Does any one here care about vintage DJ mixers?

I remember the GLI PMX 9000 mixer was popular with Hip Hop DJ's back in the day and was on a couple of album covers. My friend had one and that shit was fkn heavy for what was on the mixer.

Anyone remember this POS ? It was my 1st Vestax before I could afford an 05 Pro .

That radio shack joint is the truth!! and they had the best needles as well... i still have and use my numark DM1775A digital sampler we copped back in 89.. I use that in the lab and the Rane when I dj out.. heck the sampler is still dope and its a 4 channel pre amp with efx as well so you cant front on the old stuff...

I just rrealized that the lowest EQ band of the GLi 9000 and the Numrk DM1650 are 55Hz and 45 (or is it 48?) Hz. This range (round 50Hz) is the booooom frequency range and I can imagine that this play a big role in the sound of HipHop back then (EQing before sampling).
If I ever get some of these I will EQ the samples with it

peace

It's nice to see this thread bumped again!

tapedeck wrote:i care because yall do.
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Congrats on fixing the mixer! Yeah, that mixer is not looker, but it looks really useful and sturdy.

W. Steele wrote:Anyone remember this POS?
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Yes, I do. Funkmaster Flex edition 2-ch mixer. It's odd that I've never seen FMF using the mixer, not even once. This has to be in top 5 list of worst desisn DJ mixers (no, please, no more top 5 lists!)
But, other than the hideous faceplate, the mixer looks fairly well designed, it has two phone jacks, master has L & R channel separate, and fader layout is spacious.

Mr.Chris wrote:That radio shack joint is the truth!! and they had the best needles as well... i still have and use my numark DM1775A digital sampler we copped back in 89.. I use that in the lab and the Rane when I dj out.. heck the sampler is still dope and its a 4 channel pre amp with efx as well so you cant front on the old stuff...

The DM1775A mixer is one of the last Numark mixers that were manufactured in Japan. It's basically DM1650 with sampler built-in (Mr.Chris, does it have effect send too?)
After this model, Numark mixer's quality went down hill.

peterpiper wrote:I just rrealized that the lowest EQ band of the GLi 9000 and the Numrk DM1650 are 55Hz and 45 (or is it 48?) Hz. This range (round 50Hz) is the booooom frequency range and I can imagine that this play a big role in the sound of HipHop back then (EQing before sampling).
If I ever get some of these I will EQ the samples with it
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The Numark DM1650 mixer's EQ is 6 band (labeled 42, 152, 480, 1.52K, 4.8K anf 15.36K Hz), whereas GLi PMX-9000 has 5-band EQ. DM1650's eq is pretty useful, it can be used like isolator.

Check this thread also (Numark DM-1650 mixer (How to fix an old DJ mixer):
viewtopic.php?f=41&t=155683

Good evening everyone....

I am new to the group and wanted to say hi, as well as add info to the late 80's to early 90's Numark mixer line.

The company that manufactured the boards was Exceltronix in Japan I do remember hearing about the owner name ikazawa? Not sure of the spelling of his name or the company.

I did work as a tech for Numark when the Kotovsky brothers owned the company in Edison, NJ.

I can't say about the quality of the new AR-6's by Bozak, but I did own a CMA 10-2DL and the sound quality and build was second to none!

I did also work on a few when I worked for Sound Environments, Inc. Here in Brick, NJ.

Regards,

Patrick

Wow, thank you for the information. History around Numark has been murky, and I don't think they advertise their products much. I've never seen (Pre-Acquired) Numark brochures.


Ikazawa sounds Japanese name, so I can believe that that's the name of Japanese company that were manufacturing all the Japanese-made Numark products.
I've never heard Ikazawa as company name, so I don't think they were just OEMing for Numark.
There is some internet rumor that Vestax was OEMing for Numark, but I don't believe that it was the case; Vestax was already selling DJ mixer, and their design was quite different than Numark's.

