controller or mixer?

[3heads]

+1

External mixers, if of proper quality, offer so much more than a midi controller IMO.

Channel VU meters alone make external mixers vastly superior, imho...and that's only one of several aspects.

[Nicky H]

a real mixer. Just sold my S4 today and ordered the dn x1600. Won't ever look back.

Yeah I sold my S4 a couple of months ago and got an Ecler - much better for me personally - the s4 just feels a bit cheap and unprofessional imo - great starter package though.

Was thinking about the dn x1600 - sure is a nice mixer

[amidoinitrite]

Why'd you get rid of them? I don't think I'll ever give up my techs. They might be big and heavy but I love them. There is just nothing like the feel of a spinning vinyl record. You just cant get that with a jog wheel.

Well.. I was tight on cash.. needed/wanted a new laptop
They also were a lot to lug around.. and away at school I don't a have a car. so now if I need to I can just throw everything in a backpack and be good to go.
also.. Its a tight fit getting everything into the car to go to and from school.
my b52 matrix 2000 takes up most of the back! then I have clothes, lights, records, other music gear.
I have a feeling that I'll probably end up buying a pair soon..
I'll probably just save up and keep some cash on the side until I come across a good deal.

another thing.. one place I played out had a weak floor and my needles kept skipping with people jumping.
and another time I was playing outside and it was windy and blew my needle across the record.

I'd still pick TTs over controllers any day..
BUT in my current position its best for me to use controllers.
or at least have controllers as an option(portable and don't have to worry about where you play)

[Frank112916]

Quick question, does the DN x1600 sum/limit to 0db at the master output or do I still have to watch the line level faders to make sure I'm not going hot? And is the cue/mix equal volume? One thing I absolutely HATED about the S4 was that the cue/mix volume was worlds different and made it really annoying to try and listen to the pre-mix in my headphones.

Also, do you miss a dedicated filter for each channel?

[amidoinitrite]

Quick question, does the DN x1600 sum/limit to 0db at the master output or do I still have to watch the line level faders to make sure I'm not going hot? And is the cue/mix equal volume? One thing I absolutely HATED about the S4 was that the cue/mix volume was worlds different and made it really annoying to try and listen to the pre-mix in my headphones.

Also, do you miss a dedicated filter for each channel?

Not too sure what you mean by the first 2 questions.
Master peaks above +10db ??
There is a mix knob for cue and master, and a volume.. then you have a button for split cue.

There are many ways of going about filters..
I honestly prefer the built in denon filter..
which is implemented very nice.. How I use it..
You have the main dry/wet effects knob.. if I just want a filter I leave that all the way dry..
then you have the parameters knobs.. WHICH I guess you could say filters the effect.. so if you have an effect going you can highpass/lowpass that effect.. if you have no effects going it just acts as a slightly wet peak filter.
Then you have the parameters on/off button.. which turns the slightly wet filter in to a totally wet filter.
all you do is select which track you want to filter!
if you find you need to use a filter on multiple tracks, you can assign the MIDI param knobs (you get 4 banks of 4 knob/encoders and 4 buttons)
OR you can assign an EQ knob via midi mode over each channel..
I personally just use the built-in x1600's and occasionally traktors via the sc2000

[MrPopinjay]

Dude what the fuck. You should always be watching you levels.

[amidoinitrite]

You should always be watching you levels.

^^and this!

I'm always watching everything.

[Frank112916]

Dude what the fuck. You should always be watching you levels.

no I know this, but some mixers (the eclers comes to mind if I remember correctly) will limit total output at the master to +0db when set properly without you having to really worry about fucking with gain for each song.

I know that on a PA system you'll run straight to the limiter/compressor but I'd rather not clip the fuck out of everything. It's not a big deal really, just a curious question.

And on my second question: I know there is a split knob. But at 50/50 on my S4 the cue gain was MUCH greater than that of the master and you couldn't get a true comparative gain/level reading by cueing and those LED vu meters blow on the S4 (and yes I know traktor has auto-gain). On some mixers (I never got a chance to actually get my hands on an x1600 since no one carries real mixers anymore and they're pretty rare to begin with) cue/master split at 50/50 is ACTUALLY 50/50. Now maybe it was just a problem with my S4.

[amidoinitrite]

no I know this, but some mixers (the eclers comes to mind if I remember correctly) will limit total output at the master to +0db when set properly without you having to really worry about fucking with gain for each song.

I know that on a PA system you'll run straight to the limiter/compressor but I'd rather not clip the fuck out of everything. It's not a big deal really, just a curious question.

And on my second question: I know there is a split knob. But at 50/50 on my S4 the cue gain was MUCH greater than that of the master and you couldn't get a true comparative gain/level reading by cueing and those LED vu meters blow on the S4 (and yes I know traktor has auto-gain). On some mixers (I never got a chance to actually get my hands on an x1600 since no one carries real mixers anymore and they're pretty rare to begin with) cue/master split at 50/50 is ACTUALLY 50/50. Now maybe it was just a problem with my S4.

I usually use meters to cue gain, then adjust as I bring the track in.. BUT pure 50/50 seems right.

[Xonetacular]

you can mix 4 decks with an audio 6... run decks a and b in stereo and decks c and d in mono configured to use the L and R channel of the 5th and 6th output and use a Y cable to the mixer so it is converted to mono and comes out of both L and R on each channel.