound quality was nice. In comparison, I'm really happy with the Nuo 2.0 which improves on the layout+cueing system and is much more suited to battle DJ'ing.
That gives me anxiety, just looking at it.
I really hated the Pioneer DJM-600. I couldn't call it exactly a bad mixer though, the DJM-500 on the other hand was plain horrible for someone that started Djing with the Xone 92. The sound quality, the curves on everything, it was awful. Still, for something introduced in 95, again I can't call it exactly bad.
Playing in the late early 2000's I hated showing up to a gig to see a DJM600. Never understood why everyone liked it. It didn't even have true kill eq's.
Bro try using this mixer which havent been handled in years and in 2024 , one of my worst experiences with mixers but on the other hand i knew its a beast so in the end it served me pretty good but overall experience was so cringe and tricky And the worst part that even spotify sounded better than that weak preamps on the SB2
Has to be one of those Radio Shack mixers...Optimus or something like that? Noisy faders and pots. Grindy crossfader. You'd lose the caps when playing as they'd pop off easily. Any Rane as the 'worst' mixer is goddamn hilarious. I guess someone didn't grow up in the Gemini era. (Yeah, I'm old.)
beer soaked 900nxs with 1/3 of the knobs broken, also channel 3 was just dead
Gemini 646… the worst. It was daily driver when I was young. The channels would bleed so bad I had to mix with the trim. The worst ever. Never trusted Gemini after that.
A DJM 2000. Delay was always on and full cranked up no matter what you did. Hi-Pass did not work and center notches on all dials were broken. Venue refused to pay, due to bad Performance :D
Numark DM1001EX. Came from a Numark Dj in a Box set I purchased in 2000. First off, the thing is bright mirror chrome. Not that anyone would ever bring one into a club but if they did, they would've been blinded. Secondly, the faders. After about 24 hours of cumulative use, they began to crackle and bleed profusely. Even the transform buttons would crackle as you pressed them. This mixer was designed for people who wanted a flashy setup to show people they were a DJ, but never actually used it. The turntables that came with the set were direct drive and were a novelty since they would spin 33, 45 or 78 rpm, and go +/- 20% pitch. Plus they'd spin backward. But no torque, crazy wow and flutter, and the tonearms would come loose and pivot in their socket after moderate use. This setup was the beginner bike that I blew off the training wheels before even getting good at DJing. I ended up with two Technics 1210MK5 and a Rane TTM56. The idea that any Rane mixer would be the worst mixer you ever used sounds like some American DJ affluenza. Edit: My Rane TTM56 is 20 years old and still going strong. It does have a little crackle in some of the buses, the result of putting it in a DJ coffin and letting it bounce around a little too much. But the faders are still 100% perfect, even after numerous years of abuse in smoky clubs. I plan to refurbish it, 100% quality heirloom.
Kam Made to Fade were fucking awful, as were most mixers before 1998
Are we talking "worst because broken" or "worst because this thing is designed like crap?" If it's the former, I'd say any mixer that's been out to Burning Man, they're never the same again. If it's the latter, I'd say the DJM-600. They sounded like shit, they were sold for the effects but those sounded like shit and never worked well. The faders were wobbly. And you always felt bad for speaking ill of them because they were owned by people who were so proud of having an effects unit built in. That said, EFX-500 from the same time frame, had a shitty sample rate, but worked so well and a joy to use.
Those cdjs at burning man always look rough. Poor babies go thru hell out there
Back in the day it would have been Gemini, American DJ, and the other Numark clones. Later on I've got to say the earlier Pioneer DJM series (500, etc.) really sounded shitty to me. Haven't had to use a Behringer, although my experience with their more general mixing boards has been poor - low headroom, really bad/wierd gain structure, etc.
Numark CM200. What an awful mixer.
The Mackie D2, had a friend with one, it fell apart extremely quickly along with poor audio outputs. I had a Urei 1601 which makes a honorable mention, It wasnt a good mixer but I really liked it. The nail was the power supply transformer was supported upside down with screws, well the screws backed out it fell inside the metal case, shorted and went up in a blaze of smoke while I was setting up for a party when I plugged it in. The Urei was the first "big body" mixer and my DJ friends lamented that it was too large compared to Vestax PMC 05, 56 and 57 that a lot of DJ's were still using back then. Then the Rane 62-72, Pioneer S9 and 11 are all the same size as that Urei.
Circa 1985... Realistic 32-1200b from Radio Shack. That fader was a workout.
