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"With special VCA faders this mixer provides the smoothest of mixes.
Separate bass, treble, gain and pan controls satisfy the most creative
DJ. The crossfader curve adjustment allows the user to change the fader
to suit any style of mixing" - Vestax. This classic scratch mixer is now in its' third version
with harder wearing phono / line switches, assignable effects loop and
an improved finish. When I first saw pictures of the MK 3 from Vestax
my first thought was "What the fuck have they done to the finish!?"
thinking they'd changed the metal front panel. In photos it looked cheap
and nasty, but when the mixer came I could see that they'd actually just
finished the mixer in a nice silver alternative to the light copper version
they used on the MK2 and the photos just didn't show this in its best
light.
I tried the send & returns with one
of Vestax's effect's unit at a local dealership and it was a real eye
opener for this tricks wary DJ. Without going too deeply into the endless
possibilities for creative DJ'ing that this new feature offers; the first
thing I immediately thought was how I could now loop up breaks and increase
the length of intros and outros, making creative mixing on a level with
the deepest house DJ's now possible for a Hip-Hop mix. Sadly you just know that 99.9% of the time heads will
use just this mixer for the various "ahhhhh h h h h h h ah ahahah
ah aha hah ffff f f f f fff f f f fffff f f f reeeeeesssssssssshhhhhhhhh!"
combos, and will criminally ignore the possibilities this mixer opens
up. I just wonder what else Vestax has up its sleeve when
it comes to future add ons for the pro range. What are they gonna add
to the 07's!?
Overall though, and EQ effects aside, the general sound
quality is unparalleled. Put simply this mixer makes Hip-Hop sound amazing.
Deep bass and perfect treble, excellent low noise interference.
And now for the bad news…. The upfader's are fucking weird. It's hard to explain
but the sound cut in from volume 9 - 10 and the lower range is not smooth
enough. And so you'll be in a mix and will have a major difference in
volume between vol 8 and below, and vol 9 and above, which has to be compensated
using the trims. It's almost like theres a massive curve adjust on the
top 2 volume settings! I don't seem to remember it being a problem on
the MK2's but then I've only ever used them in clubs so have probably
never noticed as much on such a large setup. For the most part though,
unless you DJ in a style that mixes heavily through the upfades I wouldn't
worry too much, and as I say, you can always use the trims to compensate. An important plus though, is that due to the double panel
system, installing Penny & Giles faders is easy.
Here the Vestax 05 pro MK 3 proves to be the very best
in its field. Yes there are competitors who come close (particularly Rane
& Stanton), but none can better the 05. If Vestax can just fix a few niggling minor issues, the
EQ's positioning (make 'em wider apart), the upfaders, etc, they will
produce THE perfect mixer. As it currently stands the 05 is already a
classic, they've just added a few important extras. The new features add
creativity for mix party rocker DJ's and solidify turntablism. One thing
I was surprised to note was the new Phono/line switches, which have a
much shorter travel than the switches on the MK2. This allows for
quicker response. Highly recommended. Thanks to: IF YOU WOULD LIKE YOUR COMPANIES EQUIPMENT, MIXTAPES
OR CLUB NIGHTS REVIEWED IN UKHH.com, THE LEADING UK HIP-HOP SITE, CONTACT:
info@ukhh.com.
© ukhh.com 2004
In
depth Vestax 05 pro MK3 mixer review
article
0073 added
20.01.04 words Coakley
technical:
QED
Long life PCV crossfader
LOOKS
Looks aren't that important we know but tucked in the middle of my pair
of Technics 1210's it looks fresh as fuck. I reckon it would look even
nicer with the silver 1200's or Vestax's own PDX decks. It's certainly
more modern and stylish than the 80's black and red knightrider look of
the Stanton SA 12.
I do get the feeling though, that all these electrical components coming
in silver will be our generations version of the wood panelling you used
to see on everything from Ataris to TV's & VCR's through to Hi Fi's.
In 10 years time we'll all have a laugh at how naff it was!
CREATIVITY
The shallowness of looks aside, the next thing I noticed was the new feature
of the assignable effects loop send & returns. A major addition to
the 05 range; that gives an immediate indication of the direction Vestax
is trying to push battle mixers.
