Earlier this year at NAMM, Rane announced they were phasing out their popular TTM 56/57 line and replacing it with the Sixty-One and Sixty-Two mixers. We called up our friend Charles at Thud Rumble (Q-Bert’s crew) to see if the new 62 series is destined to become another club standard like the 57. Check out his full writeup on Rane’s newest mixer inside!
Manufacturer: Rane
Price: $1999
Availability: Shipping Now
Best Feature: Improved cue buttons, backlit controls, dual USB ports
What’s Missing: Intuitive FX controls that are expected at this mixer price point
A New Playing Field
Playing with the Rane 62 for about a month, it’s pretty easy to grasp the new layout and functions of this mixer, especially for a long-time 57SL user like myself. The Sixty-Two is a two channel battle mixer with an effects unit, Serato Scratch Live controls, and dual USB ports/soundcards that provide the ability to seamlessly switch between two DJs. What most people notice first about this mixer is that the buttons are much improved from the 57SL and 68 mixers, but can still have some missed triggers if doing complex cue drumming.
Editors Note: The 57 buttons were easier to press but notoriously prone to breakage. The 62 implements larger, more robust buttons that are sure to last longer but the playability leaves some things to be desired.
Build Quality and Design
Overall, the layout is great. It only takes a few sessions to get used to it. The mixing section is well spaced- plenty of room to go wild on the faders and crossfader with no fears of knocking an important control by accident. The EQ section suffers a bit in this regard – while the low end EQ knobs have plenty of space around them, the mids, highs, and gains are packed in a fairly small space, not ideal for folks with larger fingers.
This mixer is built to Rane’s usual high quality and design standards. As mentioned above, the cue buttons are well improved over the Sixty-Eight’s tighter buttons – with much better response and playability. Hopefully they don’t yellow with age (the buttons on the DJTT office Rane Sixty-Eight is showing a bit of yellowing after a year of use).
As far as the knobs on the mixer, they’re also up to the Rane standard. They feel a bit lighter than knobs in the past, but it’s worth pointing out that the rubber grips on top of most of the knobs do add a nice new level of tactility to the mixer. The knobs also have metal nuts holding the stems securely in place – another trademark sign of a quality mixer.
The main improvement I would have suggested was keeping some of the controls and buttons open/assignable or even having another set of function buttons (see the top section of the VCI-380, but also add SP-6 control).
The things that I miss the most are the J1/J2 assignable toggle switches and assignable footswitch control (the key word here is assignable).
FX Section
We’re pretty sure these effects were migrated straight from the Rane 68. They’re set into the flow of the mixer well, with better integration than the 57SL. But as improvement, it would’ve been great to have those effects banks open and assignable/programmable to DJ-FX and a capability to save DJ-FX to the mixer. As far as the quality of the effects, they’re still a far cry from the effects on Pioneer or Allen and Heath mixers, and even not quite on par with the effects that Traktor has to offer.
The effects are assignable to either channel, or the Mic/Line inputs – this assignability isn’t selective, meaning if you want to throw an Echo onto channel two and your mic at the same time, no problem!
The SP-6 unit controls are assignable to either computer plugged into the mixer by using the buttons in the top left or right of the mixer, but I would’ve loved for those buttons to be shift buttons to unlock another layer for each SP-6 channel and possibly assign/instant double the active track into a SP-6 deck.
Things That Don’t Quite Work
Theoretically, you should be able to assign the second USB port to send/return VST effects from your laptop. At the moment you can’t plug two USB ports into one laptop – this confuses Serato Scratch Live since the USB soundcard is locked to the software. Perhaps Rane will come out with a fix for this, but for now the only way that you can get this working is with dual laptops.
You can only MIDI assign some of the buttons – some of the buttons have locked-in functionality to Serato Scratch Live, which is a shame. I’ve read in the Serato forums that it’s more of a software issue than the hardware itself, so perhaps in future Serato updates we might see a complete MIDI mode like those found on the DB2 and DB4.
Comparing New Rane Mixers to Old Rane Mixers
When looking at the Rane Sixty-Two, it’s important to make direct comparisons to the Rane mixers that came before it. We’ll use the Rane TTM57 SL as a comparison. So what’s changed, both cosmetically and in regards to the feature set?
