Does any one here care about vintage DJ mixers?

That Bozak in the picture above is not a CMA-10-2DL, it's a AR-6
It's a new Bozak which not a true Bozak either, Rudy Bozak kicked the bucket ages ago soon followed by his company;
Paul Morrissey who is the same dude who worked for Soundcraft/Harman (As well as Vestax in the past ewww) and did the 1620LE re-issue brought the rights to the Bozak name and now markets his new products under that badge, they have nothing to do with the Bozak brand of the 70's 80's and 60's and to be quite honest it's a insult to the brand even if they are good imo.

Here's a CMA-10-2DLa



DLO


Re. Rodec; These were popular in Europe but not very popular in the UK, we had our own alternative to Rodec.. Formula Sound, mainly the modular PM-90, PM-80 and PM-100 won many awards and were standards for ages along with the Rane MP-24
Although a lot of famous house clubs here had Urei's too like Ministry and Cream.

The fixed format Formula Sound's weren't as good as their PM range imo... I know cos I had one and was quite disappointed... Not with the build quality but the sound

vinyl_junkie_1620 wrote:That Bozak in the picture above is not a CMA-10-2DL, it's a AR-6
It's a new Bozak which not a true Bozak either, Rudy Bozak kicked the bucket ages ago soon followed by his company;
Paul Morrissey who is the same dude who worked for Soundcraft/Harman (As well as Vestax in the past ewww) and did the 1620LE re-issue brought the rights to the Bozak name and now markets his new products under that badge, they have nothing to do with the Bozak brand of the 70's 80's and 60's and to be quite honest it's a insult to the brand even if they are good imo.

Kind of what happened to Akai Professional brand (which has almost nothing to do with true Akai), which Alesis bought the brand name before they completely bankrupted for good.
Are those rotary DJ mixer reissue actually can stand against the original? (I guess it is near impossible for reissues to compete with the original, even if they are as good as original. Since they are reissue, they are not suppose to be different from original...)

Your Formula Sound mixer and Rodec mixer look almost identical, was it cheaper than the Rodec mixer?

Sorry for my ignorance, but what's PM range stand for?

JVC wrote:Your Formula Sound mixer and Rodec mixer look almost identical, was it cheaper than the Rodec mixer?

Actually they don't look identical after all, even position of the crossfader is different. But I see that they were very similar type of DJ mixers.

JUKE 179r wrote:My first dj mixer back in '85... A Realistic (Radio Shack) DJ mixer...

ahhhhh, i miss the days when radio shack was a 1 stop shop

The new "Bozak" brand looks to be of high quality not sure how it compares though.
The re-issue Urei at least was done by Harman who owned the Urei brand since the 80's and pretty much destroyed them.... Look where they were in 2006/05 kicking out terrible re-branded soundcraft scratch DJ mixers..but they started with the hype of the 1620. I mean this is a legendary brand whom employed amazing people like Bill Putnam who designed some legendary studio gear. Harman.. true rapists of the audio world..
This is a interesting read: (Scroll down to the "Rape of Amek")
http://www.positive-feedback.com/pfback ... s.7n4.html


The PM range Formula Sound mixers were fully modular like a expensive studio mixing board, (That's what Formula Sound did originally, custom studio boards)
DJ Mixer wise you could mix and match channels to how you wanted (clubs liked this)
So pick a frame size (4ch, 6ch) and so on, pick what channel strips you want (phono inputs, line) the output module... does it need a limiter etc.. does it need a x-fader and so on..

