A DJ mixer is the foundation of your mobile DJ setup. I started out with giant rotary faders on a “Harris Presidential” mixing board. It was the top of the line in its day. Over the years equipment has improved and so have DJ mixers. The rotary faders disappeared. We were finally able to fire turntables and CD players from the board. The sound quality improved, and everything got more rugged.
When I became a serious mobile DJ, I was a little miffed at the lack of DJ mixers that would work well for mobile work. There were boards that were great for live bands and recording studios, but nothing that worked great for a mobile DJ. Finally, a top quality, reasonably priced, DJ mixer is available; and it’s from Pioneer.
I started with a Samson powered mixer with some JBLs. I ran my Shure SM57, a laptop computer with OTS software, and a wireless mic into the Sampson. While this was not the top of the line, it was enough to get me started. The events I was doing didn’t require much power. The mixer did it’s job, but it was a little on the “clunky” side. There was occasionally dead air when I went live with the mic and then had to fire from the computer. The Samson wasn’t really designed to be a DJ mixer, although the set-up sounded great for being relatively inexpensive, and was a good starting point.
I then stumbled into a pair of new JBL EONs that I couldn’t pass up and I upgraded my board to something I already had: a Roland 1880EX recording unit. It worked, and was a little easier to operate than was the Samson. The slide faders made it easier to see what was turned up and down. The problem with using something like this for DJ work is that it’s not rugged and the in/out configuration is not very user friendly.
I decided to “downgrade” the DJ mixer and bought a Mackie 1202-VLZ3 mixer. This was much better suited for live work. It was rugged and reliable. I recommend this DJ mixer for someone on a budget who needs something good. However, it’s not rack mountable (don’t bother buying the rack mounts; they just don’t work.) In addition, if it’s important to you, the customer service at Mackie is non-existent. If those two things don’t bother you and you need an inexpensive DJ mixer, pick one up, they’re only about $300 at Musicians Friend.
But if you want the Rolls Royce… The mixer that announces to the world that you have arrived, the Pioneer DJM-5000 is without equal. 
This DJ mixer has all the features you would want, and them some. One I really like is that I can plug my laptop directly into the mixer. No more dinking around with external sound cards. No more awkward plugs coming out of the headphone jack. Just plug it in and it works.
The second thing that I like is something Pioneer calls the “Advanced Talk-Over.” This is similar to a “ducker.” A ducker is a form of compression that will automatically lower the music when you talk into your microphone. You don’t have to ride gain to get the levels right. The Advanced talk-over works in a similar way with a slight twist. When you talk into the microphone, the full music track doesn’t go down in volume; instead, it turns down the frequencies of the music that correspond to the human voice. The audience can hear you and the music clearly. This feature really makes life easy as a mobile DJ, especially if you are doing something in the audience with a wireless and can’t fade the music down when you talk. The DJ Mixer takes care of it for you.
Since I am using a Pioneer dual CD, player I am able to make use of another feature. The CD player and the mixer synch together so I can fire the CD players from the mixer. When I bought the DJ mixer, I didn’t think I would ever use this, but now I wouldn’t be caught dead without it. I simply fade the CD pot up on the mixer and the CD player fires immediately. This has encouraged me to make use of the CD player more extensively than just the computer.
There is also another feature that I didn’t really care about at first, but again, once I started using it in the field, I’ve found some excellent uses for it. It’s the “multi-zone mode.” You can run two separate systems with one mixer. I often do weddings at a local country club. The layout of the room is in an “L” shape. I have to set up in one area, which leaves guests in the other area straining to hear. The disc jockey often is blamed. Now I have 2 separate systems set up for both sections of the room. Everyone can hear.
There are a lot of other features of the Pioneer DJM-5000 that I haven’t really made use of, but I’m still glad it has them. I don’t use the EQ that much, except occasionally to cut the bass, especially on the microphones. I haven’t really made much use of the “Dynamics” and “Clarity” functions. OTS software has a built in audio processor that makes the music sound great. But, If I’m ever in a situation where the computer breaks down and the CD players get a full night of use, I’m sure I will be tweaking the built in processing. I also haven’t really found a use for the built in digital effects for use on the microphone. I like a dry mic sound.
The Pioneer DJM-5000 is also built extremely well. At my radio job, I’ve been using a $15,000 Radio Systems Millennium board for the past 10 years. It’s worked flawlessly, with four DJs beating on it 7 days a week. The Pioneer DJ mixer uses the same type of buttons and switches. These things just don’t die.
I know you can spend more for a DJ mixer, but for what I do as a mobile DJ, I haven’t had a reason to need more. It’s solid, easy to operate and sounds great.