- Brand new mixer layout
- Dedicated cue trigger buttons
- SP-6 trigger buttons
- Built-in mixer effects
- stackable Flex FX via external effects and USB software effects
- independent monitoring
- Split cue monitoring, dedicated cue buttons for PGM1, PGM2 and Aux Input
- Loop controls
- Sweepable low/high pass filters
- Assignable Aux Input with dedicated Flex FX
- Assignable MIDI capabilities on some buttons
- New integrated sound card at 48 kHz, 32-bit floating point via two locking USB2 ports
- Improved mic input, combo XLR/TRS plugs (with selector switch and dedicated Flex FX)
- Better phono grounds
- Fader contours and switches placed in the front instead of top panel
- Two pounds lighter than the 57SL, despite the obvious bigger casing
What’s Been Taken Out?
- J1/J2 function toggle switches
- Assignable foot switch control
- Cue monitoring fader between PGM1 and PGM2
- EQ kill buttons
- Function grouping and assignability of buttons
Z-Trip’s Version
There’s was quite a bit of buzz during NAMM surrounding the artist edition of the Sixty-Two that was designed by Z-Trip himself. It’s worth noting that there’s no functional difference in these mixers, it’s purely aesthetic – with a Shepard Fairey design printed on top plate and purple and yellow accents on the knobs. It’s slick, but it’s slightly more expensive at $2,100.
The Bottom Line
If you’re looking for a solid mixer that plays nice with the latest features in Scratch Live, has a digital effects unit and a need for multiple USB ports for advanced performance or easy transitioning, this is most certainly one of the top mixers out there for exactly that. It’s not the most cost effective mixer for those who are just getting started, but if you’re a scratch student with gear lust or a serious turntablist looking for a solid new digital piece of kit, the Rane Sixty-Two might just be what you’re after.
Notes From The Manufacturer – Rane reached out to us wanting to highlight and clarify a few items that were brought up in this review. They’ve got a lot of additional insight to share, so have a full read of their notes below!
The SP-6 sample player in Serato Scratch Live has a dedicated USB Aux channel on the Rane Sixty-Two Mixer with independent level control, high-pass/low-pass swept filter, headphone Cue and FlexFx assign. The FlexFx assign provides SP-6 access to on board effects, external analog effects or software effects via a USB effects insert. This Aux channel can also be used to route audio from third party software applications, essentially giving you three stereo channels of USB audio on a two channel mixer.
Filter resonance of the dedicated high-pass/low-pass swept filters for PGM 1, PGM 2, and USB Aux are adjustable from Rane ASIO or Core Audio control panels or the Serato Scratch Live software hardware control panel. Many mixer effect parameters are also adjustable from Serato Scratch Live or a Rane driver. Filter options include high-pass or low-pass filter with high or low frequency sync. Echo options include, Echo, Hold Echo, Low-cut Echo and Low-cut Hold Echo. Low-cut Echo options include continuous frequency adjustment of the cut filters. Flanger options include Positive and Negative feedback types.
The FlexFx bus used in the Sixty-Two mixer supports six built-in effects, external analog effects and computer based effects via the USB Insert. The USB Insert allows the use of post-fader Scratch Live effects or VST/AU plug-ins when using third-party software applications. It is possible to combine or stack internal, external analog and USB Insert effects to create advanced effect chains that far surpass the basic effects found on most mixers.
The Sixty Two has two built-in 20-channel sound cards with ASIO and Core Audio drivers. Each sound card is on an independent USB port, allowing?easy changeover between two Scratch Live or third-party software users. This configuration also supports running Scratch Live on one USB port?while running a third-party DJ or DAW software application using ASIO or Core Audio on the other. This allows very flexible use including additional source options for the mixer and multi- track recording while using Scratch Live. Every knob, button and slider on the mixer is a MIDI control that may be mapped in Scratch Live or third-party software application. When using two USB ports, mixer MIDI for each deck is only sent and received from the selected USB port.
