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Jubei
Starting Member
Australia
18 posts
Joined: Feb, 2003
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 Posted - 2003/02/11 : 19:56:13
Anyone got one of these or know whether theyre decent? Been thinking about getting one, but Ive heard a few stories about faults in the units.
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saintberry
Senior Member
Australia
358 posts
Joined: Aug, 2002
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Posted - 2003/02/11 : 21:45:20
i havent got one, but i researched them HEAPS and decided against getting it and will prolly go with the ecler smac 30.
the PFL system sucks and the build quality isnt the best. basically
aslo focus faders suck...but thats only if you wanna put one on
when i first heard about this mixer i was tres excited cos i thought it had all P&G faders (x and up - like the rane empath - kick ass mixer) but it dosent, only the cross fader and ive heard from ppl that own them the xfader curve setting is buggy as hell (i always have mine on sharp for scratching and then mix with the upfaders)
the best things about the 501 are 1 the layout, its ****ing nice, everything is set up JUST how i would want it to be for a 3ch hybrid mixer lots of room around the xfader (unlike the smac 30) and its got HEAPS of outputs, thats really handy, cos what i like to do is have one RCA output going to my amp to power my main drivers, one RCA output going to my subwoofer amp (so i can control the level of bass depending on how bassy the song is) and soon to have the balanced XLRs going to a pair of powered studio monitors (yet to purchase)
basically the layout and the amount of outputs was why i looked @ this stanton in the first place, cos lets face it there known for making crappy mixers that are plain vestax rips.
what turned me off was the PFL system and the build quality..i dont wanna go in depth about why the PLF sucks, but it does (id have to write a damn essay to explain it)
i cant tell you a thing about the how the wet/dry system for the effects work, they guy that i bashed around with his mixer with didnt have an external effects unit and it seems anyone who has the mixer dosent.
in the long run i decided against it and now ive gotta make up my mind, get the ecler smac 30 or 40 and maybe be pissed off with the cramped x fader while trying to do hard scratches or save up for the Rane empath and have the best 3ch mixer ever made.
twill be a tough one - if you want more info on the 501 or any other mixer for that matter read/search @ http://www.futureproducers.com/forums/forumdisplay/forumid/25
we talk so indepth about the ins and outs of dj equipment there it gets NERDY :P
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Jubei
Starting Member
Australia
18 posts
Joined: Feb, 2003
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Posted - 2003/02/12 : 00:49:46
Thanks for the reply, yeah Ive been researching them and other mixers pretty hardcore for a while (product of being on holidys while waiting to go away to do a whole bunch of work to get the money to afford a decent mixer).
By the way whats a 'PFL' system?
/Me rubs hands and gets all nerdy at Future Producers...
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saintberry
Senior Member
Australia
358 posts
Joined: Aug, 2002
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Posted - 2003/02/12 : 02:29:09
ahahahahah you sound JUST like me
im deferring from uni this year, planning on getting a full time job, so ive got a LONG list of things to buy (new mixer one of them :P)
PFL = Pre Fader Listening
basically how you cue up tracks and can listen to them in regards to the main track or tracks that are playing out over the speakers - its vital to have a good one if you headphone mix
when i play out or have good monitors i dont, but i like to play and practice late @ night in my house and i cant really pump it, so its something i really need to be just right, why it turned me so much off the 501, tops looking mixer tho init
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Jubei
Starting Member
Australia
18 posts
Joined: Feb, 2003
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Posted - 2003/02/13 : 03:26:36
This sucks, I thought Id found the right mixer, then I find out if I get one Ill almost certainly have to send it back at least once cos it will most probably have a fault, stanton wont replace it in the event that it is faulty out of the box, they will fix it, cos its cheaper for them which is crap, and now I hear about the pfl being crud (I know what youre talking about, I didnt know the term for it), which is a definate negative cos my tomfoolery will be at night also.
Now I dunno what to get. ****, in the past few weeks I feel like Ive looked at every mixer ever made. The vestax PCV 275 looks aiight, cept it has no curve adjust. Ecler smac 30 might be the go, but I dont like the layout near the crossfader, too cramped, too much shit to bump by accident (I wonder why they made it like that, cos almost every time Ive seen the smac's mentioned people mention the crampedness of the layout too). And an empath is outta my price range.
Might have a look at the numark matrix 3, although there will probably be something wrong with those as well.