"I can't wait to run the first few bars T.R.O.Y. through this fucker
and totally manipulate the sound of this fucker!" was the first (and
most obvious) thing I exclaimed to my equally amused mate. Imagine T.R.O.Y's
horns put through some fat distortion, or looped up to fuck with a beat
so you could scratch over it.
Are the days of the battle record numbered me wonders, since you can now
loop up your own sound effects and breakbeat loops???
To those people I would remind them that Vestax battle mixers are made
in consultation with the worlds top turntablists who influence ya'll.
These are the kind of creative features they're asking Vestax for, now
that they're looking for new challenges than cutting the same shit for
hours on end. If Qbert and co truly are 5 years ahead of the rest of us,
then the wisest of us Hip-Hop DJ's will try and get with the program early.
I know I intend to.
EQ's & OVERALL SOUND QUALITY
One look at the EQ rotary's and I thought "oh no, looks like vestax
did it again".
Why did they put the EQ knobs so close together again? Now it's not that
I have fat fingers or anything so surely Vestax realise that it's difficult
to EQ on the damn thing when there's a gap of less than a centimetre between
the knobs. Trying to change the hi's and lo's at the same time is next
to impossible.
Also the EQ's are hardly up there with the industry standard house mixer's
such as the Pioneer DJ600's where you can virtually kill the bass and/or
treble completely on any track with the EQ knobs. You can pull off some
nice muffling effects though, or 'tinny out' the beats in the mix bringing
the bass in at the perfect moment, and this should go down a treat with
mixtape DJ's looking for something extra to add to their mixes. Again
though, I ask why generally, Hip-hoppers seem to be so poorly catered
for in every other dept except the crossfade with these so called 'top
of the line' battle mixers. Is it because generally speaking we demand
too little and are easy to please? 'cos a house or D'n'B DJ would say
"Yeah amazing crossfade like, what else does it do?"
Technically speaking, the FX send & return aside, let's keep in mind
that the only changes to the electronics from the last time round were
a stronger EQ on the lows.
Dope.
One thing I was surprised to note was the new Phono/line switches, which
have a much shorter travel than the switches on the MK2. This allows for
quicker response.
BUILD QUALITY
Overall build quality is exceptional and everything on the mixer feels
solid.
The 'Double Panel System' is a patent used by Vestax where even the smallest
obstructions, such as crossfader screws and fittings have been hidden
under a removable flat panel. The panel is easily removed and when it
is you can replace the crossfader, upfaders, or put in Penny & Giles'.
In this way nothing gets in the way of your hands so you are completely
free to move them around the mixer as fast as you like. This system is
similar (the idea is the same anyway) as the DMC Technics and previous
models of mixers. Also the upfaders have been moved closer so that certain
tricks are easier to pull off. Theres also a hamster switch (reverses
the crossfarder action) and new to the 05 a master cue switch (meaning
you can now DJ in your headphones).
Overall the layout is the best I've seen on any battle mixer, and works
well for me anyway.
THE CROSSFADER
In terms of mixing alone the crossfader is as close to perfect as a battle
mixers gonna get and has a 'feather' light feel to it. The MK3 also has
an adjustable cut in time (curve adjust) knob which works brilliantly.
Vestax was the first to put photo coupler technology in a mixer where
you can adjust the crossfade to cut in quickly (for fast cutting &
scratching) or slowly (for smooth continuous long running mixes) even
in the mix. The best of both worlds. In fact a house DJ mate of mine told
me he thought the crossfader was better than most £600+ top of the
range house mixers, in the mix.
A previous problem with the 05 series was that even with the best cut-in
time you didn't get the cut-in of the Technics SHDJ1200 (one of it's main
competitors and the official mixer of the DMC's). This has definitely
been fixed on the MK3 making it the fastest cutting battle mixer on the
market. I've compared the crossfader to that of the Stanton SA series
and the Technics, side to side, and in my opinion it's slightly smoother
and has that slightly better cut in time than both.
Put simply Vestax has the best crossfader for battle DJ's in the world.
OVERALL RATING
At the end of the day a Hip-Hop DJ is interested in the following features:
skratchuk.com
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