This means that MIDI mapping in an application on one port will not conflict with mapping onthe other port. Mixer MIDI not associated with an input channel strip is assigned to one channel or the other using the SP-6 Assign buttons at the top of each virtual deck control strip. Examples of controls that may be assigned to one channel strip or the other are SP-6 buttons, FX controls, Mic controls, Aux channel controls, headphone controls and contour knob/switch controls. This means that regardless of the software being used, a DJ using PGM-1 on USB A can have their own MIDI mappings and use them when the input source selection is set to USB A while another DJ using PGM-1 on USB B has their unique mappings that work when the input source selection is switched to USB B. The mixer also has the ability to send and receive MIDI beat clock information from third party software applications. MIDI beat clock information derived in the mixer from a manually tapped BPM or a BPM acquired from Scratch live is broadcast out both USB ports. Users have the ability to choose a MIDI beat clock or BPM as the beat source for internal effects. There is currently no support for remapping the dedicated controls on the mixer such as load, scroll, loops, cues, and samples. With a firmware and software upgrade, available in the upcoming 2.4.2 release of Scratch Live, users will have access to 5 layers for left-hand controls and 5 layers for right-hand controls, allowing five unique mappings for left-hand and right-hand controls.
Also added to the next firmware build is the ability to change the on-board effects options outlined above, directly from the mixer. In addition, the next firmware build includes an option to switch the FlexFx external send/return loop from +4dBu to -10dBV in order to accommodate high and low output effects devices.
Special thanks to Charles for this review! Charles is one of the folks behind this year’s Bay Area DMC Regional Battle, which is this Saturday! Click here for more info.
I have a 62 and when playing the same track on both channels me right Side is much stronger than left! Any one knows anything about this! Holla @ me jammclubb.ent@gmail.com
can you elaborate some more on the build quality? I’ve yet to see one in the stores, but am curious about the plastic pots that I keep hearing about. I would think a mixer at this price point would have metal…
thanks for this decent review..im bout to scoop one up…
Easter Egg = Beast Mode
http://serato.com/forum/discussion/657669
can traktor be used with this mixer?
Yes, but no time code.
Is it really an 11 inch mixer? Probably some evil scheme Rane is doing to sell cases in the future.
This is the best effect on the mixer by far!!!! Unfortunately its hidden! but with the right keystrokes you can unlock it!!!
http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/s720x720/535539_10151453468840427_797200426_23563018_1739519855_n.jpg
Hahah great! How do?
is that a BFI bin from outerspace….??
nope just rane.
“Theoretically, you should be able to assign the second USB port to send/return VST effects from your laptop. At the moment you can’t plug two USB ports into one laptop – this confuses Serato Scratch Live since the USB soundcard is locked to the software. Perhaps Rane will come out with a fix for this, but for now the only way that you can get this working is with dual laptops.”
Does this make since to anyone else?
Theoretically wouldn’t you just use something like “Soundflower” for this?, or Ableton?
the mixer functions as a ASIO/CORE Audio Soundcard, until you open up Serato. you can’t use it as a soundcard, and a serato interface at the same time on the same computer.
if you happend to have an extra computer then you can have 1 be the serato computer, and one do other things (like VST fx thru the usb fx send)
kinda sucks, kinda makes me want another computer at the same time
That makes no sense; especially in the context of “the bridge,” wouldnt serato want to play nice with other programs? A soundcard should be treated as a soundcard and ought to be accessible from other programs, no?
Not cost effective? Compared to what?
Quotation: “…at 48 kHz, 32-bit floating point”. AFAIK, there’s just no audio interface or digital mixer built on floating point architecture apart from this one. And, yes, it makes quite a difference in view of clipping and dynamics.
Denon X1600, 32 bit Floating DSP, years before this mixer.
32bit FP *internally* with a 24bit soundcard (http://usa.d-mpro.com/us/denondj/Products/Pages/ProductDetails.aspx?CatId=Mixers&SubCatId=0&ProductId=DNX1600) is not really 32bit floating point. That’s what any DAW with a 24bit audio card does.
