Scratch Mixers

What makes Scratch Mixers or Battle Mixers different from , uh, "Mix" Mixers? Do they have different features or do they just lack the types of EQ and things that the other ones have?

Personally, I have trouble with the whole concept of separate mixers for scratching and mixing. Back in the day, there was really no separation between a scratch mixer and your standard run of the mill mixer.......

But, since it's no longer 'the day', I guess I can try to answer this question.........The first sign of a scratch mixer is a fader that feels like a hot knife through butter. If you don't understand that reference, you've never used a really good scratch mixer like one of the Vestax or Rane models........

Also, scratch mixers tend to be built in such a way as to give tons of space around the X-fader so that DJs can flare at will without any risk of bumping anything like a channel fader, etc.......

Scratch mixers often don't have midranges, but that isn't a hard and fast rule. For example, many of the Rane mixers do have mids.......

Club mixers generally have more toys than scratch mixers. For example, good luck finding a scratch mixer with toys like kill switches, effect sends, and the like..........

I wonder what a guy like Afrika Bambataa could have done with a Vestax PMC-05 II.............

scratch mixers direct most of their attention to the crossfader. Your extra bells and whistles will be things like, eq faders rather than knobs, a crossfader slope control, and some are even wired specifically to be used in conjunction with OTHER scratch mixers - for playing with other DJs team style.

Gotcha, I spin progressive house and tech house now, but I'd like to get into spinning ambient groove/ downtempo with some hip-hop. It'd be nice to scratch, and the crossfader on my club mixer is kind of broken- it bleeds through when all the way over. Just wondering mostly though.

Just a word of advice though......before you start scratching in public, make sure you are really good......as in, really really really good.......

Nothing is worse for your career than being heard doing some really wonky scratching.......;-)

very true. a couple resident dj's round where i live scratch over house & d&b. they really shouldn't. the only dj i have ever heard sound good is Craze scratching over d&b, and even that was pretty iffy most of the time.

But yeah get a scratch mixer, scratching is the best thing in the world. A decent scratch mixer makes a pretty good regular mixer, but not really the other way round. Scratch mixers let you adjust the crossfader cut-in, from regular down to 1mm or less. Doing clean crabs and flares on a reg mixer with inches of cut-in requires damn strong fingers, if you can do it at all.

I saw craze scratch over dnb live, and thought it was amazing.

saw a local dj scratch over dnb and thought it was apphauling..

it just depends what you're scratching, how good you're scratching, and what beats you're scratching over. Don't be going 'f-f-fresh' overtop of a key vocal in your record. Sounds OBVIOUS, I know, but I hear local assholes do it all the time. The fact is this: We've ALL heard the best of the best scratch DJs lay it down. If you're not good, please don't torture us with your ramblings. Even if you can scratch better than everyone in the room, but still can't do a crab, then go away and practice some more.