The FSM which were fixed format were modular internally but not a true modular mixer

PM-80 They all look different depending on how the user wanted them configured... I mean you could have the output module in the middle if you really wanted lol Some have cross faters, some don't.. Some have mic channels again some don't... Some have fancy EQ's, some don't.. Pick a frame size then pick from some modules that suit your needs

vinyl_junkie_1620 wrote:The new "Bozak" brand looks to be of high quality not sure how it compares though.
The re-issue Urei at least was done by Harman who owned the Urei brand since the 80's and pretty much destroyed them.... Look where they were in 2006/05 kicking out terrible re-branded soundcraft scratch DJ mixers..but they started with the hype of the 1620. I mean this is a legendary brand whom employed amazing people like Bill Putnam who designed some legendary studio gear. Harman.. true rapists of the audio world..
This is a interesting read: (Scroll down to the "Rape of Amek")
http://www.positive-feedback.com/pfback ... s.7n4.html

OK, I do remember that Urei/Soundcraft brand DJ mixers came out all the sudden a few years back, among with that legendary Urei rotary mixer reissue. Now, it makes sense that why no one was taking about that "Urei" scratch DJ mixer (I have to find the pic, it was odd design and too big for 2-channel DJ mixer); they must have sucked (any owners here? Are they good?)

vinyl_junkie_1620 wrote:The PM range Formula Sound mixers were fully modular like a expensive studio mixing board, (That's what Formula Sound did originally, custom studio boards)
DJ Mixer wise you could mix and match channels to how you wanted (clubs liked this)
So pick a frame size (4ch, 6ch) and so on, pick what channel strips you want (phono inputs, line) the output module... does it need a limiter etc.. does it need a x-fader and so on..

The FSM which were fixed format were modular internally but not a true modular mixer

PM-80 They all look different depending on how the user wanted them configured... I mean you could have the output module in the middle if you really wanted lol Some have cross faters, some don't.. Some have mic channels again some don't... Some have fancy EQ's, some don't.. Pick a frame size then pick from some modules that suit your needs

I see. That module mixer looks dope!

JVC wrote:

vinyl_junkie_1620 wrote:

I see. That module mixer looks dope!

the 'modular' dj mixer is a dope idea. i only wish there was enough demand for it.

The modular concept was also used by ecler. The club I DJed in the late 90s had the ecler sclat 4 mixer. As far as I remember: A very nice sounding mixer. Not very beautiful tho IMO.

peace

HME, GLi (before mergers and acquisitions) and Melos

I researched a bit about those three three brands, and I am pretty sure now that those mixers were manufactured by the same company, called Ozaki Denshi Kogyo Co,.Ltd. 
It seems that the company still exists & operates in Yokohama, Japan, but they don't have their own website (!) All I found was their phone number and address...  I believe (hope) it is same company, but I'm not 100% sure.
Anyway, I did not know about HME and Melos branded mixer until recently. As you know, PMX-2 was sold as DMC official mixer, and Melos brand PMX-2 also exist, but I think they are really rare. 
I've been trying to find photos of Melos DJ mixers, but so far I found only one!
(I'll post the pics soon)

I've been trying to find out who was manufacturing Numark mixer in 80s' & 90s' in Japan. 
Strangely, Numark mixer was very hard to find back then, whereas you could buy, or order Vestax mixer in most local musical instrument stores in Japan.  I always thought that GLi and Numark mixers were made in U.S back then.
Then I was a teenager, I wanted to get a Numark 2-channel DJ mixer (the small one with LED VU), but I bought the first "battle" mixer Vestax released (with a 2cm length crossfader,  rubber pads on both side of crossfader, which only Vestax thought it was good idea), because I couldn't find Numark mixer sold.

Sources:

http://www.skratchlounge.com/index.php?/topic/9042-what-do-you-know-about-the-melosdmc-dmx-2/

http://www.wavemusic.com/community/showthread.php?t=5559

Now, More pics!

Numark Studio Master Control Center DM-1500W (1979) Faux wood paneling, but very nice layout.
Cue selection is also crossfader. line out can be monitored thru headphone.






Very rare, Melos PMX-2 Pro. This one has 2 band EQ for each channels.
Crossfader is user replaceable.





HME MX99 Notice that it is exactly the same design as GLi PMX-9000.
Only the difference GLi PMX-9000 and this is that MX99 uses LED VU indicators.






This is advertisement for GLi5990. Check out the price ($1195 in 70s'!) and GLi mixers were
called "poorman's Bozak" back then!
I didn't know that GLi's official company name was Integrated Sound Systems Inc.
GLi5990 was released before GLi released PMX-7000 and PMX-9000.
I think they are directly competing with Bozak and Urei back then.
GLi is known for the first company to release DJ mixer with crossfader.