For the same price here where I live you have the Xone DB4 or even the Pioneer DJM 900. That’s just a no brainer! How in the name of God can you pay $ 1,900 (!) for a 2 channel mixer??? Which comes with FX where even Traktor has better FX…
Rane mixers cost more because
-they are made in America and not China (better labor conditions and wages)
-they make Professional not Consumer gear, anything with RANE on it gets supported forever, there is a reason why most of the Pioneer mixers you see are new (they don’t make it to being old) talk to an old sound guy about how reliable the old Rane crossovers are.
-Rane keep a back stock of old parts on mixers they haven’t made for years. also if you lose a fader knob they will send you out new knobs I offer to pay but they always just overnight them for free.
$1999 is the MAP (minimum advertised price), i think the dealer cost is around $1500, you can find some dealers that will meet you in the middle if you ask nicely and do regular business with them.
Yep – and just to add to that a 61/62/56/57 are 100x more comfortable to scratch with… the 4 channel mixers that guy is talking about are super crapped if your trying to lay your hand down next to the fader…. there’s a damn good reason RANE mixers dont have anything but a fader on toward the bottom of the face.
but again we have a bunch of a bedroom DJ’s commenting on how crappy the best mixers ever made are.
I wouldn’t exactly put Pioneer, but especially not A&H, in the consumer gear category instead of the professional category, especially on a site where the $500 controller is a mainstay. You like Rane, fare enough, but because you like Rane doesn’t make the other professional mixers bad quality. The article even states that there are issues with breakage on the 57’s buttons, yet you argue quality, and then is says the 61s button playability is not quality. Facts sure, preference sure, but don’t argue your preference as fact.
Pioneer has a range of gear from consumer to professional and they do a good job of blurring the line. Rane only makes pro gear. build quality is only part of what makes something professional, the other part is support. I have read many complaints about pioneer productions not being supported by the company.
also about the broken buttons, rane will fix them for you, if you have a broken USB port on your pioneer CDJ, well that’s your own problem to deal with.
i do think that rane made some misstep with the 57, and 68. I feel the 62 is the first digital mixer where they got everything right. rane is a company that cares so much about sound quality that they didn’t used to put power buttons on the mixers, and had external power supplies to have a cleaner signal path.
i don’t have enough experience with A&H gear to comment on it.
if you are comparing prices be sure to add 300-800 for the serato license (price rage of serato interfaces)
Not at all comparing prices, but that brings up a good point. At the same price point of the 62, there isn’t a mixer available that isn’t “professional”, that I have seen anyway. They all have their strong points, and weaknesses, but they are all professional. Simply because Rane only makes a pro line of mixers, and doesn’t do consumer products, doesn’t mean that all other companies pro lineup isn’t pro either.
My point was only that because you prefer Rane, it doesn’t make all 2-4 channel mixers from $1500-$3000 non-professional like you proposed, just not your preference. I have never dealt with Rane support, and have only touched the mixers a few times, but I own A&H, and I can assure you that they are professional mixers.
Simply put, if you smash a professional guitar that was a vintage guitar in a rock show, just because you can’t get phone support for it the next monday doesn’t make it a consumer grade guitar. Support helps, but does not define professional gear.
With all due respect you’re starting to troll. You like RANE mixers and they have great customer support, we get it. Just because someone prefers something else apart from rane and places effects and number of channels in higher regard doesn’t mean they’re stupid.
Keep things in perspective.
I live in Australia and have been 57 owner for 3 years. I recently broke the bass pot the left channel and have so far been waiting 2 months to get spares…. the support isn’t as great as the utopian picture you paint.
“I live in Australia and have been 57 owner for 3 years. I recently
broke the bass pot the left channel and have so far been waiting 2
months to get spares…. the support isn’t as great as the utopian
picture you paint.”
DUDE YOU LIVE IN FREAKING AUSTRALIA … and… your complaining about turn around time on the other side of the planet… im sorry you live on the moon … but I live about 90 minutes away – had the USB port on my SL1 pop off. I dropped it off in person and it was shipped back to me in 48 hours.