By the way, I've looking for new crossfader replacement for DM-1650, but so far I haven't found any. (The crossfader is 4 channel slide-pot, usually 2-channel slide pot is used.)

Wal Martian wrote:Check out this facebook group. It's an archive of DJ mixers, I think DJ Foodstamp started/runs it.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/DJpedia/194583013918900

Wow, it is a nice page, it takes me way back.

I remember DJ Jazzy Jeff's signature model. I didn't know the history behind it;
http://www.redbullthre3style.com/article/jazzy-jeffs-history-dj-gear

Mymanhenri drew gasps from the crowd when he surprised Jeff with a wooden-panelled Gemini 2200 mixer.

The vintage piece of equipment was a DJ Jazzy Jeff signature series item, and also the first example of a DJ embracing the world of corporate sponsorship.

Jeff shared the story behind how he came to put his name to the now incredibly rare item. "The Gemini 2200 had no master fader, no mic volume, no queue volume... It was $29 and we really bought it as we couldn't afford a $150 mixer. We just started using it and it was great."

He'd rely on a generous spray of WD40 on the cross fader to make it loose and ideal for scratching records. "It would be the best mixer in the word but then it would burn out so you would go and get another one for $29.

"I worked in a store and took $200 and bought 10 of them. it got to a point that they all stopped working. One day out of the blue I just called the factory and ended up driving to them with all 10 in the car."

Upon arrival he was given the bad news that the brains behind the now discontinued 2200 had died, but the factory owner instead allowed him to redesign the mixer, but this time put his name on it.

DJ Jazzy Jeff is most likely the first DJ to endorse DJ mixer, but I think Grandmaster Flash's Flashformer (also from Gemini) came out before the DJ Jazzy Jeff mixer.

JVC wrote:DJ Jazzy Jeff is most likely the first DJ to endorse DJ mixer, but I think Grandmaster Flash's Flashformer (also from Gemini) came out before the DJ Jazzy Jeff mixer.

Think your right there JVC, if my memory serves me correctly I believe the DJ Jazzy Jeff signature mixer came out in the early 90s, I could be wrong though. Found a little video for the Grandmaster Flash "Gemini FF-1 Flash Former.

By the way...
There is no affordable simple Rotary DJ mixers on the market (is there?)

I've been looking for simple, affordable (like 3 channel), and compact (not rack mount like Urei) rotary knob DJ mixers on the market, and I realized that there is none.
I think that whoever make an affordable DJ mixer in the style of DJR-400, but without 3 band idolator (because including decent isolator would be expensive), I think it would sell well.

Vestax had PMC-26, R1, R2, R3 (R series were expensive ones), but those were rack-mount size, like the Urei or Bozak mixers.

Rane MP2015 looks really nice, but I don't think I can afford it… (But, If I CAN afford it, I think I'd get reconditioned Urei mixer instead.)

I'm still dreaming of a RAne 2016 w/ expander unit one day. Butter smooth blends, perfect for house and techno

Rane 2016 mixer is nice, but I've been hearing that Urei 1620 (original Urei version, not current SoundCraft version) has a lot more head room than Rane 2016.

http://www.discogs.com/group/thread/656830

Check out vinyl_junkie's comments (he is also member here).

I believe he owns Bozak mixer now, I'd like to know difference between Urei 1620 and the Bozak DJ mixer.

But, if money is no object for you, you can even have ARS Model 4100 mixer, which is all hand made in Japan;

http://www.alpharecordingsystem.com/model4100_en.html

I've never used those mixer (I only know about budget mixers!), but I've been interested with rotary DJ mixers.

Especially I’ve been drooling over Condesa DJ mixer, which is handmade, portable rotary DJ mixer.

http://www.electronique-spectacle.com/djr400.php

E&S DJR 400 are supposedly class too. BUT $$$ (2500 usd) and waiting list

I know about E&S DJR 400 rotary mixer, although I've never used it. That's another really cool boutique DJ mixer that I probably wouldn't have chance to own...