Looking for a decent DJ mixer for scratching. Recommendatio

Tryna keep it around $200 and looking to go used. Anyone one got anything in mind? Looking to do some scratching and haven't been up on DJ gear since 2000. Doesn't have to be top of the line battle ready with adjustable faders and what not. Just something decent for laying scratches on tracks!

for that price range I got my Denon DN-x120

I used to use small Gemini piece of sh!t 2-channel DJ mixer in 90s', I think it was named "Scratch Master." It had cheap phono amps (it would pick up taxi radio and wakie talkie), pots were cheap, but I was OK with it, since I hadn't used any other DJ mixer... It eventually crapped out after a few years of heavy use (I was beat juggling all the time back then)
As the replacement, I bought Street Master 5005 2 channel mixer in late 90s'. It still works fine and phono amps and sound quality are decent. The face plate looks hideous though (pink and yellow lettering on black panel... What were they thinking?) I think I bought it just because it was Vestax (I did not want gemini mixer this time) and it was on sale at Canal Hi Fi.

Anyway, function wise, any cheap mixer would meet your needs... I would personally go for any lower end cheap Vestax mixer for that purpose. That Denon mixer above looks really good. It's got everything... 3-band EQ and fader curve adjustment... Those features were dream in 90s'

vestax pmc 05 are good for the price, too bad I broke mine

ArKyve-31 wrote:for that price range I got my Denon DN-x120

I was looking at that. Couldn't find any reviews on how it does for scratching. I have my eye on the Vestax VMC-002XLu and pairing it with the optional upgradable crossfader. So many damn choices!

umm it works fine for me, (although i dont scratch much anymore) but honestly I've never had a great high priced mixer so I may not know what I'm missing out on either, the faders real loose and quick so thats all I cared about. It does sound good as far as eq and phono preams are concerned, but like i said, I don't a lot about mixers and what I could be missing

Grenozh wrote:vestax pmc 05 are good for the price, too bad I broke mine

2nd this, although mine is fine.

séance wrote:

Grenozh wrote:vestax pmc 05 are good for the price, too bad I broke mine

2nd this, although mine is fine.

Yeah, found one at Guitar Center for $150. But it's in Chicago or somewhere in Illinois. Was hoping to buy locally. But I may scoop this one up!

séance wrote:

Grenozh wrote:vestax pmc 05 are good for the price, too bad I broke mine

2nd this, although mine is fine.

i got this one:



kicks ass!

séance wrote:

Grenozh wrote:vestax pmc 05 are good for the price, too bad I broke mine

2nd this, although mine is fine.

Just ordered the one from Illinois for $150.

Got the same one as Arkyve, I don't like the size of it...too damn small...wish I had checked the dimensions before purchasing.

DJ Hellfire wrote:

séance wrote:

Grenozh wrote:vestax pmc 05 are good for the price, too bad I broke mine

2nd this, although mine is fine.

Just ordered the one from Illinois for $150.

nice, i also have one.
but with the innofader, it's the bizzness

DJ Hellfire wrote:

séance wrote:

Grenozh wrote:vestax pmc 05 are good for the price, too bad I broke mine

2nd this, although mine is fine.

Just ordered the one from Illinois for $150.

Word up! That's honestly a steal, I love my vestal pmc 05. I use it as the 2nd mixer in my setup now. If the fader has "lag" (or greater space in the off channels of the crossfader) you can remedy it with little folds of paper to make your scratching quicker. If you need to do this just get two small 3mm pieces of cardboard and place them on both sides of the crossfader. This will reduce the time it takes to activate the opposite channel, allowing you to execute scratch functions quickly. If you're lucky the previous owner will have already put the vestax rubber pieces in. If your fader clicks when it hits the sides then you have excess space.

A great buy though, the stock fader is probabaly my favorite commercial crossfader available in the price range. The size of the mixer is great too, atleast for me.

Now my live chain runs my Mpc1k into the first channel and my traktor s4 mixer into channel two. My technics are routed into channel two as well via the s4 mixer.

yeah was gonna say, get one you can put an innofader in

séance wrote:Word up! That's honestly a steal, I love my vestal pmc 05. I use it as the 2nd mixer in my setup now. If the fader has "lag" (or greater space in the off channels of the crossfader) you can remedy it with little folds of paper to make your scratching quicker. If you need to do this just get two small 3mm pieces of cardboard and place them on both sides of the crossfader. This will reduce the time it takes to activate the opposite channel, allowing you to execute scratch functions quickly. If you're lucky the previous owner will have already put the vestax rubber pieces in. If your fader clicks when it hits the sides then you have excess space.

A great buy though, the stock fader is probabaly my favorite commercial crossfader available in the price range. The size of the mixer is great too, atleast for me.

Now my live chain runs my Mpc1k into the first channel and my traktor s4 mixer into channel two. My technics are routed into channel two as well via the s4 mixer.

guesswhosback wrote:yeah was gonna say, get one you can put an innofader in

Yeah, the mixer is great, and the one I bought is extremely MINT. It was only missing one channel fader knob and the power cord. But I got the fader knob off eBay from VST for $5 and a 15V plug from Radio Shack for $30. But I love the mixer so much. Great sound quality and the cuts are nice and sharp. I was seriously considering the innofader, but I don't really thing it's a priority, at least not now. But it looks cool. Definitely gonna look into the rubber spacers after seeing Qbert demo them.

As for software, I'm picking up Torq with the timecodes, interface, and software from a guy tomorrow for only $160. Gonna see how I like it before investing in the more expensive softwares. I did a lot of research and it seems like Torq, Traktor, and Serato all do the same exact shit and each has advantages. Torq is cheap, although I don't really like the screen layout/design. Traktor is nicely priced and is said to have the best sound quality, expecially on slow scratching, but is also said to have a weird glitch when scratching the very beginning of a song. And Serato has crazy support and the best screen layout IMO, but the price is insane! What are ya'lls opinions?