I also was probably the 3th or 4th owner of said SL1 box, had no box, no reciept, no registration – the sticker with the serial number was gone, its banged up on one corner, covered in decals, and smells like grimy club… they didnt say a single thing about it… didnt care they just smiled and helped me for free…
Thats fucking service!
Something happens to your Pioneer gear the day after the (very limited) warranty, and pioneer will tell you to go eat a dick.
A&H mixers sound ALOT better than pioneer mixers on large systems, A&H and Rane are in the same league, Pioneer is not.
If you think Australia is on the moon please never get a passport and just stay in Yanky land. Seriously people like you give Americans such a bad name. Australia’s festivals raked in gross earnings of $85.5 million last season. They also have a booming economy, something America hasn’t had in a long time. Everyone is playing out in Auz. Kindly try and get a grasp of geography and what other countries are actually like before you talk down to people on the internet because you look like an asshole.
Well that took less time than
expected for comments to become ad hominem.
I totally forgot that there not a single that DJ exists outside USA, thankyou
for reminding me. What I also didn’t
know is that the 30+ countries from Africa to the West Indies listed as
official Rane international distributors on Rane’s website is in fact a lie,
I’m so glad you’re here to breathe truth into the matter. I also didn’t realize that everyone is the USA lives
within 90 minutes of the Rane factory and can go there in person and therefore
everyone gets instant service.
I’ll have you know I purchased my 57
direct from the USA,
it took 5 days to arrive via UPS express.
A bass pot must be so much more difficult to send being so much bigger
and bulkier than the whole mixer and all…
my audio 8 usb port never pops off..
The Pioneer DJM-T1 has only two channels and that cost $1900 when it came out. DJM-T1 also has only 1 soundcard, no LCD screen and no onboard effects…
The DB4 and the DJM 900 are club mixers, the 62 is a battle mixer. With battle mixers you always pay more for less because the parts are usually better quality. Obviously this mixer is not for you, move along.
Yes, you’re right. Clearly not for me and I do get it about the quality. But even this thing has it flaws (as read in the review)…
Dual USB supports for swapping over serato laptops (I don’t use traktor, serato is better for my use). FX aren’t a priority – scratching is. With your Xone or Pio – That would mean bringing a serato box. Better that it’s contained in the mixer.
Dude, I could go on – horses for courses yeah? 😉 To each his own, etc.
My next mixer.
I’m a very proud owner of this mixer, if anyone has any questions about it let me know.
a couple things left out of the review
-3 sets of outputs (XLR, TRS, RCA), each with separate volume control
-20 channel sound card (4 stereo playback, 6 stereo record channels)
-can send and receive MIDI timeclock
-currently the ableton live “mixtape” features are disabled, the people on the serato forums have spoken and its something they are working on bringing back.
What about latency and sound quality?
i’ve been on this mixers since the first batch shipped out from rane 6 weeks ago
the sound quality is much better than the 57, and the sl-1. i could always hear those sounding a little “cold” and “digital” the 32 bit floating point (look it up) is so good that i really can’t hear it.
as for latency I asked and got the offical answer from rane and and serato here: http://serato.com/forum/discussion/629057
if you use the mixer to play vinyl or CDs it has 1.28ms of latency, if you use it with Serato it can be as low as 8 ms, but you may have to set it higher if you have a slower computer.
Answer: What latency? I bought this mixer after banging my head against the wall deling with TSP’s latency issues using the Audio8 Interface with vinyl. It’s on point every time, if there is any latency it is imperceptible.
that is one ugly mixer
It’s ugly? Mother fucker are you going to be wearing it, faggot?
It’s ugly? Mother fucker are you going to be wearing it, faggot?
i’ll be sticking with the 57. outside of the dual usb, i can do everything the 62 does with the 57.
not true – a dedicated audio routing for the sampler. so you can have both serato channels playing tracks + samples, cant do that on a 57 – and thats pretty huge in a 2 channel format
i explained that terribly – the website has the correct info. go go mmj!