Might end up with the ecler. Or if something better gets released in 3 months or so *crosses fingers*.
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saintberry
Senior Member
Australia
358 posts
Joined: Aug, 2002
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Posted - 2003/02/13 : 04:10:01
omg ahahah, dude i think our minds are connected or somthing, im thinking the EXACT SAME THING!!!! (sept for the bit about the numark, shame shame shame)
*sigh* if only the PCV 275 had curve control hey? tho, to make it an ok mixer for scratching they would need to move the kill switches to a position like on the 175, they get in the way heaps IMO
have you thought about a scratch mixer?
i want the 3rd/4th chn cos i mix psy trance as well as hhc, but for hhc i much prefer a scratch mixer. so now what i thinking is get one of the new ecler hak 360s (dope mixers, used one quite a bit and second only to the rane 56 as far as scratch mixers go - hate the eq on vestax 07pros :P) then that will tide me over for a few months while i mix mostly hhc, then get a vestax pvc 175 for mixing psy/goa trance...
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Slow music makes baby Jesus cry.
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brak
New Member
United States
28 posts
Joined: Dec, 2002
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Posted - 2003/02/13 : 14:41:02
I have the SMX 501, ive had it since about october, the faders are nice, but the crossfader adjustment only works for one side... it doesnt matter much to me at all anymore since i use volume faders for the smooth transitions.
But in the beginning i brought it back to the place i got it, and they were willing to replace it for the same model. But they only had one other 501 in there which was the display model, and the guy hooked it up and played it in front of me, and it had the same problem. So i dont know if its a mass defect or something, but i've had the mixer for a while. And I seem to be enjoying it, and i just want to go through the hassle of sending it away for a loong time to never see it again..
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Jubei
Starting Member
Australia
18 posts
Joined: Feb, 2003
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Posted - 2003/02/13 : 23:19:01
quote:
Originally posted by saintberry:
i dont wanna go in depth about why the PLF sucks, but it does (id have to write a damn essay to explain it)
Wanna write that essay? hehe, or just give a quick surmation? Just curious as to why it sucks, I dont need the technicalities tho.
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saintberry
Senior Member
Australia
358 posts
Joined: Aug, 2002
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Posted - 2003/02/13 : 23:38:24
*sigh*
its just like that on those old crappy Gemini PS-626
basically you have this cue pan thing right, and you have 3 cue fader select btns (to sned to the PFL side of the cue pan what is playing on the chn selected by the cue fader to the headphones) - you with me?
on a when you say have CHN1 selected to be sent to the headphones it plays as well as the master (whats playing through the speakers @ that time)
for some reason the entire output of the headphones becomes softer in general when u slide the headphone fader towards the program end of business. the ratio of loudness of the cue vs what is playing does not alter- just the overall volume.
now i mean what the ****? thats what the headphone volume knob is for.
what should happen is when the cue pan slider is on the PFL or program side it should be playing @ a louder voulme compared to the master in the headphones (in order to get it cued up). when in the middle, both the PLF (chs cued up) and the master should be playing @ the same volume and when on the master or right hand side the master should be louder.
sorry this is REALLY hard to explain and this may be a fault with the 501 i used, but i doubt it. its just a crappy PFL system like on the pioneer djm300
i mean what happens if you dont have good monitors, your ****ED!
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Slow music makes baby Jesus cry.
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Jubei
Starting Member
Australia
18 posts
Joined: Feb, 2003
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Posted - 2003/02/14 : 02:58:13
After about half and hour of reading and re-reading your post and staring at a picture of the mixer I finally get what you mean, and it does sound like a fault, although it might be just a bad design element.
Thanks for that, I just wanted to know why it was sposed to suck just in case it was something that wasnt going to bother me, but that kind defeats the purpose of the whole PFL/PGM thingy-do if its like that.
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saintberry
Senior Member
Australia
358 posts
Joined: Aug, 2002
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Posted - 2003/02/14 : 03:33:53
totally what i thought, i mean why have that crappy thing when all does is reduce the volume in the headphones...wtf?
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Slow music makes baby Jesus cry.
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Jubei
Starting Member
Australia
18 posts
Joined: Feb, 2003
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Posted - 2003/04/09 : 05:43:07
For the record I ended up choosing the smacpro30, and now have a smacpro40 on order for $1059AUS (the guy accidently sold me a mixer he didnt have and offered me the model up for $80 extra, rather than making me wait 4 to 6 weeks :) )
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