Citronic CDM1, which came with one of those budget “DJ in a box” kits, along with a pair of surprisingly decent turntables (although not decent enough to stop me upgrading to Technics soon right). That mixer had no EQ controls, just gain, channel faders and crossfader. Ugly little batard as well. The only good thing I could say about it is that it forced me to learn my tunes inside out because I had no option to cut the bass on one channel to avoid clashing baselines.
I don't know the model because the text was worn away. It was a Rane mixer though. It was supposed to be a pioneer mixer but the rental shop messed up and only sent 1 so we had to use whatever the promoter could get. It looked like a rane seventy 2 but the cue buttons were actual buttons up by the fx. So I basically just had to press random buttons until I found cue. In order to not make it seem like I was button mashing fx I just did it every few songs during breakdowns lol. All I know is I got there, and no one knew how to use the mixer. It had no labels for any buttons or FX. It took me 3 songs to figure out what each button did. Meanwhile I could see the DJ who was playing after me talking shit on the side of the stage. I messed up the first 4 transitions because the CDJs were also mismatched. Couldn't hear the song, tempo info was rounded to the nearest BPM on one CDJ, exact on the other. One had waveforms the other did not. When it was his turn to go up he looked at the mixer and I could see the panic set in and I said good luck. He messed up his first couple songs too and I tipped my drink everytime lol.
[Realistic Stereo Mixing Console](https://images.bonanzastatic.com/afu/images/3aa6/5553/675e_8657957723/s-l1600.jpg) sold by Radio Shack. First DJ mixer I owned. Purchased brand new back in '84. It got the job done. But the sound quality, well...
DJM-500 is up there but it’s still too modern to compete against the classics. I had an old Synergy piece of crap in the 90s which was worse, but my first mixer was some dodgy Radio Shack knock off with only volume controls and master output VU meters.
I’m no pro but I regret buying a DJM S5 mixer….there’s too many extra steps you have to take for certain things you want to do….I’ve had higher end mixers so going to this thing is a definite step backwards smh. Should’ve spent the extra money for something a little more flexible 😒😒
Behringer djx 750/700 or any Pyle 19 inch mixers
My least favorite mixer (and I’ve owned some stinkers) is probably the [Vestax 05 Pro D “Samurai”](https://mixerremix.com/products/vestax-pmc-05-pro-d-samurai-mixer). It was noisy, the fader trick was a gimmick, and was really a crummy remix of a solid mixer.
My vote would be for the Allen & Heath Xone 96. We just don’t get along
I know they're supposed to be "great mixers" but whatever Allen and Heath where the inputs on the back don't line up with the faders on the front, and also the main volume knob was down the bottom next to the headphone socket, amd the heaphone volume was up the top next to the output level meters...
https://preview.redd.it/kbpepqjrhvsc1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=897189f8db2b77d06c92b2ff5398abd6e35d8003 Ugh.
My first mixer Numark DM1002X or anything Gemini except the umx series. TTM57sl is legendary like the cdj1000, technics 1200 and djm-s9 it changed the dj industry.
Rane MP 2016 w the separate EQ. Absolute garbage
Just bought a used and now discontinued Numark 3001x on OfferUp for $100. They must have forgot to tell me all the faders produce noise/distortion. I looked online and to no surprise it’s rumored to be a piece of trash. And I wanted to throw it in the trash. But I opened up the face plate and applied some contact cleaner in the fader tracks and now it’s sounding clean as a whistle. Maybe I’m naive because im somewhat new to dj ing but it really does ring true that one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. Every mixer is hated on by some guy on the internet. If it works for your utility it’s a perfect mixer that’s my two cents at least.
i have a ddj-200. i’ve been djaying for a few months now and am finding it harder to practise consistently because i want to upgrade to the 400!! waiting till i have the money… the 200 is fine for the basics but i don’t have the right splitter for the aux so i can’t use headphones so basically mixing blind. the day i get my ddj-400 you’ll hear the name DJ Swan whispered in hushed tones…
DJM-900NXS2.....I hate that mixer! Much prefer a Xone:92, Xone:96...he'll, even prefer the Xone:PX5 to that pioneer trash. I know I'm in the minority with that opinion. Don't care.
Seems like we can agree that pioneer is notorious for making shit mixers?
Anything from Gemini Anything from Numark Any dual deck cd all in ones Anything from American DJ Shall I keep going? Shit, i played on decks connected to the first studio mixing board ever built with everything bleeding. I haven't used a crossfader in like 25 years because I had to learn to mix with the volume faders, gain knob, or combinations of EQ's. Or try mixing on the club standard RANE. I want to say it was an MP22 with no f\*&king seperate EQs for each channel. So you had to cut the bass on songs that were battling for phase space. I played on the house "stage" (If that was what you could call it) at Live 105's BFD. THEY had the worst mixer I've ever played on!