i see what your saying, but whats the big deal for dedicated audio routing for the sampler? The closest thing I do with a third channel on the 57 is hook up another sound card to the aux and route ableton to the card. I use the aux kinda like a 3rd chan
its a 3rd channel for SP6 straight up
The 62 can hood up an extra computer runna a daw, route the playing audio through this, and apply vst POST fader. A unique and very powerful feature, not available on any other mixer than 62 and 68. Explained for the 68 here http://rane.com/sixtyeightvstau.html
I nearly switched back to Scratch Live for this, but the SP6 has no sync, SL users do generally look down on the idea of sync but perhaps a pitch bend would have been a good alternative? I suppose you could always instant double a track deck down to the SP6 but it’s a bit long winded and as such its hard to see the SP6 being used for much more than just dropping one shots 🙁
Im guessing Serato is working on sync for the Sample player, and it already has pitch bend…
still very expensive compare to the traktor/pioneer alternative – DJM-T1 which is @ $999.
those pioneer mixes don’t even compare… in quality or capability.
The DJM-T1 has been out for almost year, when it was first
launched its RRP was also $1900. My guess is the lack of demand for the
unit has since caused the rapid price fall. Build quality aside, the
DJM-T1 also only has only one soundcard, no onboad effects and no
onboard high-pass/low-pass filters.
Also, if you watch Traktor Kontrol F1 showcase video you’ll notice that DJ Shiftee using the Rane 56 as his mixer and not the DJM-T1. Makes you wonder why the traktor posterboy isn’t using the apparent traktor/pioneer alternative…
As of right now, if i had the option i would go with an used ddm 4000 and an used sl1. that would put u arround 500 and you would still have the same funtionality(not the dual usb though) but just a dif layout. (i own both mixers).
K well you obviously dont scratch if you just put Behringer and rane crossfaders in the same category and chose Behringer. I wont even mention sound quality or the several other blatent things smacking your comment in the face.
My brain is still melting around your comment. Your either a liar or a tard.
yeah sorry to break it to you behringer is the skid mark in the underpants of the dj world.
we’ll see about that when the Behringer modular controllers rule the “DJ world” starting this summer.
DDM4000 IS a decent mixer. Check Innofader upgrade for DDM4000 if you are in need of scratch crossfader.
All the old behringer crap will still suck when the modular stuff arrives FYI and its not opinion – its in the lack of quality
FYI the ddm4000 is a decent piece of gear, innofader or not. I happen to have one and have yet to find something wrong with it (ok, maybe the sound quality isnt up to par with rane/ecleer but its still pretty bang for your buck).
I have a DDM4000 and an Ecler Evo 5. The Behringer is a great deal in terms of the midi functionality it offers for the $400 I paid for it. But in terms of sound and build quality it certainly sounds and feels like a $400 mixer. Still, it got me by until I could afford my Ecler.
And no its not a Decent mixer it never will be, look at any behringer mixer wrong and the outputs fucking die. As far as the innofader… putting lipstick stick on a pig…comes to mind…
Plus that mixer is way way to crowded on the bottom to be any sort of long term scratch solution, unless you have tiny tiny little girl hands and love carpal tunnel when you crab.
But yeah… anyone who scratchs would never say innofader in behringer lol so thanks for commenting!
DJFT pretty much said it. Putting an innofader in a behringer mixer is the equivalent of putting a LS7 engine in a KIA. The car is still a piece of shit and isnt gonna last.
My brother took my mixer with him 7 years ago when he left town to go to graduate school. I needed a new 4 channel to pair with my CDJ 1000’s. I thought I could get away with a behringer for 3-5 months while I saved my money for something better. Crossfader shitted out within 2 weeks, channel 3 popped in and out and I could only use headphones bc the left channel on the rca out stopped working.
I had heard of problems with behringer before and never intended to use the mixer for an extended period of time yet was still blown away at its utter shittyness and terrible quality.
Good shit isn’t cheap, Cheap shit isn’t good.
I have a 61 and my biggest complaint is that not all buttons are midi assignable really hope rane fixes that and allows all buttons to be mapped
I thought only cross/up-faders, and EQs are midi-capable on the 61.
I thought only the cross/upfaders & EQs were midi-capable on the 61.
I’m not a technician but I would think that adding midi capability to the various controls would require a hardware mod. I wouldn’t hold your breath for that.