Gemini MX-4200. Basically almost same as MX-2200, but 4200 has more option for monitoring.


Gemini "ScratchMaster" PMX15A. I had the same mixer without the hamster switches.
I don't miss this mixer. It's not a classic mixer by any means, but it was very popular mixer.


JVC

Bumping this old thread...

Recently I bought a used and a bit abused Numark DM-1650 DJ mixer (It was on ebay, but I kind of bought it accidentally! I didn't really need it... It was US $60, including S & H) This mixer was poplar in early 90s' (I think it was released in late 80s') and it is shown in Kool DJ Red Alarts' 3rd mix album (Let's Make It Happen)



But, mine came with a rack mount type faceplate, which is at least 4 inches wider! Since it takes up too much space, I decided to cut out the sides.



Ryobi jigsaw sucks, it can't saw straight! Anyway, I cleaned the sides of the panel. It is good enough.

Despite the bad cosmetic condition, and one fader's pole is broken, all the faders and switches work fine after cleaning. I'm a bit impressed by that. (I cleaned faders with alcohol first, then applied DeoxIT Fader Lube.)
Although they don't bleed, faders still feels rusty. Should I apply more DeoxIT? or do I have to get different fader lube?





Other issue, the fader's pole on the left is broken, is there a way to fix the pole, or do I have to get a new linear pot?

By the way, the channel 3 & 4 are mono channel, I wish there were pans for those channels.

Phono preamps on this mixer is pretty decent. The sound quality is good I think, but I haven't connected to good PA, I cannot say for sure. But, I can say that it was manufactured well, I don't see sloppiness, if you know what I mean. This was made in Japan.
The 6 band EQ is nice & useful, those pots were in good condition as well, they don't bleed. (They must have used decent pots.)

The crossfader curve is aggressive (I mean, it is suitable for scratching, not for smooth blending.)



So, I guess this wasn't bad for 60 bucks.

Looks like a clean cut. I wonder if someone have ever mod some vintage mixer with a modern crossfader.

peace

peterpiper wrote:Looks like a clean cut. I wonder if someone have ever mod some vintage mixer with a modern crossfader.

I think it is possible to connect Audio Innovate's InnoFader on this mixer, but there is not enough space to fit in. Plus, adding InnoFader to this old DJ mixer is overkill, I think. I wouldn't do heavy scratching on this DJ mixer, this is more suitable for non-heavy mixing.

Gemini's were the units of choice amongst my friends. I remember the older guys were happy when the cross faders became removeable. I lived in the Bronx, Jamaica and Philly and all I can say is Philly deserves mad respect. One of my close friends was DJ Cash Money's booking agent, I went to all of the parties and the shows and also watched young cats like DJ Ghetto while on the come up.
DJing... it may have been created in the NYC but it got perfected in West Philly. The alternator scratch (created by Cash Money) was genius.
I would love a Urei like the Vinyl Junkie. My Numark mixer has hum in the Kaos pad. Old school was cool. That Realistic pic takes me back.
Cheers,
Ian

Ian Canefire wrote:Gemini's were the units of choice amongst my friends. I remember the older guys were happy when the cross faders became removeable. I lived in the Bronx, Jamaica and Philly and all I can say is Philly deserves mad respect. One of my close friends was DJ Cash Money's booking agent, I went to all of the parties and the shows and also watched young cats like DJ Ghetto while on the come up.

DJing... it may have been created in the NYC but it got perfected in West Philly. The alternator scratch (created by Cash Money) was genius.

I would love a Urei like the Vinyl Junkie. My Numark mixer has hum in the Kaos pad. Old school was cool. That Realistic pic takes me back.

DJ Cash Money and DJ Jazzy Jeff were one of the true pioneer of hip hop DJs, they are both from Philly. They are my DJ heros to me, They are the reason how I got into turntablism. They had huge, huge influence on me.
I tried to copy Cash's "Pump Me Up", routine (also his "Bounce, Skate, Roll" routine).
I also used to practice a lot with Ultimate Breaks & Beats Vol. 3 (one with Apache, Harman Kelly, and Got to be real) to imitate Jazzy Jeff's "Live at Union Square."

