I’ve upgraded to a Rane Seventy Two MKII DJ Mixer

Well, I finally bought a new DJ mixer. And I’ve finally upgraded to a better model.

For the last 15+ years I’ve used a Rane TTM56 with a pair of Vestax PDX2000MkII, Kaoss Pad 2, Traktor Scratch Pro, and a Midi Controller.

Honestly, this setup has served me well that’s why I’ve been so reluctant to change it. Well, that and I’d kind of lost interest and motivation with DJ’ing over the last decade or more. So it was hard for me to justify spending a big lump of cash on a hobby which I don’t find interesting as I once did.

Besides, until recently, my Rane TTM56 had everything I needed, namely a working crossfader. So, this enabled me to still practice my scratching. But I very rarely did I mix any records on my setup aside from the odd party or livestream.

Anyway, the crossfader was finally starting to go on my old TTM56, and I’d just made a tidy sum selling a used car, so I thought now’s a good time to upgrade. And maybe it might help motivate me to start mixing again and producing some new DJ mixes.

First Impressions

I didn’t buy my mixer new. I’ve been keeping an eye on Ebay since December, and monitoring prices for the Rane Seventy Two’s. £950 to about £1100 seems to be the average used price for that model of mixer at present.

I paid £1100 but the owner had upgraded the crossfader to a Solid Cuts crossfader.

I’ve only had the mixer a few days, but I must say I’m impressed.

Build quality seems excellent. And it’s nice to have all the functional control on one device as opposed to several external ones.

But it’s a complicated beast. I’m going to have to start practicing more if I’m ever going to get my head round all its functions and effects.

Bonuses

One thing I forgot about Rane Serato is that it mixes video. I’ve been toying with this idea over the last few years, but now I have the hardware to pull it off.

My real DJ’ing gigs have been pretty much non existent over the last decade, so I’ve been looking more at trying to carve out a following online via online streaming. Live streams, or video DJ mixes will be a much more conducive environment for video DJ sets. Also, it’ll be something a bit different.

And I’ve been playing about with self-hosted video hosting software (PeerTube), so I would have somewhere I can host and share new video mixes. So, I wouldn’t have to rely on YouTube and risk having a new VJ mix flagged by their copyright system. Watch this space.

Conclusion

So, I’m pleased with my new purchase. And it opens many interesting new possibilities. I’m just hoping it’ll keep me motivated when it comes to making new mixes. We’ll have to see.

Also, I might even put together some tutorials on this new mixer as I learn more.

If you’d like to be updated when I’ve made any new mixes (including video ones), be sure to join my mailing list. As I’ll announce any new stuff on there. Thanks.

Keep on scratching

James DJ Kippax