Out with the old, in with the new...suggestions?

After a decade and a half of work put in by my current personal mixer, it is time to retire the thing. I have less than a handful of possible replacements in mind (all under $2000) and I would like to get some opinions from other DJ’s. Below is a list of things I feel are important in my selection.

1. Durability / craftsmanship. I expect any mixer I purchase to last me another decade. I do not want my faders giving off any noise EVER, much like my old Numark does. Nor do I want the knobs flying off when I am backspinning.
2. Sound quality. I want accurate reproduction of whatever signal I throw at the mixer.
3. Turntablist friendly. This is important. I want the ability to adjust for short throw scratching and nice gradual fades, both on the crossfader.
4. 19” rack mountable. Just about everything I own, with the exception of my TT’s, mounts in a rack. I rarely do mobile work any more, but when I actually do lug around the whole setup I still want it to look “clean”.
5. It must have at least 4 independent channels and the ability to assign any input to the crossfader. It must be able to accommodate Two TT’s, SSL and CD mixer.
6. Having a booth level control on the mixer would be nice, but not necessary.

My mind is pretty much made up, but I am still wide open to any input. Any suggestions based on the above criteria?

DJM600? High sound quality desk with enough channels and send/return. Might be not very 'club proof'.

how about an xone 92...

Which Numark were you using before? I had good luck with my first Numark mixer (DM2000X) a couple of years ago, but am dissapointed with my current Numark (PPD01). I'm about to install a 2nd replacement crossfader (1 original + 2 replacements) and I've only had the damn thing 6 months. Of course, I also didn't drop $2k on it.

Have you seen Gemini UMX-SE?
Or... Rane MP-22z

The mixers I have on my short list (prior to this thread) are the Rane MP44, Vestax PMC-500 and the A&H Xone 92. Having only used the Rane, I am leaning that way because of familiarity. Can the crossfaders on the other two units be set up with similar contours for the ‘tablist in me? Is there anything I should know about any of these units that should make me automatically take them off the list?

i think the vestax is the worst in terms of audio and component quality.

I've loved the MP44 since it was released...I've never mixed on one though.

I was gonna suggest the Numark PPD9000, I'm gonna order it one of these days...

great mixer....prob one of the best i've used....although sorta pricey.

My price cap is $2000 USD so the Xone 92 is definitely an option. Looks like it's coming down to the Xone 92 vs the MP44. All I have to do now is get out and find a place to play with one for a bit.

both are sweet mixers this is a close one! I would have a tough time selecting between the MP44 and the Xone92 also...the stability and quality is there for both mixers.....but I think i would go with the Xone92 because of the extra features it has!

if you want to do turntablism, imho the mp44 is geared more towards the mix DJ. since it doesn't use rane's magnetic faders, i'm not sure how long the x-fader is going to last. i think the rane would give you better sound and build quality; the xone more features. the xone kinda reminds me of a djm-600 but in a good way--much better sound and build quality.

thundercat- did your old mixer finally crap out or what? you keeping it or ebaying it?

Don't forget about the shitty sound quality...

I'll be keeping my old mixer around. I have a few friends that still like to borrow my equipment from time to time for family functions. They get to use my old stuff. :)

not to metion at least having a backup mixer.


hard to say. i think i'd put vestax's higher-end stuff over numark, gemini, stanton and pioneer.

from where i see it, i'd go with the xone 92. best features and build quality for the $$ imho. the mp44 and pmc500 are def geared more towards mix DJs.

audio=sound ??!!

Cant' resist..THUNDERCATS....HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

Everybody gets one freebie at that Kas. No prob...Let's never speak of it again. ;-)

I met Battlecat at NAMM this year... he tore up some back to backs with SSL!

no relation I assume ^_^

Do the Snarf scratch ;)

Yo, People don't know but Battle cat was a dj before he became a producer. He was pretty good at it too, I got him on a early dmc tape.

Josh, I just read the post again, I assume he still a good dj.

If I actually went by Thundercat when I DJ, I might actually try to pull something odd out of my bag-o-trix to call a Snarf scratch. I came up with Thundercat about 8 yrs ago strictly as an online avatar. Although I have toyed with the idea of crossing it over to my IRL persona. Not that I'm some big name or anything, just enough of a buzz that when I do spin somplace local I can count on a particular following. I wouldn't want to confusicate them. :)

FWIW DJ DazZ is what I go by (since 1987).