They definitely took DJing to the next level, and more! Their cuts were so so fast, yet very precise, there is no doubt that they inspired Bay Area DJs, like DJ Babu & DJ Q-Bert.

They were using the cheap Gemini 2-channel mixer which, I was told that it was mono mixer; meaning that stereo phono inputs are bundled / processed as mono! so the mixer had only 2 channels of phono amp inside (can anyone verify this?) It became the first battle DJ mixer, although it wasn't really meant to be.

Back then I wanted to have Numark DM-500, which was small and looked more durable than the Gemini mixer, but it was not available in Japan (which is ironic, because Numark mixers were made in Japan that time.)
Later on, Vastax released their first 2-channel battle DJ mixer (this is long before PMC-05), it had a very short, user replaceable crossfader (I think it was like 4cm long.) It was good battle mixer, but Vestax added the feature no one wanted and asked; it had rubber pads on both sides of crossfader (to prevent slipping), which could cause hand injury! So most of the users would cover the pads with tape with smooth surface.

i care because yall do.

not strictly vintage, but probably a nice diamond in the rough recently is this 4-channel Ecler SMAC Pro 40.
i got this for cheap on ebay with a 'broken' fader. i imagine this was a fairly expensive, mid-grade mixer from the 'Rane of Spain'.
i don't know much about them, and about all i can find on the net is that they are popular with dutch hardcore styles. after using and hearing this thing, i think i can understand. the preamps can be driven really hot and the whole thing has this really nice, really clean punch that shines as you push it harder (huge range of usable distortion).

i am also assuming the SMAC line was the precursor to the NUO line.

dig the 'ergonomic', angled channel faders on 2 and 3.

also includes an 'fx section' - a 3-band EQ kill switch for crossfader A and B, and some 'punch' (aka 'transform') buttons for x-fader A and B.

channels 2 and 3 are default assigned to x-fader A and B, respectively.
channels 1 and 4 can be freely assigned to either side of x-fader, or bypassed directly to mix.

the fader situation was not exactly as advertised, but was also no worse. one electronically stable fader had the post out, and the other was intact, but loose. all it took was a little bending to bring this one back to life, and so i kept channels 1-3 as is.

for channel 4 i had to get creative. the routing on this mixer is actually pretty extensive, so i had a few options. the smac pro 40 has two totally independent outs (1 x XLR and 1 x RCA) so i figured i could sacrifice one in exchange for a master monitor.

aside: i really like having a master monitor mix because while i often mix without pre-listening, hearing the master clearly is really the only way to do it. a monitor of the master channel really comes in handy in almost any situation.

anyway, so i just took the 2nd output, which was easily accessible on the board underneath, and patched it to the line input of channel 4. since the fader on this channel was shot, i just disconnected from the main bus via the plug-in connector.

this is where things start to fall into place...
even though the fader for channel 4 is not connected to the main bus, everything PRE-fader is - for example eq and cueing.
this means i can cue whatever is plugged into channel 4, but it will never get back out to the main bus.
so by wiring out 2 to in 4, i can cue the main outputs without any fear of feedback.
the other thing that fell into place is the level pot for out 2 is right next to the headphone level pot. almost like a mixer with a crossfade between PFL and master for the monitor, i can just dial in the amount of master i want to cue, so long as i'm cueing channel 4.
this makes channel 4 a very functional master cue channel as i also have access to the eq and gain.

this mixer is an absolute beast now - i dont miss the 4th channel, 3 is a nice number, and it really heats up whatever you put through it. the faders could be more robust, but overall, it is really well built (if not ugly as hell...the jury is still out on that one).

just thought i'd share, hopefully yall can find other ways to re-utilise and re-purpose something that might otherwise be destined for a land fill / junk pile.



love that power switch






also fyi the pots are ALPS pots - looks like stereo 10k type A (they say 10k15ax2, in addition to 045k-), and measuring confirmed the 10k.