DJ & sound system
Which mixer with Technics?
A pair of vinyl turntables has two sources of sound. It's not a set yet. Between the two turntables and the speakers, there is a missing part that no one talks about when booking, and whose absence transforms an evening into embarrassed silence: the mixing desk. Here's what she should know how to do, and how to avoid renting one that won't be suitable.
Know before you plan: DJ equipment cannot be shipped. He withdraws and goes in person to Lyon 3 (2 Impasse du Lutin, 69003 Lyon), by appointment. The excess of €200 is paid on site at the drop-off and returned to you on return.
What a turntable doesn't do on its own
A Technics SL-1210 MK2 delivers the raw signal from a moving magnet cell: on the order of 5 millivolts, when a line level input expects several hundred. It is therefore missing around forty decibels of gain, and especially the RIAA correction, without which the bass remains attenuated. Connected to a line input, a turntable sounds weak and thin.
Everything else is also missing: what to listen to the next disc on headphones while the first is playing, what to switch from one to the other, what to cut a frequency. A turntable only does one thing, but it does it very well.
The three things to demand from a table
When a rental company or a friend offers you “a mixing desk,” ask three questions before accepting.
- Inputs PHONO, not just LINE. This is the point that decides everything. A phono input contains the preamp and RIAA correction; a line input, no. On the DJ tables, a small LINE/PHONO selector per channel allows you to switch.
- A ground terminal. The plates Technics output an RCA cable and a screw-in ground wire. Without a terminal to accommodate it, you get a dull hum that no equalization adjustment will make disappear.
- A crossfader and headphone monitoring. The crossfader to switch from one channel to another, the pre-monitoring circuit to tune to the next one without the room hearing it.
Two market benchmarks: DJM-450 and DJM-S7
If you buy, two models keep coming back. The Pioneer DJ DJM-450 is the versatile two-way table, with its Beat FX effects, connectors announced in gold-plated XLR and RCA, and a ground terminal designed to screw in the ground wires of analog turntables. This is the club format in a reduced model.
The Pioneer DJ DJM-S7 has another use: the scratch table. Two channels as well, but above all a Magvel Fader Pro crossfader whose axis has been stiffened, and eight large performance pads per channel. It provides free access to Serato DJ Pro and serves as a hardware key for rekordbox. If your project is to scratch, it changes everything; if your plan is to have a wedding dance, it is oversized.
The catalog solution: the console acts as a table
We do not rent a mixer alone. On the other hand, the Pioneer XDJ-RX3 takes its place perfectly, and this is the assembly that we recommend to those who leave with two Technics.
| What it takes | What XDJ-RX3 brings |
|---|---|
| Phono inputs | 2 PHONO RCA inputs, plus 2 LINE inputs, with selector per channel |
| Switching from one deck to another | Crossfader with curve adjustment, two full channels |
| Headphone listening | 2 headphone outputs, 6.35 jack and 3.5 mini-jack |
| Output to PA | Master in balanced XLR and RCA, booth output in 6.35 TRS jack |
| Microphone for speeches | 2 microphone inputs, one XLR and one 6.35 jack |
The benefit is not only practical. It is budgetary and logistical: a single 9.3 kg machine to transport, a single power supply, a single level adjustment, and the possibility of switching during the evening between vinyls and a USB key prepared with rekordbox - practical when the disc the bride requests only exists in file.
The rest of the bag, not to forget
- Two pairs of short RCA cables, plus ground wires.
- Two cells assembled and adjusted, with a spare tip.
- One felt per plate, and a spirit level if the furniture is not level.
- An XLR cable per speaker for the connection to the sound system, rather than extended RCA.
With that, a pair of SL-1210 MK2 and a center console, you have a complete station that fits on a banquet table and won't let you down at midnight.
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