Rottary Mixers

[Panotaker]

Here is my take on rotaries. Number one spot would have to go with the Rebuilt Bozak by Buzzy Beck. Mainly because Buzzy was one of the persons that help design it, and he can rebuilt it to sound like the original, or better than the original. When he rebuilt mine, I went with better, than the original. He also uses brand new, Black Alps pots, like the original Ureis, and those pots are design to last millions of cycles. The mixer has no IC's in it, so theoretically, it can be rebuilt indefinitely, until rotary pots are no longer available. It is also the first rotary, and it was design right the first time. 40 years later, it is still the most popular and desirable rotary. The only real draw back is no booth out, although they did make a few with booth out, and those are even rarer. When Buzzy is finally gone, look for those Buzzy Beck Bozaks to double or triple in price, compared to a Bozak that was rebuilt by somebody else.

Second place would go to the original Urei 1620. They added a couple of more channels, and the booth out. Only downside is that it has IC's in it, still sounds just as good though.

Third place would go to all the Bozak and Urei clones. From the AR6 to the Rane to the Urei LE and all the other 19 inch mixers out there.

Fourth, all the new portable mixers, like the DJR400, the Contessa and a few others, including the Bozure kits. If you need a portable rotary, then it would be Number one on your list. Or if you don't want a rebuilt 30 year old mixer, and would prefer a brand new mixer. Their advantage is that they are portable, brand new, and some come with isolators.

Fifth would be all the off the wall rotaries like a few Vestax mixers, and Pioneer mixers that have been converted to rotaries.

I probably left some out that I forgot about, like the V6 that is so expensive that I wouldn't even want to wear it out, and i think I left out a Japanese mixer that is also supposed to be excellent. I also left out the best rotary mixer that I ever used, because they where only made in Houston Texas, and i believe there where only about 10 ever built, and there are no more left to be found, and believe me, I have looked. Unfortunately, I am the only person I know that is still around that has ever used one. They where hand made into a big DJ console, by a guy named Erath, he is famous for making speakers, and his speakers still demand big bucks. The mixer had knobs that where about 4 inches around. The mixers where built into a custom DJ console, so you couldn't take it out and move it, or replace it with something else. As the discos slowly closed down, they where probably trashed. The closest I got to finding one was when I got his email address, but by that time, he was in his 90's, and I never got a response to my emails. He died shortly there after, and so did all the hopes of finding one. The mixer had 3 pots with those big ass 4" knobs. 2 for the turntables, and one for a tape deck. That was one smooth sounding mixer, and the mixes that came out of it where buttery smooth, if you did your beat mixing right. I would do just about anything to have one again. Rumor has it that he copied The Bozak. I think the mic pot was also the pot for the microphone, but i really don't remember how the mic worked. If you ever find one, call me.

Fifth would go to the off the wall rotaries like the Vestax

[mostapha]

FWIW, the rane 2016s is easy to get (you can order it from Amazon and have it in <36 hours), and I'm really enjoying mine.

The ALPS Blue pots aren't as nice as the Black ones, but it's a very, very nice mixing experience.

[Panotaker]

Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with the blue ones, they sound exactly like the black ones. They just don't last as long, but I bet most people don't stay in the game long enough to wear them out, since they are made to go millions of cycles too. Lots of people think the original Bozaks had the best pots, but it is the complete opposite, they had microphone pots for volume controls, and they quickly wore out since the weren't designed to be constantly turned. That's why the later Bozaks had the black ones.

Glad to hear you are enjoying your rotary. I wish all new mixers gave you the option to swap from faders to rotaries. There would probably be more people using rotaries if they did. Most DJ's probably go their whole career without even trying a rotary, which is a shame.

[LoopCat]

I wish I could get my hands on an Empath Rotary.

[mostapha]

Yeah....me too.

Don't get me wrong, I'm happy with the 2016, and I wouldn't trade it. I want to own both, and leave the empath in a road case to play with outside my home. It does everything I like about the djr400 except have 4 full channels.

[Panotaker]

What brand of pots do they put in the Empath. Does anybody know?

[mostapha]

I'm pretty sure they use ALPS Blue Velvet pots just like most of the desktop rotaries, the 2016, and the Urei by soundcraft 1620LE (not the original).

[LoopCat]

All this rotary talk is making Google like crazy. Buying a rotary has always been something I keep considering but never pull the trigger on. I'm waiting to see what Condessa do next I think they're expanding their range a bit and bringing out a 2 channel + eq + iso which is really all I need as I only spin 2 decks.. as long as they start adding cue blend as well, that could be a deal breaker. An effects loop would also be great. If they don't deliver I might go the same route as you mostapha but will probably get the expander down the track I think I enjoy eq mixing and sometimes forcing some strange tunes together haha.

I've always found mixer designs companies come out with to be the most frustrating of all dj gear. There is always something that is lacking, or the feature you want is included in a product that is way over the top/priced.

[Konstantinos]

Thank You So Much!

[JohnnyDrama]

I have a custom made one in the pipeline !

Going to convert the channel faders one of my Rodec MX1800 to rotaries.

Here is a fotoshopped version of what I have in mind (not my picture, rotaries are from the restyler)

mx1800r.jpg