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All mixers use almost all rotary controls — the only non rotary controls on most mixers are the channel faders and the cross fader. The primary advantage of a

All mixers use almost all rotary controls — the only non rotary controls on most mixers are the channel faders and the cross fader. The primary advantage of a channel fader not being rotary is that you can see at a glance where it’s at, and quickly move from one setting to another to a rough level of precision. When you’re doing hip hop or certain kinds of house mixing (think your classic Chicago house style like Bad Boy Bill), that’s essential. You’re just banging through records a couple minutes at a time, and your hands are off the mixer all the time in your record bag or whatever. I used to be a progressive house or trance dj, though and I was playing 10 minute records with 3-4 minute transitions and I tended to have my hands on the mixer all the time making minute adjustments, so a rotary mixer with the finer control made more sense. All the nonsense about sound quality is just bullshit. Nobody at a night club gives a shit about sound quality, as long as like your record needle is clean and you aren’t doing obvious bullshit like pushing the sound into the red. I was a DJ for five or 6 years— I played everything from dive bars to mega clubs for thousands of people. I’ve talked to hundreds of DJ’s about djing, including very well known names. I’ve never once had a conversation with any of them about audiophile stuff in the context of a club. Some of them are into it in their home studios, but when you’re talking about mixers and turntables— it’s only about user interface issues (or the quality of the effects add ons)

jjulius 8y ago
There has been a renewed focus at parties over the last few years, particularly within the minimal techno scene and especially in the Romanian subset of that genre, on quality sound at parties. Granted, those parties and that music are designed specifically for "the heads", so they're few and far between in the larger picture of club culture, but they do manage to throw a lot of festivals (see: Sunwaves) with thousands of people that have impeccable sound.
- empath75 8y ago
  Yeah but the difference in sound quality the mixer makes vs everything else that goes into a big sound system is miniscule — at least once you’re in the realm of professional mixing gear. Obv you wouldn’t throw a $50 Gemini mixer into a million dollar sound system.
- timc3 8y ago
  20 years ago UK raves/festivals used to advertise what systems they had as much as the DJs playing. It’s not a new thing. I remember deciding that I would rather go to certain places not based on who was playing but that they had a Turbosound rig.
timc3 8y ago
Did you ever DJ in London? 15 years ago when I was regularly out we had plastic people, The End, Ministry and of course Fabric. All places that had excellent sound systems, full time engineers and had been built with sound quality in mind. The UK has had a long obsession with quality sound at clubs and raves, and funktion 1 is still producing excellent systems. Clubbing in the US was an eye opener at that time due to poor quality sound.
toomanybeersies 8y ago
I disagree that nobody gives a shit about sound quality. However it's usually the speakers and acoustics that let down a club, rather than the mixer. There are far too many clubs that have good quality speakers, but than have sound bouncing off the back wall or some other critical issue.

jjulius 8y ago

There has been a renewed focus at parties over the last few years, particularly within the minimal techno scene and especially in the Romanian subset of that genre, on quality sound at parties. Granted, those parties and that music are designed specifically for "the heads", so they're few and far between in the larger picture of club culture, but they do manage to throw a lot of festivals (see: Sunwaves) with thousands of people that have impeccable sound.

empath75 8y ago
Yeah but the difference in sound quality the mixer makes vs everything else that goes into a big sound system is miniscule — at least once you’re in the realm of professional mixing gear. Obv you wouldn’t throw a $50 Gemini mixer into a million dollar sound system.
timc3 8y ago
20 years ago UK raves/festivals used to advertise what systems they had as much as the DJs playing. It’s not a new thing. I remember deciding that I would rather go to certain places not based on who was playing but that they had a Turbosound rig.

timc3 8y ago

Did you ever DJ in London? 15 years ago when I was regularly out we had plastic people, The End, Ministry and of course Fabric. All places that had excellent sound systems, full time engineers and had been built with sound quality in mind. The UK has had a long obsession with quality sound at clubs and raves, and funktion 1 is still producing excellent systems. Clubbing in the US was an eye opener at that time due to poor quality sound.

toomanybeersies 8y ago

I disagree that nobody gives a shit about sound quality. However it's usually the speakers and acoustics that let down a club, rather than the mixer. There are far too many clubs that have good quality speakers, but than have sound bouncing off the back wall or some other critical issue.